India Struggles at Lunch with 57/3 as Rahul, Jaiswal, and Gill Fall to Australia in 5th Test

Sydney, Jan 3 (NationPress) The Indian top-order struggled significantly, with KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill falling cheaply, as Australia dominated to leave India at 57/3 after 25 overs at lunch on the opening day of the fifth Test held at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.

On a cloudy morning, India made the decision to rest captain Rohit Sharma, appointing Jasprit Bumrah as the stand-in captain. Bumrah opted to bat first after winning the toss on a green pitch, but India was unable to take advantage of the conditions as both Rahul and Jaiswal were dismissed within the first eight overs. Gill seemed promising until a lapse in focus led to his dismissal just before lunch.

During the morning session, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins exploited the bounce on the green SCG pitch, which appeared to be on the slower side. Rahul initially displayed good judgement against balls outside the off-stump but fell for a mere four runs off 14 balls after chipping a half-volley on leg-stump to square leg from Starc.

Scott Boland made his mark with his fourth delivery in India’s eighth over, extracting an outside edge from Jaiswal's bat, which was caught cleanly by debutant Beau Webster at third slip, as the opener managed just 10 runs off 26 balls.

The seamer almost claimed a second wicket on Virat Kohli's first ball, finding Kohli's outside edge, but Steve Smith couldn't hold onto the catch, allowing Kohli to stay at the crease after the TV umpire Joel Wilson ruled him not out.

From that point, Kohli, with a stance covering the middle and off stumps, appeared solid in defence. Meanwhile, Gill started strong, hitting fours off both Cummins and Starc. Just when it seemed India might conclude the session without further loss, Gill danced down the pitch against Nathan Lyon in the final over before lunch, only to edge it to slip, finishing with 20 runs off 64 balls.

Brief Scores: India 57/3 in 25 overs (Shubman Gill 20, Virat Kohli 12 not out; Nathan Lyon 1-1, Scott Boland 1-5) against Australia