Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane was found just short of his crease on the third day as he went back to the pavilion after scoring a match-changing knock of 112. In the early stages of the third day, Jadeja was nearing his half-century as the duo was troubling the Aussie bowlers for a long time.
Rahane was earlier dropped on 73 by Smith and on the last ball of Day 2 by Head when he was on 104. Jadeja and Rahane were just outplaying the Aussie bowlers as they had no clue to break this partnership. Jadeja was on 49 when the all-rounder wanted to steal a quick single to get on to his half-century. The captain responded to the call but was found just short of his crease as Labuschagne made a quick throw at the strikers’ end to Paine who dislodged the bails as a primary move. No Aussie was confident about this as they weren’t very excited about the call. The third umpire saw that Rahane was just short of his crease as he gave him out. Jadeja was apologetic about his call to the skipper as the skipper gave him a pat and went back to the pavilion.
Rahane scored 112 off 223 deliveries which had 12 boundaries. This was his second Boxing Day test ton as he previously scored a ton at MCG back in 2014. The Indian lead is now par 100 as they are looking confident at the crease to take the lead as high as they can.