India's Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane took over the responsibility to lead the side after Virat Kohli flew back home after the first Test in Adelaide. The captain's hat also brought him some runs and he scored one of the toughest centuries at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
In the first innings for Team India, Rahane scored 112 and shared a 121-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja, who scored 57. The stand was broken due to some miscommunication between the duo that led to the skipper's run-out dismissal. Once Rahane was out with India's score being 294/6, India could manage only 32 runs more and were bowled out for 326.
Ravindra Jadeja told Sports Today, "When I walked in to bat, the team's position was down. I had a chat with Ajinkya that we will try to build a partnership from hereon. If we can build a good partnership here then we can take lead over Australia and put pressure on them.
We had those little plans to add on 20-30 runs in the partnership. At times it happens that if you start thinking about a big partnership then that will put you under pressure."
"Unfortunately that run-out, miscalling happened, and I didn't like it. We had forged a very good partnership but it's a part of the game. Misunderstandings happen sometimes. But we still managed to take a good lead after that run-out.
We are in a strong position and we knew that if we took a 100-plus lead then we can bowl them out in second innings," he added.
Team India chased down a paltry total of 70 under 16 overs and leveled the series 1-1. Eventually, they went on to draw the third Test in Sydney and beat the Australian side in their 'fortress' - The Gabba in Brisbane - to win the series 2-1.
(With inputs from Sports Today)
