2nd Test

The boxing day test began, with over 20,000 present for the most-awaited cricketing event of the year. The MCG was ready, for its finest test this year. 4 changes, that's what the Indians made to fine-tune their team after the horror of 19th December. The 36/9 was still fresh in the minds of the cricketing world, but that did not cover the misery of this struggling Australian batting line-up. Two debutants for India, Siraj, Gill, and Australia go unchanged in the match.

Day 1

The first session of the test clearly belonged to India, with Bumrah and Ashwin running into the middle order in less than 20 overs. Matthew Wade continued his momentum from the previous game, hacking his way to a stroke-filled and quick 30. Struggling Joe Burns was relieved of his torture 5 overs into the match, poking an away-going deliver from Bumrah and handing Pant his first pouch of the match. Ashwin came in to provide the breakthrough, removing the dangerous Matthew Wade as he skied the ball high in the air. In almost another fielding miscue, both the Mid-wicket and Mid-on ran for the ball, giving Wade a false hope that he might still survive. Luckily for India, one of the duo members was Jadeja, who caught the ball before he could collide with Shubman Gill. Ashwin's next scalp was the dangerous Steven Smith, who continued his string of low scores after scoring 0 and 1 in the first test. Ashwin has the wood on Smith now, getting him out twice and conceding naught against him. Labuschagne and Head started the rebuild, watching out the first session but, not before a risky shot from Marnus that almost resulted in his downfall. The session ended at 65-3.

The second session began with Marnus and Travis holding the Australian innings with a 50-run partnership between them. Captain Rahane brought back Bumrah to break the partnership before things got out of hand, and, the latter delivered. Funky field placements by Rahane were exploited by Bumrah as Head poked an away going delivery that was taken at fine gully by Rahane. Labuschagne looked in control as he was headed towards his fifty after playing 130 deliveries. Debutant Siraj was brought in, to show that he should be in the squad as the third pacer instead of Saini, and Siraj duly obliged. A beauty of delivery took the calm and composed out of Marnus, as he flicked the ball into the waiting hands of Shubman Gill at the short-fine leg. It was his maiden wicket, in his maiden test match. Siraj could not have been happier as Labushcagne could have single-handedly taken the game away from the Indians, being the best batsman in the current innings. The second session ended with half the Australian squad out for 150.

The third session further increased the Australian woes, as they lost 5 wickets for just 40 runs, making their total 195 in the first innings. The spin twins and Siraj took 1 each, justifying their importance in the team. It was Bumrah who ran through the tail, with 2 wickets inside two overs, ending what little of the Australian resistance was present on the pitch. India came out to bat with 11-12 overs left in the day. There was hope in the Indian Dressing room that the openers finish things off on a seemingly perfect day. However, Left-arm fast Mitchell Starc had other ideas, as he ripped through the defense of Mayank Aggarwal, setting him up for the inswinging delivery to the Right-hander. Cheteshwar Pujara was the next man in, as no night watchman came out, hoping as to not replicate the disasters of Adelaide. Shubman Gill was the aggressor, taking on the Aussie pacers, and allowing Pujara to settle down to play the waiting game on the next day. The day ended with India on 36-1, trailing by 159 runs.

Day 2

The first session was a mixed time of play, with both teams gaining some momentum as the new day began. Shubman Gill, given two lives, made the Australians pay by scoring an attacking 45, filled with strokeplay. Pujara stuck around, playing 70 balls for his 17. It was Cummins who brought the Australians back in the game, taking the wickets of both set batsmen in consecutive overs of his second spell. This fiery burst put Australia on top as now Rahane and Vihari were new to the crease. Both in question put their head down, ending the session without the loss of any further wickets. Set and ready to rebuild, the batsmen went into lunch with the hope of scoring big. The Australian camp knows the importance of these two batsmen, as after them the tail comes in next.

