MEN AT WORK, BUSINESS AS USUAL: Australians come together to celebrate as Rohit Sharma (3rd from left) exits on Friday. (Photo by William West/AFP via Getty Images)

MELBOURNE: In just a few seconds, hope gave way to despair here in the “G”.
India seemed to be planning a major escape plan when everything went dramatically out of hand and stumps were in sight. Yashasvi Jaiswal, the man of the moment, who batted with aplomb, looked restless since reaching the 50-century mark. In the mid-80s, he hit Scott Boland up the middle and immediately went for the run.
It was Jaiswal’s decision, but it was still a close race. At the other end, Virat Kohli, who had shown the kind of discipline that had let him down of late, jumped out as if in response, then immediately turned around and started watching the ball.
Faced with having to make a split-second decision, Jaiswal chose the brain freeze and continued running toward disaster.

After 102 fluent runs chasing Australia’s steep 474 and good rotational batting, the partnership was blossoming up to this point. It even seemed like Australia’s relentless pace attack had a fight on its hands.
When Pat Cummins threw in the ball, both batters were stranded on the non-striker’s end. The Australian fielders rushed in like pallbearers of darkness. Cummins missed the stumps but wicketkeeper Alex Carey collected the ball, ran in and whipped the balls off the striker’s end. The fight came from India.
Jaiswal, the man with a penchant for daddy hundreds, stormed off after gesturing at Kohli, who expressed his helplessness. Akash Deep came in as night watchman, another strange decision by India. Kohli was now distraught, his concentration completely shattered. In the next over, the first ball, Boland committed the cardinal sin that has dogged him for some time: fishing at the line of the fifth stump.
He had left the ball all afternoon with great anticipation and rare self-control, so much so that Australia had to change their plans for him. Boland cleverly revived the idea. Kohli lunged with the bat, the ball hit the edge and Carey was back in action.
The sending off created the unlikely sight of Kohli trotting off to loud boos in front of a record crowd of 85,147 on day two. There was more unsavory drama to come. Kohli, who had just been fined for attacking Sam Konstas on day one, has replaced Mohammed Siraj as Australian media’s No. 1 enemy, with some tabloids putting headlines like “Clown Kohli” on the cover and photo-shopping Names made his nose.
He had also looked like the guilty party in the exit and the boos followed him as he entered the locker room. Kohli walked out angrily and seemed keen on a confrontation when security guards intervened to defuse the situation.
Thirteen balls after Kohli’s dismissal, Akash Deep, who was having a torrid time against Starc, clumsily deflected a short ball from Boland. The ball whizzed from the inside edge of his bat, over the thigh pads, to Leg Gully’s hands. India had lost three wickets for six runs and eventually ended the second day of the fourth Test at 164/5, still trailing by 310 runs, with Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja left to pick up the pieces on the third morning.
Before this run-out, Jaiswal was batting like a dream in favorable conditions. In answering India’s call, the man with a penchant for the dad hundred seemed to be sailing against the tide. Without wearing the edges, he unleashed some bold shots, a few good-looking drives and pulls and some exciting ramp shots over the slip cordon.
Jaiswal had gone out to bat with Rohit Sharma, who returned to open but found the runs still choosing not to follow. Demoted to No. 3, KL Rahul unleashed some exquisite attacks until a masterful strike from Cummins sneaked through and brought the feisty Kohli to mid-on.
It’s not an easy time to be Kohli at the moment, unlike the great batsman on the other side, Steve Smith, who has returned to form with his second consecutive hundred, his 34th Test ton and the 11th against India . After struggling and having some luck in Brisbane, Smith finally rediscovered his tact and fluency here at the MCG.
After ending the second day with a batting score of 68, he made the required 32 on the second morning with minimal effort. Not much of a challenge as India had also started the day poorly. Apart from Bumrah, who troubled Smith for a while, their bowling looked dull. The field was listless and the captain’s leadership was uninspiring at times.
Smith added a brisk 112 runs with Cummins, including 31 runs in the first seven overs and 60 in the first 14. He hooked Bumrah for six to get into the nineties before a crisp cover drive from Nitish Kumar Reddy took Smith to three figures brought.
Only the bizarre manner of his dismissal, as he stormed into Akash Deep and dragged one out, would have angered the perfectionist.
It was Smith and Australia’s day and India are now teetering on the brink of disaster in this Test. Unless, of course, Rishabh Pant decides it’s a good time for another miracle.