It looked like a tough effort for the Indian cricket team to save the third Test against Australia in Sydney. Australia had given India a target of 407 runs and the visitors had already the wickets of Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma on Day 4. But India batted out of their skins as they managed to save the Test despite a number of injuries to middle-order batsmen.
However, at one stage it felt like India could even manage to win the Test as wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant was counter-attacking against the Aussie attack. India were in a spot of bother as they lost the wicket of captain Ajinkya Rahane early on Day 5. But Pant (97) stuck together with Cheteshwar Pujara (77) and got India to a comfortable position. Even though the Aussies tried hard, they could not manage to rattle the Indian batters.
There was one instance from the match that caught the eyes of the fans. A video has surfaced on the internet which showed Steve Smith trying to remove the batting guard of Rishabh Pant during his innings. After the video got viral on the internet, fans started calling Smith a ‘cheat’ for using underhanded tactics.
Former India batsman Virender Sehwag also commented on the incident, saying that the Aussies tried everything but failed to deter the Indian batsmen on Day 5.
India batted their longest (in terms of balls) – 131 overs – in the fourth innings of a Test match away from home since 1978 to keep the series locked at 1-1 with the final Test to be played in Brisbane.
Vihari braved a hamstring injury and played one of the slowest innings in the history of Indian cricket to stay not out at 23 off 161 balls while Ashwin battled a barrage of short balls, took a few blows on the body to remain unbeaten on 39(128). India finished with 334/5.
