[NPV]

A lucky day for India and Australia matched what India did in the first test - dropping several catches that have cost them an 82 run lead and maybe more tomorrow. If we get anywhere in excess of a 150 run lead, there is a good chance to win this, provided of course we bowl well again and bat the last innings if needed

The way tests are being played these days, I don't expect the Aussie second inning to be a slow, cautious one, on the contrary they will play aggressively which in a Test match also means more chances of taking wickets for us.

Hope I'm not reading too much into this game, just don't want to see India going down again, definitely not like the 9 pins in the first test with 36 on the board!

[KPR]

Originally Posted by KPR

I will be happy if Rahane proves me wrong.

Thanks Rahane. I'm very happy. I should see him hitting more centuries with added responsibility. This is what such calm composed guys are made of. Steel character. I'm now in my dreams with him and Dravid as coach

[harry10]

Great 100 by Rahane today. Aussies returned the favor of dropping catches. That head drop on last ball will haunt him for the rest of the series. Pant's 29 is gonna go under the radar big time but his little innings managed to break the shackles for us and made the scoring easier by upping the run rate which gave Rahane the confidence to play positively too. Jadeja batted beautifully and I hope he makes a 50+ tomorrow

[redCherry]

Originally Posted by KPR

Thanks Rahane. I'm very happy. I should see him hitting more centuries with added responsibility. This is what such calm composed guys are made of. Steel character. I'm now in my dreams with him and Dravid as coach

I always thought he's much better player than what his records indicate, more so in away tests, on par with (or better than) *few* other players in our team, who always hog the limelight.
I was, of late, feeling he's slowly fading away, but good to see him score a captain's knock , I'm happy

[jkrishnakj]

I actually liked the way Pant played today. He sort of disrupted Lyon and with Rahane already offering dead bat defences to Lyon, I think Pant sort of made Lyon change lines. He was just breaking free when he did the usual ie. poking outside the line. If he had left that ball alone, he would have had a big one. But then, that is Pant for us.

[SoumenD]

It’s actually very satisfying to see Rahane score this ton specially after the fiasco in last game. With Kohli gone and Pujara yet to get back to his best, it was a solid captain’s knock

We were in a similar (strong) position in last game as well after first innings post which all hell broke loose. So I hope Rahane , Jadeja and Ashwin go on to increase the lead to 150+ so that we don’t have too many runs to chase at the fag end of the match.

[vibbs]

Will the tail wag and get us to 150 run lead?

Aussies still have the potential to score 350 odd in the third innings and get India out.

[harry10]

Bowled well. They did a blockathon in the last hour. Happens. Hopefully we will clear them soon tomorrow morning. Will be up at 5am for sure to watch though it's a hectic working day. Shouldn't be chasing anything more than 50.

If Rahane wouldn't have been run out we would have a better lead. Umesh injury happened just when he was bowling beautifully. With just 4 bowlers taking 6 wickets on a track which looked flat today is commendable.

[hemanth.anand]

Often it is said that Day3 is a moving day in a test match and move it did...in India's favour. Very good bowling performance by all the 5 bowlers. If Umesh doesn't recover for the next match...Natarajan may very well make his test debut. If it was India's tail it wouldn't bave been more than 30 runs...but with Australia...even a 100 run chase won't be surprising. Hopefully India can keep it below 50. Less than 36 should be the traget

[VWAllstar]

Most time optimistic however let's not forget the Australian Tail are known to pull a Mickey of the opposition few times. Cummins and Starc both can bat well. Even a lead of 100 would be a test for our batsman. More so because that 36 would be playing at the back of their minds.

[KPR]

Well done Jinx and team. Ranji captaincy experiences are rewarding Rahane for sure. Good bowling choices and fielding setup.

[jkrishnakj]

‘Poetic’ will be for India to chase 36 in the second innings and we doing it with no loss of wickets. Highly optimistic though.

[NPV]

So far so good, so what ?

We still need to wipe out the Aussie tail and then bat to reach the target which I hope will be < 150, though in reality even 100+ will not be easy to chase down.

I think Karma got back at Paine in the second innings after his first innings escape from being given run out!

[pandey.jai]

Good effort by the bowlers. The real issue will be dealing with the tail. We’ve seen numerous times in the past that the tail wags and the opposition will end up in a very strong position. A total of 150 to chase down might be enough to set the cat among the pigeons, especially considering Mayank Agarwal becoming a walking wicket this series.

[Venkatesh]

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Source : ICC