Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar cut India's deficit

 Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar cut India's deficit

Nitish Reddy justified the Indian management's tough selection decision for the MCG Test with a composed and determined performance on the third afternoon. Coming in at 191/6, the allrounder formed a record-breaking eighth-wicket partnership of 105* runs with Washington Sundar, helping India recover from a precarious position. By the time an early Tea break was called due to bad light, India's deficit had been reduced to 148 runs.

In their 32.1-over alliance, both Nitish and Washington proved that the conditions were more favorable to the batters. Washington, with his patient 40 runs from 115 balls, provided solid support to Nitish, who notched up his maiden Test fifty and is now just 15 runs shy of a century.

Nitish's 85 came at a brisk rate of 71.43, yet he played with remarkable restraint. He avoided the common temptation of playing the ramp shot against short balls from Pat Cummins, a shot that had previously dismissed him in Adelaide. Despite being hit on the glove by a short ball, he remained unfazed. From the outset, Nitish exuded confidence, driving the quicks with authority and even charging at Nathan Lyon. There was only one moment of audacity when he attempted a reverse sweep against pacer Scott Boland, but aside from that, his approach was controlled.

Their partnership was forged after a dramatic morning session. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, both capable of building big partnerships, were dismissed by Boland and Lyon, leaving India seven down and in danger of conceding a significant first-innings lead. Pant fell while attempting to lap Boland over the leg side, only managing to top-edge the ball to Lyon at third man.

Jadeja, who had been cautious throughout, fell victim to a trick of his own making. Lyon, mixing his lengths, bowled a quicker ball at 88 km/h that trapped Jadeja on the back foot, resulting in an lbw. From 221/7 in the 65th over, Australia's hopes of a swift finish were dashed. Thanks to the unbeaten eighth-wicket stand, India forced Australia to take the second new ball in their first innings for the first time in eight Tests.

Brief scores:
India 326/7 (Nitish Reddy 85*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 82; Scott Boland 3-49) trail Australia 474 (Steve Smith 140, Marnus Labuschagne 72; Jasprit Bumrah 4-99) by 148 runs.