The fourth Test between India and Australia went to the last session of the fifth day, with the hosts emerging victorious by 184 runs. Chasing 340 runs, India lost three wickets in the first session, but Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant didn’t allow Australia to make further inroads in the second session.
However, Pant played a reckless shot to gift his wicket to Travis Head, and Australia capitalized on this opening and registered a victory.
Former England player Mark Nicholas didn’t think that Pant’s dismissal was the reason behind India’s defeat. He said the visiting unit lost the contest on the fourth day when they allowed Pat Cummins and Marnus Labuschagne to add 50 runs.
“Australia were 91/6 and India had every chance to restrict the rivals on a low score. But they allowed Marnus and Cummins to carry on by not bowling properly to the Australian captain. Everyone knows that Cummins likes to move away to play shots on the off-side, but none of the Indian bowlers bowled him into his rib cage. The partnership was behind Australia’s big lead and it played on the minds of the Indian batters,” he said.
Justin Langer commented that the dismissal of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul in quick succession changed the game in Australia’s favour. At the same time, Sanjay Manjrekar thought that Rishabh Pant’s wicket was one of the reasons.
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