Perth: For most of Day 3, India were content to score runs without any drama. Just bat, bat and bat, and in the process grind the Aussies into the hard Perth soil. The day was the warmest so far, with temperatures reaching as high as 34 degrees Celsius, and the home team was baked in it for just the right amount of time.

So, when India declared their innings — setting a target of 534 runs — late on Sunday evening with shadows extending across the ground, the hope was that the sufficiently dispirited Aussies would collapse like a pack of cards. It wasn’t misplaced optimism either as in the 30 minutes that India bowled for, they managed to snare three wickets and leave the hosts tottering at 12/3.

India are so far ahead that Australia can’t even see them at this point and credit for that has to go to Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a brilliant 161, Virat Kohli, who was 100 not out when India decided to have another go at the Aussies, and Jasprit Bumrah who has drilled the fear of the gods into the hosts.

The day started with the Indians hitting a few more shots. KL Rahul and Jaiswal extended their partnership to 201, making it India’s highest opening stand in Australia and the sixth highest ever for any team on a tour Down Under.

Rahul was dismissed for 77, getting a thin edge through to the keeper off Mitchell Starc, but by then Australia had seen the writing on the wall. Devdutt Padikkal didn’t come in and do anything special but his 74-run stand with Jaiswal ensured that the hosts weren’t getting any strange ideas.

Yashasvi’s smart cricket

Jaiswal just kept things going from one end. It was fearless but smart cricket. To illustrate that point, the ramped six over fine leg that he hit to get from 94 to 100 works best.

“To be honest, I knew that he (Josh Hazlewood) was going to bowl me a bouncer because the field was like that and he was trying to bowl me outside of the stump, but I know that he will do something and I was ready for that ball. In my mind, it was “if he is going to bowl me a bouncer, I’m going to play that shot”. Luckily, he did and I played that shot and I enjoyed it.”

It was pretty much what Jaiswal did throughout the innings. He didn’t impose himself, he didn’t want to destroy them. He just wanted to bat and focus on the next ball. It wasn’t as if the Aussies didn’t try anything. It was just that nothing worked.

“He batted well,” said Hazlewood. “I mean, we went through a couple of cycles, we sort of hung it outside off for a bit with an offside field. We tried straight, we tried the bouncers, we tried a lot of things. He negated everything, so credit to him.”

But when the left-hander was eventually dismissed — off a long hop from Mitchell Marsh, India suddenly lost three wickets for eight runs. They were still comfortably ahead in the game but Australia hadn’t been driven to the doorstep of misery yet.

Kohli shifts gears

That’s when Virat Kohli decided to step up. The right-hander hasn’t had the best of times of late but took advantage of the conditions and the flagging Australian attack to get to his seventh Test century in Australia.

With it, he equalled Wally Hammond’s tally (7) for the most centuries by a visiting batter in Australia, placing him second only to Jack Hobbs, who has nine centuries. He also surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of six, becoming the Indian batter with most centuries in Australia.

More importantly, the knock will instil ever more confidence going into the remaining Tests of the series. There’s nothing like spending time in the middle and getting bat on ball and Kohli (100*) did more than enough of that.

The decision to declare the innings was perfectly timed as it gave India and Bumrah just enough time to have a go at the Aussies. And the wicket that had looked pretty flat while the Indians were batting suddenly seemed to be so much more.

Nathan McSweeney was trapped in front of the wicket by one that kept a little low in the first over. Bumrah was on target once again.

Pat Cummins decided to come in as the nightwatchman but that didn’t go very well either with Mohammed Siraj sending him back.

And then finally, Marnus Labuschagne fell to Bumrah — trapped lbw while offering no shot to a delivery that was coming in. It was a short period but it was perhaps indicative of the mind space the Aussies find themselves trapped in.

The result of the game seems like a formality, and it terms of punishment Hazlewood put it right up there. The only point of interest now will be whether the Aussie batters can use the opportunity to work themselves into some form. Of course, Bumrah just won’t sit idle and let that happen either.

Read Also: 'Whenever I felt nervous in middle...': Yashasvi Jaiswal reveals KL Rahul's crucial role throughout century knock vs AUS

HOW DID YOU LIKE THIS ARTICLE? CHOOSE YOUR EMOTICON !