Debutant Washington Sundar and paceman Shardul Thakur showed fight in the second session on Day Three of the ongoing fourth Test to keep India in the game against Australia on Sunday here at the Gabba, Brisbane. The duo have put on 67 unbeaten runs for the seventh wicket so far – the highest ever partnership for an Indian pair for the seventh wicket at the Gabba.
At the tea break, India’s score reads 253/6 and the visitors are still trailing by 116 runs. Sundar and Thakur are currently unbeaten on 38 and 33 respectively. The second session saw 92 runs being scored from 27 overs.
Thakur, playing in only his second Test and three years after his first, got off the mark with a six off Pat Cummins. It was his first scoring shot in Test cricket and he became only the second Indian after Rishabh Pant to get off the mark in Test cricket with a six. In his Test debut in 2018 in Hyderabad, Mumbai paceman Thakur had bowled just eight balls before getting injured.
Resuming the second session at 161/4, India got off to a bad start as Mayank Agarwal (38) lost his wicket to Josh Hazlewood in just the first over of the session and the visitors were given a major blow. Sundar then joined Rishabh Pant in the middle and the duo put together a brief stand of 25 runs.
Hazlewood once again rose to the occasion for Australia as he dismissed Pant (23), leaving India in a spot of bother at 186/6. Shardul Thakur then joined Sundar in the middle and the duo scored runs at a brisk pace for the visitors.
In the end, Shardul and Sundar showed some much-needed fight and grit and this ensured that the visitors did not lose any more wickets before the tea break. The duo has extended their partnership to 67 runs.Earlier, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane lost their wickets in the first session on day three as Australia gained an upper hand against India. At the lunch break, India’s score read 161/4.
The first session saw 99 runs being scored from 34 overs. On the second day, India had bundled out Australia for 369 as Thakur, T Natarajan, and Sundar scalped three wickets each. Marnus Labuschagne had top-scored for Australia as he played a knock of 108 runs.
After bundling out Australia for 369, Rohit Sharma went on to score 44 runs, but in the end, he ended up gifting his wicket to Nathan Lyon.
