India stare at defeat after top order flops yet again

Melbourne: Skipper Rohit Sharma’s ultra-defensive approach and Virat Kohli’s unending saga of failures outside the off-stump left India reeling at 33 for 3 at lunch after Australia set the visitors a challenging 340-run target on day five of the fourth Test here on Monday.

Rohit (9 off 40 balls) did all the hard work during the first hour before opposition skipper Pat Cummins (2/10) got his bunny for the tenth time in Test matches.

Kohli (5 off 29) could never control his urge of playing the cover drive again and was caught at first slip after Mitchell Starc pushed one across with the angle. Rahul was out without troubling the scorers after getting a second good ball in the game. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who didn’t look convincing at all, survived 83 deliveries to score 14 going into lunch.

The approach by the Indian team was also a reflection of its mindset as a slim chance of victory evaporated in the morning session.

Shortly after play began on day five, Jasprit Bumrah completed his 13th five wicket haul in Test cricket as Australia were all out for 234 in their second essay.

One would have expected to Rohit to play his natural aggressive game at the top of the order but in the middle of a lean run, he tried to get into a safety first mode that did not work.

At the other end, even Jaiswal curbed his natural instincts. He got one delivery from Pat Cummins that moved a shade late as he shaped for a whip down the square leg with the leading edge flying to Mitchell Marsh at gully.

Cummins then produced another delivery with late away movement to consume Rahul.