The ball change transformed the proceedings with Australia smashing the Indian spinners away after being put under the pump in the first half hour.
A ball change in the morning of the much-anticipated Day 3 in the Indore Test came back to haunt India as Australia managed to reverse the momentum against the hosts and inched ever so closer to regaining a foot into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Needing a measly 76 to win the third Test, Australia were under a bit of strife at 13/1 after 10 overs on a track that offered sharp turn with inconsistent bounce to really egg on the batters. But that ball change somehow transformed the proceedings, leading to a flurry of boundaries.
It started with India’s premier off-spinner R Ashwin asking the umpire to check upon the ball. Ashwin was visibly concerned about a dent on the red cherry near the seam that had come about due to a boundary at the end of the previous over from Travis Head.
As it panned out, the standing umpires put the ball to the ring test and duly changed it seeing it lose its shape. India would’ve hoped that this new ball brings them luck and pave way for the wickets they required.
However, in a dramatic turn of events, Head and his batting Marnus Labushagne really picked up a gear and smashed the next three overs for 27 runs, significantly eating into the target.
Very very quickly, the scoreboard read 40/1 in 13 overs, with Australia only 36 short of recording a famous Test win on Indian soil. Only their second in these conditions since the start of the last decade and their fourth overall from the beginning of the century.
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Before the new ball was introduced, the game was still at a touch-and-go point, where one wicket may have lead to an Australian collapse, something that hurt the tourists badly in the first two Tests in Nagpur and Delhi.
But the ball changed suddenly inspired an idea for them go gung-ho against the Indian spinners and make a statement of sorts while achieving the target just after the first hour of play in the first session.
