Agarwal Impresses
Replacing his Karnataka team-mate KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal played a composed inning of 76 runs in his debut innings which provided India a solid start. Initially along with Vihari and then with Pujara, Mayank ensured that the Indian middle order is not exposed to the hardness of new ball and Australian fast bowlers are in fourth-fifth spell when they walk out in middle. Initially, against pacers Mayank had few iffy moments - poking at a few wide ones, an edge which flied past Mitch Marsh stationed at gully, a short ball that hit him on shoulder - but he was quick to learn his lessons. Against quicks, Agarwal exhibited caution while against Lyon who was introduced in 7th over there was pro-activeness. Against Lyon, Agarwal brought out his shots and put him on backfoot. Drive against the turn, a hoick over mid-off were statements of intent but nothing matched the bold slog sweep that cleared cow corner. It was a throwback to the old Indian mantra of facing spin - don't allow the spinner to find his range.
Priceless Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara, who has been time to time dropped from Indian Test XI due to his "lack of intent" and due to Kohli preferring stroke makers like Dhawan and Rohit, has risen to the occasion when India needed it the most. In Adelaide, Pujara steadied the sinking Indian ship and made a telling contribution to lay the foundation of Indian victory on Australian soil after a gap of almost 10 years. Now, here in Melbourne, he has again amassed three-figure score to put India into a position of ascendancy. On an intricate pitch, Pujara batted with great restraint and perseverance. 106 off 319 balls against a relentless attack in scorching heat underline Pujara's mental strength. Pujara negated Australian pacers by leaving a lot of deliveries in the channel outside off and presenting the full face of the bat while defending deliveries that were directed towards stump. The hallmarks of Pujara’s innings were the late cut shots - both feet momentarily in the air and the horizontal bat gliding the ball behind point. It took a peach of a delivery from Cummins which kept low to breach Pujara's defense.
The Pitch: Flat/Docile?
Many experts have criticized MCG pitch terming it a "road". But is it a fair judgment? Perhaps not. A "road" is meant to be a featherbed, where batsmen can play on the up and hit through the line. Clearly, this is not the case. Even a free strokemaker like Virat Kohli scored at a slow rate suggesting that the pitch is in no way a pro-batting paradise. Some have termed it a "lifeless" pitch. Again, a fair amount of balls have kept low, a fair number of edges haven't quite carried but at the same time, an equal number of balls have steeply bounced of good length and few even evaded Australian Wicket-Keeper Captain behind the stumps resulting in byes. So, the pitch has a variable nature. Perhaps the dryness underneath and greenery on it is adding up this variable pitch. Going into the third day the pitch is expected to quicken up. Scorching heat means cracks will open up which will pose difficulty for the batting team. The key will be to bowl within stumps to make full use of variable bounce.
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