India vs Australia: Nathan Lyon 8-for to Pujara's gritty 50, five talking points from Day 2 of 3rd Test

Add as a preferred source on Google

India vs Australia third Test has reached its fag end with thirty wickets falling across two days at Indore's Holkar Stadium. At the end of Day 2's play, India were staring at a defeat as they could only set a target of 76 for the visitors to chase as India were bundled out for 163 in their second innings in response to the Aussies' 197 all out.

There were plenty of points worth pondering about from the day as the Holkar pitch has drawn flak from all quarters while the vindication made by certain Indian cricket experts -- of calling Border Gavaskar Trophy pitches "competitive" -- has fallen short.

We take a look at five such points that have led to a folding up of another Test by the third day in our five talking points.

Australian collapse

Australia finally showed glimpses of a worthy opponent by giving India taste of their own medicine on Day 1 as they packed the star-studded Indian batting order for just 109 despite the hosts winning the toss.

They made further gains by finishing the day on 156/4 (leading by 47 runs) and looked at comfort with Peter Hanscomb and Cameron Green scoring runs early. However, all that changed in space of few minutes when R Ashwin dismissed Handscomb (19) at the end of the 71st over.

Australian innings lasted just 33 deliveries from that point on as they went from 186/4 to 197 all out by the 76th over.

While spinners Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin were the familiar architect of the top-order collapse, it was pacer Umesh Yadav, who ensured that the Australian lower-order couldn't frustrate India. He dismissed Cameron Green (21), Mitchell Starc (1) and Todd Murphy (0).

India vs Australia: Dismal show of Indian top-order continues

All that good work by Umesh was almost undone by Indian top-order as likes of Rohit Sharma (12), Virat Kohli (13), Shubman Gill (5) left a lot to be desired in India's hunt to quickly bridge the gap of 88 runs established by the Aussies.

Skipper Sharma was caught plumb lbw while trying to tuck a length delivery by Nathan Lyon. The merit of the delivery gives Sharma the leeway as the ball straightened up a bit after the drop but a non-existent DRS call by the Indian captain pleased a few.

Shubman Gill, on the other hand, showed his inexperience and could be blamed of throwing away his wicket. The 23-year-old opener came down the track and made a wild slog to the leg side but was beaten by the turn to take as the ball hit the timber.

Virat Kohli look calm and composed initially in comparison to the opening duo but his shot judgment came under the scanner against Matthew Kuhnemann as the former captain misread the length of the ball and went for a flick while the ball kept low and hit his back pad.

Nathan Lyon takes charge with eight-for

Despite the questionable shot-making by the Indian top-order, let's not take anything away from Australia's No. 1 spinner Nathan Lyon, who exploited the conditions to his advantage as was expected to do from the beginning of the series and finished the Test with eight wickets in the second innings. He took three crucial wickets in the first innings as well.

This wasn't the first time that the off-spinner took five wickets or more this series, in fact, did it twice in the Delhi Test. However, the veteran spinner always struggled to take lower-order Indian wickets as they made the difference in this Border-Gavaskar series.

Likes of Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, and Axar Patel have been the cynosure of Australian eyes with their batting exploits down the order. Lyon was able to nullify the threat by dismissing Jadeja twice and Ashwin once in Indore over two days.

Cheteshwarj Pujara shows how to score runs on rank turner

An innings defeat seemed a probability for India on Thursday when Kohli was dismissed with the score reading 54/3. Of course, there was enough belief in the lower-order to grind out runs again. But let's face it, it's not always their job to do the goods with the bat because it's their bowling, which ensure their spot in the playing 11.

This made Pujara's 142-ball 59 knock crucial as the Indian innings was built around it on Day 2 when many feared that India may not be able to set a target beyond 50 runs.

Pujara showed more of his aggressive avatar from time to time as he came down the track often to score runs against Australian spinners. And not once during his flawless innings it looked like Pujara took an unnecessary risk.

India vs Australia: Steve Smith blinder turns the tide

It became evident that something special will be needed to dismiss Pujara on the day and that came from Steve Smith, whose individual brilliance saw him take a blinder at leg slip after Pujara was deceived by the turn of a full delivery and played it fine for Smith to show his athleticism.

India's innings folded in eight runs thereafter as Lyon took the last two wickets of Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Siraj to end India's innings at 163.

Smith's catch could be a moment of inspiration for the Indian team as well, who would need such moments of brilliance on Friday morning as well in order to defeat Australia in what could be considered a difficult, but not impossible, challenge.