India lost KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill within 16 balls in a manic run of play near the end of the first session of the second Test against Australia in Adelaide. Led by Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland, Australia made a storming return to the day-night Test following a smooth partnership between KL Rahul and Shubman Gill, where both batsmen capitalized on their luck but never failed to capitalize on an opportunity to score to push the boundaries.

Starc dismissed in-form opener Yashasvi Jaiswal with the first delivery of the pink-ball Test and then sent back KL Rahul and Virat Kohli again in the second hour of play as Australia ended the session dominantly. At the first break, returning captain Rohit Sharma was unbeaten on 1 and Rishabh Pant was 4 not out. Starc scored 3-31 in eight overs.

Star ensured a heartbreaking start to the day-night Test by giving in-form Indian opener Jaiswal the marching orders for a platinum duck. It was a complete performance and Jaiswal, who was expecting an away player at the start of the Test, played all around.

Shubman Gill (31) and Rahul (37) then added 69 runs for the second wicket. Gill appeared to be in top form despite missing the first Test due to a thumb injury, scoring five boundaries.

India were 36-1 after the first hour, with Rahul again starting slowly and surviving two chances from Scott Boland’s first over.

He was found to be behind in the eighth over, only for it to be ruled a no-ball, and was then dropped at slip four balls later because Usman Khwaja failed to hold on.

India lose Rahul, Kohli and Gill in a manic 16 balls

Rahul faced 64 balls before he was finally caught at gully off Starc in the 19th over. This is where the test match started to take a different turn. The right-hander, for whom captain Rohit Sharma sacrificed the opening position, could not control the extra bounce that Starc created and pushed it to gully.

Extra bounce also caused Virat Kohli a problem and he was caught slipping for seven minutes. Once again, Kohli’s forward momentum led to his downfall. He didn’t have enough time to shift his weight onto his back foot and make the jump. Former Australia opener Justin Langer said Kohli was unsure whether he should play or not.

“Even the biggest players…they hit through coverage or get their hands off it. This is a difficult thing. Virat Kohli wasn’t sure whether to play or leave it,” Langer said on commentary.

Things went from bad to worse for India as Boland struck at the other end, trapping Gill lbw as India lost three wickets for 12 runs in 16 deliveries, surrendering their early lead. Much like Jaiswal, Gill was guilty of going over and missing a full and straight delivery.

The return of Rohit Sharma and Gill were two of three changes to the Indian line-up that convincingly won the opening game of the series in Perth last week.

Australia made a change and Boland was recalled to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood, who sustained a side strain in Australia’s heavy 295-run defeat in the first Test, taking a match tally of 5-57 from 34 overs.