The visitors were 164-5 at the close on day two at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, still 310 runs adrift after Australia was out for 474 soon after lunch on the back of Smith’s stylish 140. Rishabh Pant was not out six and Ravindra Jadeja on four, with three wickets in the final half-hour bursting India’s momentum after they were 153-2. Scott Boland and Pat Cummins grabbed two wickets each.
Skipper Rohit Sharma reverted to his usual role as opener after dropping to six in the past two Tests. But it did nothing to help his woeful recent form and he was out for three, spooning an attempted pull shot off Pat Cummins to Boland at mid-on for a simple catch. Cummins pounced again to remove the in-form KL Rahul with the last ball before tea, bowling him for 24.
But opener Yashasvi Jaiswal stood firm with a high-quality innings, playing well off the front foot and crunching a series of stylish boundaries in his 82. The 22-year-old, who scored 161 in the first Test at Perth, looked destined for another century but threw his wicket away in a comical mix up with Virat Kohli. Jaiswal set off for a quick single off Boland but his teammate said no, leaving the youngster stranded, ending a dangerous 102-run stand.
Kohli, who was fined 20 percent of his match fee for a day one shoulder charge on Australian debutant Sam Konstas, was caught behind by Alex Carey for 36 off Boland, who then removed nightwatchman Akash Deep without scoring. The hosts resumed on 311-6 after a dominant opening da.
