The ongoing Test match between Australia and India in Adelaide has now been shifted in the favor of visitors in the second innings as they are having a lead of more than 150 runs with 7 wickets in hand as their batsmen had shown a great application in the second innings. The Indian openers, Murali Vijay and KL Rahul batted really well unlike their first outing and put some pressure on the hosts. The latter especially was in superb touch as he smacked Pat Cummins for a six over sweeper cover and his IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) straightaway shelled out a warning to Australia.
After getting himself in, Rahul showed some immense patience and played a few classical drives on the up. But what grabbed the eyeballs was his exquisite shot off Cummins’ pitched up delivery which offered a width and allowed him to free his arms. It was such a brilliant shot and was quite similar to Rohit Sharma‘s shot which he played in the first innings, incidentally off the same bowler.
It was the first delivery of the 15th over which was bowled by Cummins. The ball was overpitched with width and Rahul lofted it straight over the sweeper cover. It was the shot of the match which is often been played in the limited-overs but not so much in red-ball cricket. Rohit, who was sitting in the pavilion for his turn to bat, would have been glad as he played a similar shot against the same bowler in the first innings.
WATCH – KL Rahul Handled The Ball, Tim Paine Got Angry
Here is the video of the shot:
— Mr Gentleman (@183_264) December 8, 2018
Soon after the shot, the official Twitter handle of the IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) warned the Australians and suggested them not to mess with their Lion. Pat Cummins had earlier tried to sledge KL Rahul and the shot was a thumping response from the batsman. The hosts also understood then that they shouldn’t say anything to Rahul as he was blossoming with every passing over.
Don't mess with our Sher! 🦁@klrahul11 #TeamIndia #AUSvIND https://t.co/zmiFDFPHDK
— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) December 8, 2018
While it felt at one stage that Rahul had finally got the measure of the pitch. He got dismissed while playing an uppish drive off Josh Hazlewood which earlier earned him a boundary came back to haunt him as he tried to play a similar shot and edged the ball to the wicket-keeper Tim Paine. At the moment, Ajinkya and Cheteshwar Pujara are fighting it out in the middle with the day ended at the score of 151/3.
