A gritty knock from stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane helped India establish an 82-run lead over Australia on Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. 

Rahane (104* from 200) absorbed the early threat from the menacing Australian pace attack and brought up his 12th Test ton with a masterful cut to find the backward point fence. 

Rahane’s century was his second against Australia and the second at the iconic MCG, making him only the second Indian batsman to achieve that feat, after Vinoo Mankad. It was also his eighth century outside home. 

In an emphatic response to the drubbing in the first Test in Adelaide, India finished the day with 277 runs on the board for the loss of five wickets.

Starting the day on 36/1, Shubman Gill (45 from 65) and Cheteshwar Pujara (17 from 70) fell early to an on-fire Pat Cummins (2/71), both being caught behind by skipper Tim Paine, who became the fastest wicketkeeper to notch 150 Test dismissals. 

The 32-year old came in with the need to rebuild and added 52 and 57 runs for the fourth and fifth wickets with Hanuma Vihari (21 from 66) and Rishabh Pant (29 from 40) respectively. 

Pant’s dismissal came as a sucker punch for the visitors as he had just started to force the issue and put the bowlers under pressure. But Mitchell Starc (2/61) forced an edge for his 250th test wicket and bring the hosts back into the game. 

However, a 104-run partnership between Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja (40 from 104) put the visitors firmly in the driver’s seat as runs were scored at a much quicker rate. 

Rahane had his fair share of luck, being dropped at 73 by Steve Smith at the slips in the very first over of the second new-ball spell. He was also dropped just before the end of day’s play at gully by Travis Head, who thought he collected a regulation diving catch, but spilled it on the landing.