No respite down under. Continues to get battered by Australian pacers Rishabh Pant yet doesn’t give in as he takes in a bouncer from Mitchell Starc straight to the side of the face as India works it out at the crease.
A terrible start to the innings absolutely shambles India out of the gate. The top order has absolutely collapsed again, leaving India at an unsafe position of 72/4.
After the dismissals of Kohli, Gill, Jasiwal, and Rahul-it was again down to Rishabh Pant to weather the storm and bring some stability to the Indian innings.
But, it’s not that easy for Pant, as he takes a handful of bodyshots from the fiery deliveries of Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc, and the Indian wicketkeeper is now visibly dinged up.
It all boiled down to one moment in particular, where Starc bowled a peach of a sizzling bouncer that completely baffled Pant, giving him no time to react, resulting in it hitting the side of his helmet grill.
Rishabh Pant took a number of heavy hits to the body.#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/TdyJ1qhm9C
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 3, 2025
Starc met with Pant for the sake of an apology and for checking up on the Indian, who was actually being looked after by some physios as drinks were brought onto the ground.
As with India and Pant, there is no way out, but the middle-order will keep it up after the dismal slips in their first session.
Yet another disastrous start for India saw both openers, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal carpeted as early as the first hour of play, reducing India to 17/2.
Gill would typically add some balance to the order, but a stupid swipe off the last ball before lunch would have him miss out to Lyon.
There was no contest when Virat Kohli came in at No.4 again to earn another life from a controversial not-out catch, but he would fail to do so after the start of the second session, nicking one off Boland to Webster at slips to walk out for just a mere 17 runs, leaving India at 72/4.
