Australia vs India, Third Test: Unique records scripted on Day-2
Team India dominated Day 2 of the third Test against Australia despite a brilliant ton by Steve Smith. The visitors were on the money with the ball, disarraying Australia's middle-order. Eventually, a solid opening partnership by Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill put them into a commanding position. Let us have a look at the unique records scripted in the ongoing SCG Test.
Youngster Gill played a scintillating knock as he came out to bat in the final session. He slammed his maiden fifty in only his second Test. Notably, Gill became the fourth-youngest Indian opener (21y, 122d) to score 50 or more outside Asia (Tests). He was later dismissed by Pat Cummins. Interestingly, Cummins delivered all the balls in his first eight overs only to Gill.
Openers Gill and Rohit were on the charge against the Australian bowlers. They shared a 70-run stand for the first wicket in 26.6 overs. The duo lasted more overs than the Indian openers combined in the first four innings on the tour (8.5 overs). Notably, the last time an Indian opening pair settled for longer was 92 innings ago (Sehwag-Gambhir: 29.3 overs in 2010).
Rohit, who played his first Test innings after a gap of over 13 months, reached a special milestone at the SCG. He became the first-ever player to complete 100 international sixes against Australia. Notably, Rohit owns 37 more maximums than the next-best Eoin Morgan (63).
Top-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara joined in the middle after Rohit departed. He took his due time to settle in, defending the ball more often than not. The 32-year-old scored 9 runs off 53 balls before the umpires called stumps. Interestingly, he accumulated these runs by collecting 'threes' on three separate deliveries. The rest of deliveries turned out to be dots.
Pujara registered his last Test hundred (193) at the SCG on India's 2018/2019 tour Down Under. Ever since his highest score has been 81 (vs SA). He has struggled to get going in the ongoing tour with scores of 3, 17, 0, and 43.
It was a special day for Smith, who slammed a record-equaling 27th Test hundred. The Australian maestro equaled his counterpart Virat Kohli and the great Allan Border in terms of overall Test centuries. This was also his eighth hundred against India in Test cricket. Notably, 13 of Smith's 38 international tons have been scored against India, which accounts to 34% of his international centuries.
Australian pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood achieved a notable milestone on his 30th birthday. He became the 11th Australian to scalp 300 wickets in international cricket. So far, his wickets in the three formats read as - Tests: 203, ODIs: 88 and T20Is: 9. He celebrated the landmark after dismissing Rohit for 26. At stumps on Day 2, Hazlewood finished with figures of 1/23.
Earlier in the match, Indian fast bowler, Navdeep Saini, who is making his Test debut, dismissed Australia's debutant Will Pucovski. The former sent Pucovski back on 62 as he trapped him in front. This is the first time that an Indian Test debutant has dismissed another debutant (opposition) with 50+ runs. Overall, Saini became the fifth Indian whose first Test wicket was a debutant.
