India vs Australia: KL Rahul came out to bat at No. 3 for India in the second innings of the ongoing fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Unfortunately, he failed to get off the mark, dismissed for a duck after facing just five balls. Australian captain Pat Cummins trapped him, with Rahul caught by Usman Khawaja in the slips on the final ball of the 17th over.
The dismissal of Rahul was the second setback to India in the morning session on Day 5. His wife, Athiya Shetty, had arrived at the MCG to witness him play, and the video of her reaction after Rahul walked back to the dressing room quickly went viral with a disappointed expression on her face.
After Rohit Sharma, who was dismissed for nine runs by Khawaja off Cummins in the same over, Rahul had come to the crease. Rohit, who looked solid at the start, had added 25 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal for the opening wicket.
Rahul, who had played as India’s opening batter in the first three Tests and had also hit two half-centuries, had struggled in the first innings, scoring 24 runs from 42 balls, including three boundaries. In that innings, Cummins had dismissed him with a well-pitched delivery which breached his defence and hit the stumps.
Anushka Sharma and Athiya Shetty's reaction on KL Rahul's Wicket. [Hotstar]#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/t58FydFImU
— Digital Hunt 247 (@digitalhunt247) December 30, 2024
After losing Rohit and Rahul in quick succession, India’s problems continued as Virat Kohli was dismissed right before lunch. Kohli, who has nine Test centuries against Australia, was caught by Khawaja off Mitchell Starc for just five runs from 29 balls in India’s pursuit of 340 runs.
By the end of the session on the morning of Day 5, India was 33 for 3, which left them needing 307 to overhaul the target and rewrite history at the MCG.
