Déjà vu! After an impressive show in the first innings, for say much of the series so far with the bat, Team India head into the field on Day 4 of the Brisbane Test, only to be blown away by Australia in the fourth day at Gabba.
India received a dent even before taking the field, when overnight batsman Shikhar Dhawan got injured in the nets. So, the touring party was made to commence the day with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara but the partnership never flourished.
Mitchell Johnson came out firing, sending four Indian batsmen back to the pavilion in a space of twenty minutes. Last match centurion, Kohli was the first to depart, when the left-arm pacer disturbed the woodwork, which ignited yet another overseas collapse.
Next to go was Ajinkya Rahane (10), who never looked settled during his short stay at the crease, and gave an easy catch to Nathan Lyon, standing at the point region. A couple of deliveries later, Rohit Sharma was dismissed for a duck by Johnson.
Skipper MS Dhoni joined Pujara, who was seeing his teammates crumbling like a cookie, with an expectation of reviving the team from a peculiar situation. This didn’t happen as Dhoni (0) was trapped lbw by Josh Hazlewood – the replay, however, showed he was not out.
Ravichandran Ashwin (19) and Pujara tried to steady the innings but with no success, as again owing to under-par umpiring, the former was given caught-behind off Mitchell Starc. The ball seemed not to have hit Ashwin’s blade while going into Brad Haddin’s gloves.
The overnight batsmen, Pujara (43) and Dhawan joined forces and with a pinch of luck survived some close shaves. But Pujara ran out of luck, as a rising delivery from Hazlewood took an edge and was popped into the air and Lyon took an easy catch.
Dhawan, meanwhile, showed grit and determination to stitch an important fifty-run partnership with number nine Umesh Yadav. Umesh (30) also put price on his wicket and faced the likes of Johnson and Hazlewood with confidence.
Nathan Lyon finally broke the partnership when he trapped Dhawan (81) lbw in the post-lunch session and broke a 60-run resistance for the eight wicket. Australia didn’t took much time in bundling India for 224 as Lyon dismissed Varun Aaron (3) and Johnson send Umesh back.
