Ind vs Aus 3rd Test: 5 takeaways from the most entertaining match

The cricket fans just witnessed a scintillating Test match between India and Australia in Ranchi which ended in a draw. Not many Indian fans will be happy about that result but they can look at a lot of positives. Their Australian counterparts would probably be breathing sigh of reliefs as Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh came to their rescue in the final Day of the Test.

Both sides can take away a lot of positives from this entertaining Test match. Let us take a look at 5 takeaways from the India vs Australia 3rd Test in Ranchi:

India’s ability to fight back – Virat Kohli lost the crucial toss on a wicket that was going to act strangely. Australia piled up 450 runs in the first innings as their skipper Steve Smith let his bat do the talking. Smith brought up his second century of the series and put the visitors in a commanding position. But Indians were not going bog down that easily. KL Rahul and Murali Vijay started off brilliantly and each got 50 plus scores. Then it was Cheteshwar Pujara’s show. Wriddhiman Saha was the icing on top and that is how India achieved a 150 run lead.

Australia’s grit – The Aussies were nervous when they came out to bat in the second innings on Day 4. Ravindra Jadeja was knocking their stumps over quite effortlessly. They lost a couple of wickets before the end of day’s play on Day 4. On the final day, they lost the wickets of Matt Renshaw and their captain before lunch. But the show put up by Marsh and Handscomb was incredible. The resilience and the grit made the Indian bowlers toil throughout the day to break that partnership.

There’s none better than Kohli – The Indian captain had injured his shoulder on the very first day of the Test. He was taken off the field by the Indian team physio. The injury was not serious but it could have gotten worse. Kohli came out to bat on Day 3 with that injured shoulder. The Aussies even mocked him after he got out. But the Indian fans would love the passion Kohli showed.

Most entertaining Test of the home season – The tides kept on swinging right till the end of the Day 5. Both teams showed enough will power and resilience to pull this off.

The draw sets up a cracker of a Test in Dharamsala – This is the first time that a visiting team has batted out a draw after trailing in the first innings in India since 2010-2011. However, the fourth Test of the series has automatically turned into a decider. So we cannot really wait for the final game to start.

• India vs Australia
• Ind vs Aus
• 3rd Test