WTC Final, Day 3: Preview – Rahane, Bharat must save India’s sinking ship as Oz eye big lead in 2nd innings

Ajinkya Rahane and KS Bharat would need to shoulder some responsibility early on day three if India were to avoid the follow-on in the first innings of the ongoing WTC Final against Australia. After the Indian team got reduced to 151 for five at stumps the previous day, tensions rose in the dressing room, with the remaining batters needing to score at least a hundred more runs to help India gain a little momentum.

The India team lost early wickets in their first innings, with Shubman Gill and Chesteshwar Pujara suffering the same fate of not reading the line of the ball properly and getting out clean bowled without even offering a shot. Captain Rohit Sharma had his counterpart Pat Cummins trapping him in front, while Mitchell Starc got the big fish Virat Kohli off a stunning bouncer that was well-caught by Steve Smith at second slip.

Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane stitched a 71-run stand for the fifth wicket before Nathan Lyon struck gold and got rid of the dangerous-looking Jadeja on 48.

How can Rahane, Bharat save India’s sinking ship?

It’s not the right time to think about miracles happening in the first hour on day three. Though at most venues in the world, especially in the SENA countries, the third-day pitch is presumed to be best for batting, Indian batters still want to put in hard yards and not think about easy runs. 

With Rahane, everyone expects more leaves than plays, while with Bharat, even the Indian fans are unsure what version of him will take the field on Friday. 

For best, India can avoid losing wickets in the first 10 overs, and upon settling down a bit, they can take the attack to the opposition. With a lot riding on the back of these batters, making the most out of this chance will help India enter the contest again. 

Though the potent Aussie bowling attack is likely to keep Indian batters quiet; however, if the Indian team manages to score at least 150 more runs, which would be 300 in total, their chances of putting pressure back on the Oz increases.

But, if the opposite happens and the Australian attack dismisses the Indian team anything under 70 runs more, they will have their noses in front, and they are likely to bat again in the third innings instead of giving the follow-on.

With that happening, India will be staring at another ICC tournament final loss.