India’s fortunes took a turn for the worse on day two of the second Test match against Australia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. Most of the good work done by the Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin partnership was undone by a 12-over phase that saw the team giving away 61 runs and conceding 10 boundaries.
This performance was well below par for a team that had started the day on a high note. As a result, Australia ended the day in a commanding position with a significant lead over the visitors.
The Axar-Ashwin partnership had built a strong foundation for India with a gritty performance earlier in the day, which helped the team recover from an early collapse. The duo batted for over 20 overs and scored more than 100 runs, providing the middle order with some much-needed stability. However, their good work was largely undone by the final phase of the day’s play, during which India lost the plot.
With Australia looking to extend their lead on day three, India will need to regroup and come out all guns blazing. They will need to put in a much-improved performance to avoid falling behind even further.
The onus will be on the Indian bowlers to step up their game and contain the Australian batters, who will be looking to take the game away from their opponents. It will be a challenging day for India, as they will need to quickly wrap-up Australia’s second innings.