Pant bats with restraint; India reach 107/4 at Tea

Pant bats with restraint; India reach 107/4 at Tea

In a drama-filled start, India inched to 107/4 at Tea on the first day in Sydney. Jasprit Bumrah won the toss under overcast conditions on a green top, putting forward tougher questions for the Indian batters. Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul began watchfully as the conditions demanded, but Rahul flicked a legstump half-volley straight into the hands of square leg, pushing India behind.

Jaiswal tried to counter Scott Boland's relentless lines and lengths, but ended up nicking one into the hands of debutant Beau Webster in the slip cordon. Boland nearly did an encore with Virat Kohli nicking the first ball he faced to the right of Steve Smith, but replays appeared to show that the ball might have touched the ground.

Kohli pushed ahead with much of the discipline he had showcased in the first innings at Melbourne, forming a 40-run partnership with Shubman Gill. Gill had some close shaves with an inside edge missing the stumps and another outside edge flying over the cordon, but he too was intent on minimising unforced errors.

Gill danced down to Nathan Lyon and nicked to slip, pushing India further back. Kohli poked outside off and was out caught in the slip cordon for the seventh time in the series. Rishabh Pant copped blows on the body but did not attempt anything out of the ordinary in a fighting knock, earning him 32 off 80 balls.

Brief Scores: India 107/4 (Rishabh Pant 32*, Shubman Gill 20; Scott Boland 2-15) vs Australia