Young Australian cricketer Will Pucovski is riding his luck in the Sydney test. After making his debut, Pucovski looked in good form against Indian bowlers. The wicket is offering little to the bowlers which made life much easier for Australian batsmen.
Pucovski played cautiously for the majority of his innings. However, Ravichandran Ashwin got the better of the debutant when he was dropped by Pant in the 22nd over. Ashwin managed to get the outside edge but Pant failed to latch on it.
After this, Pucovski started scoring much more freely as he broke shackles riding his luck. But he once again gloved the bouncer from Mohammad Siraj in 25th over.
The ball looped past Pant but he made a valiant effort to get to the ball and catch it. But this time it popped out on his first attempt. But he claimed the catch on second attempt. The on field umpires gave the soft signal as out.
TV Umpire reviewed the decision and found conclusive evidence that ball hit the ground while Pant was taking the catch. So this gave Pucovski another life on his debut innings in international cricket.
Watch the dropped catch here
Meanwhile, after getting couple of lives, Pucovski started scoring at a faster rate. In the process, he managed to reach his fifty on debut. On the other hand, Marnus Labuschagne is looking in fine form. He looked very solid from the start and found little to no problems at all in his innings.
Watch Another Dropped Catch by Pant
Pant gives Puc a life! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/PwhpHuJI4D
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 7, 2021
India did manage to dismiss experienced Warner cheaply but soon after rain halted the game. But once the play resumed, both Pucovski and Labuschagne ensured that the team did not suffer any further damage.
Both the players took calculative risks as the pitch is becoming more batsman friendly as the day progressed. It is a mammoth task for Indian bowlers to make inroads now with little help from the pitch.
Australia will look to post a massive first innings score but India should forget the things that happened in the second session. They should go with a fresh mind into the final session of the day to salvage the situation and get back into the game.
