'Rishabh Pant can change this Test but he won't': Gavaskar tears ...

Virat Kohli laboriously walked back to the pavilion. India were three down in their second innings and staring down the barrel. Pat Cummins, Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc were making pink ball dance to their tunes under lights. In walked Rishabh Pant to join Shuibman Gill in the middle. What did he do? He charged down the track to Boland, exposing all his stumps and smashed him over mid-off to get off the mark with a boundary off his first ball. That's Rishabh Pant for you. He has done this far too often in Test cricket now for it to be even considered unusual. But the 'what if' factor always lingers at the back of every Indian cricket fan's head. What if he mistimes one of those and gets caught? Will that count as the most reckless way of throwing the wicket away when the match is on the line? That's a never-ending debate. It's a punt that you perhaps have to take with someone like Rishabh Pant.

Indian batsman Rishabh Pant plays a shot on the second day of the second cricket Test match against Australia(AFP)

Sunil Gavaskar said it perhaps becomes easier for Pant to play in that manner, knowing Test cricket is not the only format to look forward to. In an indirect dig at Pant, Gavaskar said players know that even if they get dropped from the Indian Test side, they have the IPL to fall back on.

"Very entertaining, no question about it. But you mustn't forget, in the old days, there was no alternative to Test cricket; if you didn't play Test cricket, you went back to Ranji Trophy, you went back to club cricket, and that was it. When you have a cushion like the IPL, like the contract system, you can play this way. So what if you get dropped from the Indian team, you have the IPL," Gavaskar said in the post-match show on Star Sports after the end of Day 2 in Adelaide.

India's hopes of a miraculous comeback rested on Pant's shoulders after Australia reduced India to 128 for five in their second innings. Pant was unbeaten on 28 off 25 balls while all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy made his way to an enterprising 15 off 14 balls. India were still 29 runs away from making Australia bat again.

When Gavaskar was asked if India could make a comeback through a magical innings from Pant, Gavaskar said it could happen as nothing is impossible but it won't. "Can he come out tomorrow and turn this back India's way?" asked Mark Nicholas. Gavaskar said, "He can but he won't."

Earlier in the day, Australia took advantage of good batting conditions to gain the upper hand.

It was placed at 191-4 at lunch with both Head and Marnus Labuschagne scoring half-centuries.

Nathan McSweeney was out caught behind for 39 and Head-Labuschagne added 65 runs for the fourth wicket. In between, Steve Smith was also caught behind for two off Jasprit Bumrah.

Labuschagne fell prior to lunch, out for 64 runs off 126 balls — his second half-century in the past 11 innings.

After lunch though, Head dominated the Indian bowling on his home ground. He smacked Ravichandran Ashwin for three sixes, and hit another one off Mohammed Siraj.

Head had reached 50 off 63 balls before lunch and afterward only accelerated toward his hundred, reaching the milestone off 111 balls.

Wickets did fall at the other end — Mitchell Marsh was caught behind off Ashwin, while Bumrah (4-61) and Siraj finished with four wickets each.

Head was out after Australia crossed the 300 mark, out bowled off Siraj. He walked off to a grand reception from his home crowd while the hosts’ innings finished shortly after the tea break.

It left India to contend with the evening session under lights and its batting lineup failed to rise to the occasion.

Lokesh Rahul was the first to go — caught behind pulling off Cummins for seven.

Yashasvi Jaiswal got off to a start and hit four fours in his 24 off 31 balls. But he was caught behind off Boland in the ninth over.

Virat Kohli struggled against Boland’s disciplined line and was caught behind too — out for 11 off 21 balls as India was down to 66-3 in 14.3 overs.

There was more to come — Mitchell Starc bowled Shubman Gill for a second time in this test. He scored 28 off 30 balls with three fours.

Cummins then bowled Rohit Sharma (6) before stumps. The Indian skipper has tallied only one 50-plus score in his last 12 innings.

Stay informed with the...

See more