India tour of Australia 2020

Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur’s 123-run stand for the seventh wicket was crucial to India crossing the 300-run mark and limiting Australia’s lead after finding themselves struggling at 186/6 at one stage. Sundar scored 62 while Thakur made 67 and their partnership produced 123 runs in 36 overs.

India have lost openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma so far in their innings. Gill departed for just seven runs after edging a Pat Cummins delivery to Steve Smith at second slip. Rohit then struck a 49-run partnership with Pujara before throwing his wicket away while attempting to play a big shot off Nathan Lyon.

Saha was initially not part of the playing XI for the third Test but came as a substitute keeper to replace Pant after the latter had coped a blow on his left elbow while batting. Pant was later taken for scans on day 3 of the Test and did not keep wickets in the entire second innings. But came out to bat on day 5 and played a brilliant knock.

Pant’s innings was studded with 12 boundaries and three maximums. He fell just three short of another milestone hundred but had shown why he was so highly rated. Pant perished while trying to play the glory shot to reach his century. The 23-year-old danced down the track and went hard but could only edge it to backward point.

Fans reacted to incidents on day 4 of the India vs Australia third Test match with funny memes with many trolling the Indian players for dropping catches. Hanua Vihari was guilty of dropping two catches while Rohit Sharma missed one and all three times Jasprit Bumrah was the unlucky bowler. Fans also trolled Rohit for getting out after his fifty.

The Indian team management had lodged an official complaint with the umpires and also the ICC after play on day 3 over Bumrah and Siraj being racially abused by a section of the fans. Siraj was once again abused on day 4 and later some fans had to be escorted out of the stadium after the umpires and match referee were informed about the incident.

While fans praised Pujara for another hard-fought half-century they were left disappointed after he got out immediately after completing his fifty. Twitterati trolled him for his slow-paced innings and failure to convert the half-century into a big score. Pujara reached his fifty in 174 deliveries, which is the slowest in his Test career.

Pujara got to his half-century in 174 deliveries, which is the slowest fifty he has scored in his Test career. With wickets tumbling at the other end, fans wanted Pujara to score at a faster strike-rate but the 32-year-old was out two deliveries after completing his half-century. His knock of 50 from 176 deliveries was studded with five boundaries.

He was in pain immediately and after on-field treatment that included a strapped bandage, he was back in action but lost the flow due to hindered movement as Josh Hazlewood had him caught behind. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was also hit by a short ball on his bowling hand and needed on-field treatment.

Pant reached the milestone when he nudged a full toss delivery from Marnus Labuschagne to mid-off. With that single, Pant became the first visiting batsman to score 25 or more runs in nine consecutive Test innings in Australia. Since making his first Test appearance in Australia in 2018, Pant has scored at least 25 runs in each innings.

Rohit Sharma achieved the feat in 16th over of India’s innings. He stepped out of the crease in Nathan Lyon’s second delivery and smashed him for a six over long-on to reach the milestone. He thus becomes the first cricketer to record the feat against Australia in international cricket. This was also Rohit's 424th six in international career.

Marnus Labuschagne tried to unsettle Shubman Gill at the start of India's innings by asking him about his favourite cricketer. The Australia batsman also mentioned Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in his attempt to pester Gill for an answer. But the 21-year-old India opener was focussed on his batting and refused to answer.