Australia vs India, WTC Final: Day 4 – Talking Points  

A thrilling day of Test cricket comes to an end as India are in deficit by 280 runs at the end of Day 4 of the ICC World Test Championship final. It has been a topsy-turvy day where both teams fought valiantly. We’ve seen some tough fights from Carey-Starc with the bat while the Indian side also came with a positive mindset. As of now, it’s Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane ticking the scorecard around for the Men in Blue and keeping the side in the game. Alex Carey and Cameron Green hung in for a long time today after losing Marnus Labuschagne earlier in the day. They put on a 43-run stand before Ravindra Jadeja took the wicket of the all-rounder. He was aiming for the rough around the fifth stump of the left-hander, but Mitchell Starc and Alex Carey were standing in his path.

A 93-run partnership followed, frustrating India for an extended period. Mitchell Starc batted brilliantly but fell nine runs short of a half-century. Starc was defeated by the second fresh ball. Carey, on the other hand, kept brooming the spinner and played some appealing shots to help Australia ask a staggering total to be chased in the 4th innings. The task for India was 444 and they had approximately 4 and a half sessions to surmount. 

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In Reply, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma kicked off with a boundary off the Indian skipper in the first over itself. The duo played some enterprising shots and then it was Gill who was removed at the cusp of Lunch. After the seventh over, Boland induced the outside edge of Gill into play and Cameron Green at fine gully snatched a sensational catch diving to his left. The neatness of the take was referred to by the TV umpire Richard Kettleborough and the decision went with the fielding side. Soon, a fifty-plus runs stand succeeded between Rohit and Pujara which steadied the ship for India. Although Pujara looked very uncharacterized, the Mumbaikar played some outrageous shots. There was a trap set up to fox him in his own strength but the Indian captain negated quite smartly. 

Nathan Lyon stepped in for Australia and broke the stand as Rohit was trapped in front in the fifth ball of the first over in the innings. Soon, Pujara nicked one bumper and got out to Pat Cummins. Suddenly the pressure was increased and two new batters – Kohli and Rahane stepped in. Both the experienced batters were watchful in their approach and found the occasional boundaries against both the spinners and the pacers. Anything overpitched or widish, the duo cashed in properly. They contributed with a valuable 71* runs partnership and will look to continue the process on the fifth day of the Test.