It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that India have struggled against Australia in the first two days of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval in London. Even though India captain Rohit Sharma won a crucial toss in overcast conditions and put Australia to bat, the Kangaroos were up to the challenge and posted a formidable 469. In response, India's top-order failed to provide them a good start and at stumps on Day 2, the Men in Blue were reeling at 151/5, still trailing by 318 runs.
Ajinkya Rahane (29* off 71) and KS Bharat (5* off 14) will resume the Indian innings when play begins on Day 3 and a lot will depend on their partnership if India are to make a comeback in this match. Notably, it is Bharat who is the team's wicketkeeper-batter in this match. With their preferred keeper in this game Pant is still recovering from injuries that he sustained in a car crash in December last year, India have trusted Bharat for this crucial match, having tried him earlier in a home series.
Despite being away from the game, Pant is keeping a close eye on the match and even shared an Instagram story cheering and praying for the team. He shared an Instagram story in which he can be seen watching the match with the Indian innings underway. The image he shared had a crossed-fingers and heart emoji as the caption.
Take a look:
Talking about the match, despite losing the wicket of Usman Khawaja pretty early, Australia recovered and posted a formidable total. Centuries from the bat of Travis Head (163) and Steven Smith (121) were the highlights of the Australian innings with the duo also sharing a massive 285-run stand for the fourth wicket. Alex Carey (48) and David Warner (43) also chipped in with useful contributions. Mohammed Siraj was the most successful bowler for Team India returning with figures of 4/108 while Mohammed Shami (2/122), Shardul Thakur (2/83) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/56) also found themselves amongst the wickets.
India would now hope their middle and lower order fires to bring them back into the game and they they put up an improved performance as a bowling and fielding unit in the second innings to make sure they are still in the contest in this summit clash.