India vs Australia: Debutant Agarwal falls for 76 after frustrating Kangaroos

MELBOURNE: Australia snared the crucial wicket of India’s Mayank Agarwal on the stroke of tea to offer a glimmer of hope in the third Test on a docile, batsman-friendly Melbourne wicket on Wednesday.

India came into the clash with a new pair of inexperienced openers after the misfiring Murali Vijay and KL Rahul were axed, suggesting a hint of panic as Virat Kohli’s men look to win their first ever series in Australia.

But the exciting Agarwal rose to the challenge after Kohli won an important toss and opted to bat on a pitch that is expected to deteriorate as the match wears on.

He stroked 76 and was looking impregnable before Pat Cummins had him caught behind by Tim Paine as he gloved the last ball before the break down the legside.

India ground their way to 123 for two at tea with the patient Cheteshwar Pujara unbeaten on 33.

The four-Test series is tied 1-1 after India won the opening clash in Adelaide by 31 runs and Australia drew level with a 146-run victory in Perth, making Melbourne a crunch encounter.

Agarwal, who has been in fine form in domestic Indian cricket, scored his first Test runs with a three through the covers off Josh Hazlewood and he had plundered 17 before the more cagey Hanuma Vihari, promoted to open from number six in Perth, troubled the scorers.

After two lively pitches in Adelaide and Perth produced results, the track prepared for the Melbourne Cricket Ground was not bowler-friendly and skipper Tim Paine brought on spinner Nathan Lyon in only the seventh over to see if he could weave some magic.

But it was Cummins who got the breakthrough.

Vihari had already taken a nasty blow on the helmet in the 12th over, with the physio needed to check he was okay.

The Bangalore right-hander continued but when he tried to avoid another brutal Cummins bouncer the ball pinged off his glove. Aaron Finch took an easy catch in the slips and he was gone for eight.

All-rounder Mitch Marsh was then brought into the attack to see if he could unsettle Agarwal only to be met with boos from a section of the crowd, having been recalled in place of local boy Peter Handscomb.

But Agarwal was unflappable and glided to his maiden Test 50 off 95 balls by effortlessly drilling a Lyon delivery past the non-striker for four.

His 76 is the highest score by an Indian opener so far this series, with the 27-year-old not only stroking some scintillating shots, but adding runs around the ground with aggressive running while effortlessly ducking and weaving the short-pitched deliveries.

At the other end Pujara deployed his usual blocking technique, picking off runs from loose balls.

He rarely looked threatened although he got an inside edge on 33 that just failed to carry to Usman Khawaja at gully.Australia: Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Tim Paine (capt), Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc.

India: Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

Umpires: Marais Erasmus (RSA), Ian Gould (ENG)

TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG)

Match referee: Paul Wilson (AUS)