After a disastrous start to the second Test in Bengaluru, Virat Kohli and Co. sre looking down a death trap, literally. With four more days to go in the Test India has a double headache, they have to play time and look to stay afloat in the series. After Stephen O’ Keefe spun a web around the Indian batsman at Pune, it was now turn of the more experienced of the two spinners, Nathan Lyon had a dream on a day 1 pitch in India. India was bundled out for a mere 189 on a pitch that did not offer alarming turn from the first day. It has to be said Nathan Lyon bowled outstandingly well. His figures 8 for 50 is no mean joke, that too considering he is a visiting spinner not from Asia.
The Indian batsman looked out of sorts, to say the least, apart from some spine showed by KL Rahul the others fell in disappointing fashion. Virat Kohli looked caught up in two minds and finally did not offer a shot at all to a ball that was crashing into the leg stump. Now with the series at stake Day 2 is going to be crucial from the point of view of both the teams, for Australia it will be important to drive home the advantage. This will be historic for a visiting team to come and trash India in their own backyard.
Virat Kohli cannot go for an all out attack, he has to be cautious in his approach, not leak too many runs. Steven Smith knows a couple of good sessions and he will have one foot on the series. David Warner is the key, India will have to get him early or else he will take the game totally away from the hosts in a matter of hours.
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Teams:
India: Abhinav Mukund, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (W), Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma
Australia: Matt Renshaw, David Warner, Steven Smith (C), Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (W), Mitchell Starc, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
