Australia’s hopes of MCG Boxing Day Test win dashed by India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy’s fighting spirit

Rain came first on Test smoke, both as Australia’s savior and its tormentor.

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Day three was getting away from the Aussies and after a session of gradual unraveling, two young Indian all-rounders were about to completely tear apart the home side’s plans.

It was to be a day of battle for Australia. Most of the almost 80,000 people who arrived on Saturday did so in the hope of seeing Sam Konstas, Steve Smith and Travis Head put Australia in a winning position.

But there were some pesky errands to attend to before the fun could begin, and Australia’s procrastination in wicket-taking soon meant it was bumping up against a looming deadline.

The rain may have briefly halted the progress of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar, and later the day ended early with the bulk of their work done, but it also cost Australia valuable time in a Test match it cannot afford not to win.

We’re halfway through the fourth Test of the summer and so now we have a pretty good grasp of the strengths and weaknesses of both sides.

In India’s case, apart from Jasprit Bumrah, its biggest strength may be the fighting spirit of the youngsters.

While Rohit Sharma battles his demons and Virat Kohli storms around post-match pampering, guys like Nitish, Yashasvi Jaiswal and now Sundar have become the main thorns in Australia’s side.

Nitish’s straight bat and clear mind stood in stark contrast to the acrobatics of Rishabh Pant earlier in the day, who as always walked the fine line between playing his “natural game” and throwing away his wicket.

If you were kind, you’d say that Pant’s shot – falling on his back as he backhanded a ball straight down the throat of Nathan Lyon at third man – was far too ambitious and seriously ill-advised. If you were Sunil Gavaskar on the ABC call, you’d call it something else: “stupid, stupid, stupid”.

It seemed at the time that India were determined to offer this Test up to Australia as a belated Christmas present, after the Kohli-Jaiswal run-out nonsense the night before. But Nitish’s arrival in the fold changed the tempo of the day.

Nitish struck with aim and control. He left the ball well and drove it immaculately down the ground but was equally happy to charge and send Nathan Lyon when the mood hit him.

And as the eighth-wicket partnership between him and Sundar grew, Australia grew increasingly tired, ragged and devoid of any spark. There were times during the afternoon when this Australian team looked, for lack of a better word, old.

Mitchell Starc had a back problem. Not one that stopped him from bowling, but one that clearly hindered him and caused him pain.

He spent plenty of time getting the attention of the team physio on the fine leg boundary, and at one point was incredibly slow off the rope in a failed attempt to take a catch. It was half a chance at best, but it was an effort nonetheless.

In the same over, Lyon chugged for a ball down the boundary, only to slip over and kick the rope as he picked it up. Later in the day, Usman Khawaja tried to slide at a barely moving ball for some reason and almost detonated his ACL.

Australia by no means bowled or bowled badly, but in light of what was spirited and determined, Indian opposition was found to lack truly game-breaking inspiration.

Not for the first time either. Look back at major series in recent years Australia have failed to win – India’s last visit four years ago, and the last two away Ashes series most notably – and you’ll find moments in matches where the game has been right there within reach but not seized.

Often it has been Australia’s inability to take lower-order wickets that has proven to go wrong, and while you certainly can’t call Nitish or Sundar tailenders, it has proved the case again here at the MCG.

There is still plenty of time for a winner and a loser to emerge, but on a pitch that remains a dream to hit on, Australia’s path to victory has narrowed considerably.

The Aussies will now have to claw their way back into a sizeable lead, up towards 350 at least, while still giving themselves enough time to bowl India out.

Breaking it down further would mean taking the last wicket and smashing around 250 runs in a little over two sessions, leaving the best part of four sessions for a physical losing bowling attack to take 10 wickets and win the game .

The odds of this game, and thus this series, have turned back significantly in India’s favor and almost all of that can be put to work by Nitish Kumar Reddy on day three.

His century, fraught with late drama as wickets tumbled at the other end, was just the latest in a growing list of turning points throughout this summer-long campaign. The challenge is before Australia again, the margin for error is smaller than ever.

Between now and day five in Sydney, Australia cannot afford any more wasted sessions. Easier said than done against an Indian team with more character than it may have been given credit for.