At the end of Day 2 in the Adelaide Test against Australia, Team India still trail by 29 runs with 5 wickets in hand, indicating they remain at risk of being defeated by an innings.
After claiming a dominant 295-run victory at Optus Stadium in Perth, Rohit Sharma’s team is now facing a tough challenge in Adelaide. With three days remaining in the Test, the visitors require something remarkable to change the course of events.
Mitchell Starc troubled India early with a six-wicket performance in the first innings, following which Travis Head added to their misery with a 140-run innings.
Apart from Jasprit Bumrah, who claimed four wickets, and Nitish Reddy, who scored a determined 42 at a crucial stage, the rest of the team, including Virat Kohli and captain Rohit, have not contributed significantly.
Given that India is still far from eliminating the deficit, is there a possibility for them to evade a loss? Let’s examine some figures leading into the final three days of the Test match. Keep in mind that currently they do not favor India, and Australia is the clear favorite.
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Can India post enough runs on the board?
As of now, India stands at 128 for five in their second innings after 24 overs, indicating they are far from being in control. The top third-innings total in Day-Night Tests at the Adelaide Oval is 250, achieved by South Africa in November 2016. Even if India reaches that point, they would challenge Australia with a target of 94, which shouldn’t pose much of a problem for Pat Cummins and his team.
In November 2019, Pakistan made 239 runs in the match where David Warner achieved an unbeaten 335. New Zealand scored 208 in the first pink-ball Test held in November 2015. If statistics are to be examined, India requires something quite extraordinary, at least from one of their two overnight batsmen, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rishabh Pant, if not from both.
Team India, at least need to put up a lead of 150-200 on the board to get Australia in some sort of trouble. For that to happen, that need a special innings from Rishabh Pant along with significant contributions from the lower order.
What to look forward to?
Realistically, it will be very tough for India to make a match of it. But they can surely give a good fight to the Australians and keep good spirits high for the upcoming matches of the series.
Australia aims to finish the Adelaide Test in the most efficient manner. At present, India, Australia, and South Africa are competing for two of the three places in the final of the ongoing World Test Championship 2023-25. For India, the extent of the target they set for Australia to pursue depends on Pant, Reddy, and Ravi Ashwin.
