During Day 3 of the fourth and final Border Gavaskar Trophy Test, India gradually and steadily worked their way back into the game by preserving their wickets with great caution through the first two sessions. After conceding an enormous first innings score of 480, the Indian team had reached 199/2 at the time of writing, having resumed the innings at 36/0.
Despite Rohit Sharma falling relatively early after scoring a quick 35 during a first-wicket partnership of 74, Cheteshwar Pujara helped create a strong foundation for the team alongside Shubman Gill. While Pujara faced 121 balls for his 42, Gill scored his second Test century in a cautious manner. Unfortunately, Pujara was dismissed in the last over before Tea, with the score at 187.
As the match appeared to be heading towards a no result, Australian captain Steve Smith’s frustration was visible as his team was trailing the series 2-1. Throughout the day, Smith had been astute with his tactics, skillfully restricting the flow of runs with his field placements.
However, his team was unable to generate crucial breakthroughs at critical moments. When the Kangaroos appealed loudly against Virat Kohli, who had just arrived at the crease, in the 64th over, none was more excited than the visiting captain. Todd Murphy had delivered a flighted ball outside off on the last delivery of his six-ball set, with the SG ball turning sharply to narrowly miss Kohli’s edge.
Alex Carey cleanly collected the ball and quickly whipped the bails off, as the entire team appealed in unison for a caught behind. However, the umpire stood firm and calmly shook his head in denial, causing the players to gather in a huddle near the pitch to discuss a potential DRS review.
Smith was visibly agitated as the match appeared to be heading towards a no-result, given his team was trailing the series 2-1. Throughout the day, the Australian skipper had been astute with his tactics, restricting the flow of runs with his field setups, but his team failed to generate breakthroughs at crucial moments.
In the 64th over, when the Kangaroos appealed loudly against Virat Kohli, none was more excited than Smith. Todd Murphy had flighted a ball at length outside off on the last delivery of his six-ball set, with the SG turning sharply to narrowly beat Kohli’s edge. The entire team went up for a caught behind, but the umpire shook his head in denial, prompting the players to gather near the pitch to discuss a potential DRS.
Smith urged both the bowler and the keeper to take the review, but Murphy said a comprehensive ‘nah’ before leaving his captain mid-conversation. Smith then turned his entire attention to Carey and placed a hand on his shoulder to convince him, but the wicketkeeper responded negatively and walked away from the incident. Eventually, Smith was left alone while the 15-second timer ran down and had to make do with an exasperated shrug of the shoulders before carrying on with the game.
