The Australian duo – Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will resume the second innings at 103/2, as the Ravindra Jadeja-less Indian bowling attack would throw their kitchen sink to ground the home team for cheap. With no Jadeja to make the old ball useful, Ajinkya Rahane might hand short spells to Hanuma Vihari, who can offer decent off-spin. However, Jasprit Bumrah followed by Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini, will have to neutralize Smith and Labuschagne early to exploit Australia’s middle-order woes.

The Day 2 of the SCG test was dominated by Australia, first with the ball and then the bat. Dismissing Ajinkya Rahane early, the pacers sent back Rishabh Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara in consecutive overs. The lower middle-order and the tail could only manage to take the score to 244 – a 94 run deficit. Although the Indian bowlers successfully dismissed the Aussie openers under 10 overs, Smith and Labuschagne stitched a reasonable stand, shifting the advantage back to the Kangaroos