Debutant Nitish Reddy’s gutsy 41 and Rishabh Pant’s brief daredevilry proved to be fleeting silver lining in an otherwise batting no-show by India as they were shot out for a lowly 150 at tea against a disciplined Australia on the opening day of the first Test.
Captain Jasprit Bumrah’s inexplicable decision to opt for batting on a bouncy green top can be debated in times to come.
Pant (37 off 78 balls), whose audacious no-look six over backward square leg off Pat Cummins, had everyone in awe, found a gritty customer in Reddy as they added 48 runs for the seventh wicket after the India’s top-order were done in by double whammy of extra bounce and seam movement by Mitchell Starc (2/14 in 11 overs) and Josh Hazlewood (4/29 in 13 overs).
However, just when Pant was looking dangerous, Cummins (2/67 in 15.4 overs), who had dropped a skier, got a fuller delivery to straighten as the southpaw closed his bat face and the ball flew to the second slip.