The second session was spent rebuilding the Indian innings which had taken a jolt after two quick wickets. Hanuma Vihari duly obliged, easing the pressure off captain Rahane as they both put their heads down and got to work. 116 was the score when Vihari, looking to continue his aggression after the previous ball handed Steven Smith an easy catch, ending the partnership of 54. In came Rishabh Pant, hacking and slashing at every possible chance, allowing the attention to be taken of Rahane, allowing him to play his natural game. The aggression is what added momentum to the innings but, it was the aggression that led to Pant's downfall after he slashed too hard at a wide ball from Mitchell Starc. Tim Paine was given an easy catch as Ravindra Jadeja entered the arena.

The third session was completely dominated by Ravindran Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane, as they took India to a lead of 82 before rain stopped play. Rahane stroked his way to an elegant 100, his second in the ‘G’, as Jadeja played second fiddle in ensuring that India lost no wicket in the last session. Luck, however, was also on Rahane’s side as he was dropped twice in 11 overs, something that could have left India in a spot of bother heading into Day 3. The day ended just before Rahane was dropped off at Starc by Head. The rain stopped play as India ended the day on 277-5.

Day 3

The first session on the third day triggered a collapse of sorts as India was wiped out after adding just 49 runs to their overnight tally. The unlucky runout of Rahane was the turning point as the rejuvenated Aussies wiped out the tail, led by Starc and Lyon. Australia began their innings trailing by a massive 131 runs that had mainly been scored by Captain Rahane. The innings started quietly, with little action, before the 4th over when Umesh Yadav delivered an absolute peach to get rid of Joe Burns. Enter Labushcagne who had been in fine touch over the series. Among Matthew Wade, he set on to form a partnership that might put Australia in the lead.

The second session began with Wade and Marcus standing strong, and frustrating the Indian bowlers. Just when it looked as if the partnership would run away with the game from India, Ashwin was brought in. And boy, did he deliver!! A set-up by Ashwin proved decisive as Labushcagne was once again out to Ashwin, this time caught by Rahane at slip. Steve Smith who finally scored more than one in this series, was looking in control, before Captain brought back his strike bowler, in hopes that he broke the Australian top order once again. It was the old trick that once again did the job as Steve smith, looking to shuffle and play on the leg was caught short by a ball that bypassed his bat on the way to his leg stump. The second session ended with 3 wickets down and more than half the Indian lead left to be covered.

The third session was all downhill for the Australians, with all the proper batsmen falling in a jiffy. Tim Paine was bowled an absolute beauty by Jadeja, while Head threw his wicket to the debutant. They ended the day at 133-6, with only 4 wickets remaining and a lead of a mere 2 runs.

Day 4

The first hour of the fourth day was all about the waiting game as the old ball did not give any edge to the Indian bowlers. Patience was displayed by the Indian seamers while the Australians made no effort to capitalize on the old ball, playing out the overs without trying to increase their lead. It was when the new ball was brought back did Siraj redouble his efforts to bag two more in the match, taking his tally to 5 in his debut. The last of the tail was wiped away without much effort, leaving the Indians to get 70 in 5 sessions. 

The second session wrapped up a comprehensive win after the Australians set the Indians a paltry target of 70. At 19/2, it looked as if we might have an Adelaide rewind, with many fans becoming skeptical of what was to follow. However, that was not the case. Led by Shubman Gill, Ajinkya Rahne continued where he left off from the first innings to hand India the win without losing any more wickets. The runs came at a high rate of 4.4 as Shubman Gill scored a free 35 off 36 while Rahane took his match tally to 139 after scoring 27 in the second innings. 

A near-perfect test match for India, with all departments firing. The only issue the management might have to look into is the out-of-form Mayank Aggarwal who has scored only 31 runs in the two tests at the top of the order. Scoring at an average of 7.75, he might just give way for the Hitman, who enters the series midway through the tests. Another change could be the one of Hanuma Vihari, who has not been able to convert his starts into big runs. Vihari might be replaced by the scintillating wicket-keeper batsman KL Rahul, who has an impressive record against Australia.