India vs Australia: Mohammad Siraj Anticipates Bouncer, Ducks Before Pat Cummins Delivers the Ball

Australian bowlers pushed India on the back foot in the series once again, after they bundled out the latter for 244. At the beginning of day two, India was 96-2, but then lost track at the start of the day. Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were once again on top of their game. They managed to trouble every batsman with their short bowling, and even injured the likes of Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja.

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Seeing all this from the pavilion, it looked like number 11 batsman Mohammad Siraj was all prepared to face the music. On one occasion, he ducked, anticipating a bouncer, even before Cummins had delivered the ball. This left everyone in spilts.

Siraj shaped to duck before the ball even bounced 😅 #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/uZ3vtHQpxl

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) January 9, 2021

Meanhile, Cheteshwar Pujara made his slowest ever Test half-century, taking 174 balls for the milestone before falling two balls later in the third Test against Australia in Sydney. Prior to this knock, Pujara's slowest half-century was off 173 balls against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2018.

Pujara's 50 off 176 divided opinion among fans following the match. He had walked in with India 70 for 1, openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill giving a fairly brisk start. However, India's run rate dipped with Gill's departure; Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane (22 off 70) sharing 32 off 135 balls for the third wicket. After Rahane fell early on Day 3, Hanuma Vihari (4 off 38) too followed the same pattern adding 25 off 76 balls for the fourth wicket with Pujara.

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Pujara didn't score a boundary for his first 100 balls, and ended his knock with five fours. While the Pujara way ensured Australia's bowlers had to toil hard for wickets, there was also a line of thought that India were handing over the advantage to Australia on a good batting wicket.

• cricket
• cricket news
• India vs Australia 2020
• Mohammad Siraj
• Pat Cummins
• Ravindra Jadeja
• Rishabh Pant