Last update:December 30, 2024 10:52 AM IST

Head gestured towards the crowd and stuck a finger in his crooked other hand, meaning Pant had fallen straight into the trap Australia had set to remove him.

Travis Head’s provocative celebration after Rishabh Pant’s dismissal (X)

Travis Head continues to haunt India in one way or another as the swashbuckling batsman struck with the ball, removing Rishabh Pant to a unique celebration on the final day of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

Shortly after play began on day five, Jasprit Bumrah took his 13th five-wicket haul in Test cricket as Australia scored 234 and India set a target of 340 to win.

Despite the urgency, India’s top players barring Yashasvi Jaiswal failed to fire once again as the likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli all failed and India trailed 33-3 at midday.

The onus then fell on southpaws Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant to revive India’s innings and the duo put together a stabilizing 88-run partnership as they played through the second session with patience and composure.

With Australia needing a breakthrough, captain Pat Cummins passed the ball to Travis Head to arm-roll it to target Pant.

Head would soon repay Cummins’ faith, enticing Pant to pull a ball towards long-on, where Mitchell Marsh would be lurking to catch the ball, prompting Head to perform a unique celebration as the Indian entered the crease left.

Head gestured towards the crowd and stuck a finger in his crooked other hand, meaning Pant had fallen straight into the trap Australia had set to remove him.

Pant’s removal would trigger a domino effect as both Ravindra Jadeja and first-innings centurion Nitish KumarReddy both fell soon after with scores of 2 and 1 respectively as India would fall to 130-6 and seemingly headed for defeat.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a grueling fifty of his own, is seen as India’s best hope as the opener alongside Wahsington Sundar will look to hopefully patiently play through the final session and help the visitors to a draw to keep the series tied in the final Test.