Team India have put themselves in a commanding position after the second day’s play in the ongoing first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia at the Optus Stadium, Perth.
Resuming form 67/7, Australia’s first innings folded for 104 in the first session on Day 2. While stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah returned with a five-wicket haul (5-30), Harshit Rana (3-48) and Mohammed Siraj (2-20) shared the remaining five scalps between them as India gained a handy lead of 46 runs.
In the second innings, India's opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul made a strong start. They batted cautiously against the new ball and punished the Aussie bowlers after getting set.
With this approach, Jaiswal and Rahul didn’t only put India in a position of dominance but only tired out the Australian bowling attack.
While Jaiswal ended the second day on 90* off 193 balls, Rahul remained unbeaten on 62 off 153 balls. Thanks to their brilliance, India reached 172/0 at stumps, extending their overall lead to 218 runs.
Their century partnership was particularly significant, marking the first hundred-run opening stand for India in Australia since January 2004. This stand is also only the sixth century partnership for the opening wicket by Indian openers on Australian soil.
For their disciplined batting display, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul received rich praise from the cricket fraternity on social media platform X.
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