The new Indian opening duo brought a huge respite for the visitors on the Boxing Day at Melbourne. While Mayank Agarwal played his role perfectly against the Aussie quicks, his partner Hanuma Vihari was no less determined in battling the odds.
Vihari looked much balanced and compact during his 66-ball stint at the crease while tackling one of the furious bowling attacks in the globe. However, a well-guided bouncer from pat Cummins ended his 8-run stint in the first session.
The incident happened in the final ball of the 19th over when Cummins bowled a stunning bouncer that skid in length and caught Vihari off-guard. The Indian makeshift opener was forced to take his eyes off the ball which took the glove and looped towards the second slip.
Aaron Finch made no mistake in taking an easy catch and Cummins drew the first blood for Australia.
Here’s the video:
Earlier in the morning, Indian skipper won the toss and elected to bat first. Mayank Agarwal made his debut after the visitors dropped KL Rahul and Murali Vijay, following their lean run in Adelaide and Perth. Jadeja was also included as he recovered from his shoulder stiffness and Rohit also returned in the playing XI after missing out the 2nd Test.
Indian Playing XI:
Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
Australia Playing XI:
Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Tim Paine (capt), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood