Border Gavaskar Trophy, 1st Test: An Analytical Preview of Day 3

image-ldygm7a8Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma have put India on the driver's seat in the first Test match(Source: AP Newsroom)

The day 2 of the first Test between India and Australia has ended. One more exciting day of cricket and probably more enjoyable for the Indian fans. A total of 90 overs were bowled on the day, where Indians scored 244 runs and lost 6 wickets. 

Now, if we take an analytical dive into the day's play we might get some valuable insights and can further predict where the game will head in day 3. 

Highlights of Day 2

Rohit Sharma standing tall despite losing wickets at the other end: India began the day at 77 for 1 from 24 overs with Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin batting in the middle. After a partnership of 42 runs, Ashwin is dismissed after he scored 23 runs off 62 balls. Following that wicket, India started losing wickets in bunch but Rohit Sharma was not deterred at all. 

He played a fine knock of 120 runs off 212 balls and laid a foundation on which Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel worked on to give India a solid lead at the end of the day. 

Debutant Todd Murphy Picking up five wickets: Todd Murphy, the debutant Australian off-spinner was the most consistent of the bowlers since Day 1. He bowled 36 overs in total till the end of play on Day 2 and conceded 82 runs while picking up five wickets. He became the fourth Australian spinner and the ninth Australian bowler to pick up five wickets on debut Test. 

Murphy picked up the important wickets of KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli, and KS Bharat. 

The Indian tail stretching the Australian agony: India was once 240 for 7 and the visitors were hoping that they will now quickly wrap up the tail and minimise the lead of the hosts. But Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel stitched together an unbeaten  partnership of 72 runs and took the Indian lead well over 100 runs. 

The duo is still out there with Ravindra Jadeja batting on 66 off 170 deliveries and Axar Patel batting at 52 off 102 deliveries. India is currently stationed at 321 runs for the loss of seven wickets and the lead now is 144 runs. 

image-ldyhs5yu(Source: OneCricket)


Expectations from Day 3

India's Plans

India will look to stretch the lead past 200 runs from here on at the minimum. The duo Jaddu and Axar will look bat out the first hour carefully and then take the attack on. India's main target will be to bat only once in the match. Once the team management feels that they have enough lead, the hosts will try and get as many overs at the Australian team as possible. 

image-ldygq3owAxar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja will be the centre of action for India on day 3 (Source: AP Newsroom)

The key player on day three for India might be Axar Patel. He might not have picked up enough wickets in the first innings but with the wear and tear increasing on the wicket, Axar might be the man to watch out in the second innings. 

Australia's Plans

Even though the match is literally out of their hands, the Australian team will still try and dismiss India as quickly as possible. The major plan in the Aussie camp will be to bat as long as possible in the third innings of the match. 

image-ldygrljgSteve Smith will be the key player for Australia on Day 3 (Source: AP Newsroom)

The turn on the pitch has slowed down to a great extent, and hence we expect more resilience from the Australian batters this time round. They will try to set a target of at least of 150 for India in the fourth innings and hence their game from here will be revolving around that plan. 

As far as the key player for Australia is concerned, it might be Steve Smith. Australia will need the leadership of Smith in the second innings so that they can mount the stellar task. 

Precap of Day 3

  1. India batting till one hour after lunch and taking the current lead well past 200 runs. 
  2. The Australian batting putting up a better batting effort in the second innings.
  3. The Indian spinners once again dominating the proceedings, with Axar Patel playing a major role this time around. 

Altogether another very exciting day of cricket, especially for the Indian fans awaits us. Follow OneCricket's Live Blog for the live coverage in an entertaining way.