On Day 3 of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Monday, Australia’s pace blitz exposed Indian hitters in a session that was completely controlled by the hosts, with rain intermittently showing up.
Both teams were forced to have lunch as the rain descended from the dark cloud-covered sky. India was down to 22/3, 423 runs behind, and KL Rahul was undefeated with a score of 13(24). As the spectre of defeat began to loom in Brisbane, Indian players were once again pushed to consider their shortcomings in a start-stop practice that was completely controlled by Australia.
In the first hour, A-Lister Jasprit Bumrah cleared the path for India by dismissing Mitchell Starc. When Starc smoked the ball into the stand with a flawless slog-sweep off Ravindra Jadeja, he appeared lethal.
In the following over, Bumrah forced out an edge from the southpaw after sensing the threat emanating from the Starc. Starc tried to push the ball away, but his feet were trapped on the ground.
The ball went into Rishabh Pant’s safe gloves after the Australian’s careless waft was enough to cause a snag.
Rain was falling at erratic intervals, and Nathan Lyon refrained from pursuing the Indian onslaught while Alex Carey was on the pitch.
Mohammed Siraj broke the ropes and got past Lyon’s defence to hit the middle stump as the day’s pace was set. Carey chose to charge at Akash Deep with one wicket remaining, however he mistimed his stroke, causing Australia to finish their inning on 445.
With Starc as the mainstay of the Australian pace attack, Indian batsmen continued to endure the horrors they had endured in Adelaide. Yashasvi Jaiswal, with whom he has been at odds since the Perth Test, was his first casualty of the day. By edging the ball to the boundary, the young Indian southpaw was able to avoid a golden duck, but Starc responded by swinging the ball and making good use of the hurried seam delivery.
On his second ball of the game, he took out Jaiswal, who chipped the ball right into Mitchell Marsh’s hands. He edged it away to Marsh, who flew and snatched it with both hands, and Shubman Gill (1) was the next to return cheaply. After being persuaded by Hazlewood to pursue the outside off delivery and nudge it away towards the wicketkeeper, Virat Kohli (3) quickly joined the pair. This marked the final action of the session as KL Rahul, who seemed the most calm out there, returned to the dressing room.