MELBOURNE: Yashasvi Jaiswal turned around and looked at Virat Kohli as Alex Carey took the bails off at the striker’s end. Kohli indicated the fielder was near as the youngster gestured it was his call before shaking his head all the way to the dressing room here at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday. He was 18 runs shy of his second century of the series.
That was just the first of the few maddening minutes before bails were drawn on the second day. Moments later, he did a facepalm without removing the helmet, put his head down as the crowd stood up and applauded an outstanding innings that came to an end with an unnecessary run out less than half hour before stumps.
By then Jaiswal, batting on 82 off 117 balls, had just completed a 100-run stand with Kohli. After the peach from Pat Cummins on the stroke of tea (to remove KL Rahul), the two batters ensured the visitors remained in the contest.
What triggered the response and forced Jaiswal to take a run only exists in the realm of speculation. Perhaps he wanted to keep the strike. He drove Scott Boland down to mid-on and called for a single and dashed like a 100m sprinter. On the other end, Kohli took a couple of steps and started looking at the fielder -- going by the coaching manual a sacrilege when the ball travels in front of the wicket. The no was not loud enough to send Jaiswal back. After battling for two hours and stitching together a 100-run stand, Jaiswal perished -- run out. Aussie captain Cummins was the fielder.
That was the beginning of a mini-slide. That also brought the 88000-strong MCG to their feet. A day after Kohli shouldered Konstas, it was expected. The Boooooos welcomed Kohli when he walked to the pitch and accompanied him when he walked back. And the loudest was heard when he nicked Boland. Akash Deep who was sent as a nightwatchman too walked back. For Kohli though the boos had been his constant company throughout the innings.
The day did not begin well either. Under-fire captain Rohit Sharma, promoting himself up the order after failing in Brisbane, survived five balls before scooping one to the mid-on, all tangled up in his shot just like his fortune and form.
Rahul, coming in at No 3, was undone by Cummins and now, it was on the duo to revive the innings. From 51/2, they would go on to take India to 152/3 and did so with sheer discipline. Kohli, as Steve Smith would say later, perhaps looked the best he has this series and it seemed like he was determined to spend time in the middle and not lose his wicket to another outside off delivery.
Ever since Rohit joined the team after the Perth win, he had failed to inspire the team either through his captaincy or innings. When the Aussies began their innings on Friday, instead of introducing the ever-dependable Jasprit Bumrah into the attack, he called up Mohammad Siraj. Overnight batters Steve Smith and Pat Cummins lapped the offer up in glee.
Perhaps for the first time since Perth, Cummins was challenged as a skipper. He had to set up funky fields, with a strong leg side one for Jaiswal and not so much for Kohli. But none of it worked until the unexpected moment of madness. Smith, who had the best view from slips, said: “Looks like Jaiswal called yes, ran, and Virat sent him back. Simple as that. Yeah, I didn't see much more than that. I was running in, pretty excited. It was a nice wicket.“
The run out was obviously the starting point as India lost the plot in the 18 minutes they had left. Once Kohli got out, Rishabh Pant would take a single off Mitchell Starc, exposing Akash Deep for the rest of the over. Soon enough, Starc would have him as India went from 152/2 to 159/5. “It was a huge last hour for us,” Smith would admit later.
In the end, Pant played out the last over alongside Ravindra Jadeja, taking India to 164/5. In a span of 15 minutes, India lost three wickets and with it the initiative they gained in the afternoon and most part of the evening. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a pattern. Not long ago, India lost four wickets in a span of 13 minutes against New Zealand in Mumbai. That too involved a Kohli run out and Pant was left standing alongside Shubman Gill, who was dropped for the fourth Test against Australia.
India might not lose 0-3 this time, but they will miss out on the chance of winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and beating Australia once again. A lot will depend on how Pant, Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy bats on Saturday. “We will still come back and continue to fight tomorrow morning. Energy is very good in the dressing room, we are all positive. There is still three days, and a lot of overs to play. So it will just be about us trying to fight really hard and get things done for the team,” Washington said.
