Not many Test matches pan out like this. Even England’s current fast-forward approach has periods of normality, where bowlers bowl and batters bat. Over two days in Delhi, all six sessions have been full of incident, and the match in its third innings sits as evenly as can be. There have been eight Tests in history where teams made the same score in the first innings. With Australia’s 263 followed by India’s 262, this was nearly the ninth.
Within nine overs of India resuming in the second innings at none for 21, Australia had suffered a KL Rahul straight six, dismissed him lbw, lost two of three umpire reviews, applauded Cheteshwar Pujara to the crease in his 100th Test match, and given him a reprieve when stone dead lbw second ball for fear of losing the third review. Two overs after that they had bowled India’s captain Rohit Sharma with a ball that crawled along the floor, then nailed Pujara seventh ball.
All of those chances came from Nathan Lyon, bowling off-spin around the wicket and straightening down the line of the stumps. Within six more overs the final review was wasted on an imagined catch at short leg, Peter Handscomb took a real one in freakish pinballing fashion, and Lyon’s morning read four wickets for eight runs.
By the time he took his fifth after lunch with a top-edged sweep from wicketkeeper KS Bharat, Todd Murphy had trapped Ravindra Jadeja lbw and Matt Kuhnemann on debut had done the same to Virat Kohli. It was noteworthy not just for being Kuhnemann’s first Test wicket, but for how dynamically Kohli had played on the spinning pitch for an assured 44, and for the discontent from supporters at his being given out when bat and pad met the ball at almost the same time. Almost.
Suddenly the Australian team that had been humiliated in Nagpur had a lead of 124 and three wickets to take. But never count out Ravichandran Ashwin, and increasingly don’t count out Axar Patel. If asked about the most stubborn current India player, most teammates will answer Ashwin or Pujara. Ashwin wrote a tribute to Pujara this week before the latter’s milestone, celebrating his single-mindedness.
Game recognise game. Ashwin is not stubborn in terms of refusing to change his methods – he has made an art form of spin innovation. His stubbornness is about refusing to believe those who don’t believe in him. When he was pensioned off from India’s white-ball teams as too much of a Test operator, he kept pushing until he was back. When told that his batting had declined, he worked to shore up his position as an all-rounder. He has played some vital innings in recent years.
Today was another, following his Sydney rearguard in 2021 and his Adelaide innings in 2018 that helped set up India’s two series wins in Australia. With Axar playing the attacking role, Ashwin offered studious and infuriating support, wearing away the Australian lead and Australian patience. Hard hands snatched at catches, misfields allowed runs. The seventh century partnership of Ashwin’s career unfolded, from the 51st over all the way up to the second new ball. By the time he fell to it via a wild Matthew Renshaw catch off Patrick Cummins, that deficit had been whittled away to almost nothing.
Ashwin had made 37, Axar had freewheeled his way to 74 with a smart mix of defence and attack, and the margin ended up being one run. With 13 overs for Australia to face, you expected that they might be deflated by blowing their ascendancy in the match. That was reinforced when Usman Khawaja middled a lap-sweep only to see Shreyas Iyer at leg slip take a reflex catch to at least equal Handscomb or Renshaw.
Yet a collapse didn’t come. There had barely been time to notice that David Warner had been substituted out of the match for Renshaw with concussion, but Australia flipped the order with Travis Head coming up to open. He did so in the same vein that he played the last two Australian summers, smashing one over of pace, then attacking anything full from the spinners, driving with confidence through the off side and banging six down the ground. Marnus Labuschagne laid into Jadeja on both sides of the wicket, taking three boundaries in an over from the left-armer.
It was the last stanza in a day-long highlights reel, Australia suddenly 62 ahead by stumps with both players going at nearly a run a ball. On a pitch where some deliveries have turned sharply, bounced sharply, or kept low, this may be Australia’s best hope of getting to a defendable lead. Anything approaching 200 could be enough, and it feels inevitable that the third day will either see them dashing towards it or falling in a heap in the attempt. Either way, this match shows no signs of slowing down.
