Rohit Sharma tours back to India and joins hands with the Indian team, but unfortunately, it did not yield a good result, as the captain of India scored just three runs and departed after being dismissed by Scott Boland of Australia. Returning to the middle order for the first time after years of top-class performances as an opener was primarily due to KL Rahul’s superlative show at the top in Perth. However, not much went right for the India skipper who was dismissed LBW by Boland after spending only minutes on the pitch. Rohit’s dismissal also saw a send-off from Australia’s great Adam Gilchrist who couldn’t resist pointing out the Indian captain’s flaws while commentating.
Boland was inducted into the Indian team because Josh Hazlewood got ruled out of the day-night clash with injury. While there is no denying that Hazlewood is one of the pillars of Australia’s pace attack, Gilchrist called Boland an apt replacement.
“Hazlewood was Australia’s best bowler in Perth but having Boland playing here as his replacement is not bad. Boland is tall, but you wonder if the ball would have hit the stump if it had been Hazlewood. Boland has the ability to skid the ball through. It did so here. Rohit Sharmna’s front foot was stuck and that’s a good night,” Gilchrist said in the commentary.
On that opening day, at the time of dinner, India were all out for 180. In the second session, the tourists lost six wickets after going down to 82 for 4 at tea. Rishabh Pant (21), captain Rohit Sharma (3), Harshit Rana (0), Ravichandran Ashwin (22), Jasprit Bumrah (0) and Nitish Reddy (42) were all dismissed in the post-tea session, with Australian bowlers continuing their domination on the first day of the second Test.
Mitchell Starc, the most featured pace bowler in this Australian side, made a significant contribution during the Test match by grabbing six Indian wickets at the expense of 48 runs.
India wasted a bright beginning that turned disastrous just before tea.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, centurion in the first Test, was a royal duck off the very first ball of the match, while opening partner KL Rahul departed for 37.
Star batter Virat Kohli, who also struck an impressive hundred during the Perth Test, was dismissed for 7, while Shubman Gill was at 31, bowl bowled by Scott Boland just prior to dinner.
