Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari stabilise innings after Pat Cummins strikes

Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Hanuma Vihari stabilised the Indian innings after Pat Cummins provided Australia a perfect start on day two of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday.

If Mitchell Starc provided Australia the breakthrough on day one, it was Cummins who stole the show with his fiery spell. It wasn't a good start for the hosts as the day started with an unsuccessful review and a dropped catch but Cummins ensured Australia were right back on top courtesy of his fiery spell.

Rahane and Vihari are unbeaten on 10 and 13 runs respectively and India's score reads 90/3 in 37 overs. The visitors trail by 105 runs with seven wickets in the bag.

Cummins gave Australia an upper hand in the game after two wickets in the first session. The speedster sent both Gill (45) and Pujara (17) back to the pavilion but Rahane and Vihari stood tall against the potent bowling attack and took India to lunch with no more hiccups.

Resuming day two from 36/1, Gill and Pujara weathered the storm during the first hour of the play. However, their 61-run partnership was ended by Cummins as Gill fell short of his maiden Test half-century.

Cummins made sure Australia didn't lose any momentum as he sent back Pujara in his next over. Skipper Tim Paine took a superb one-handed catch to leave India at 64/3.

Rahane and Vihari rebuilt the Indian innings after the double strike by Cummins. The duo ensured that the hosts did not lose any more wickets before the end of the first session.

After the end of the opening day, India's score read 36/1 with Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara on the crease. For Australia, it was Mitchell Starc who had picked the lone wicket to finish the day with figures of 1/14 from four overs.

With Tim Paine winning the toss and batting first at the MCG, the hosts would have thought of putting on a decent score on the board. But led by Jasprit Bumrah (4/56), the Indians made short work of the Australian batting as they finished their first essay on 195.

Brief Scores: India 90/3 (Shubman Gill 45, Cheteshwar Pujara 17; Mitchell Starc 1-23, Pat Cummins 2-26) vs Australia 195

(ANI)

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