India captain Jasprit Bumrah is injured on the second day of the fifth test but Australia is not taking advantage of it.
India overcame captain Jasprit Bumrah's absence to dismiss Australia for 181 and reach 141 for six for a total lead of 145 on a dramatic second day of the tightly contested fifth Test.
On a day full of drama at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Bumrah took the first wicket to put India on course but left with the team doctor shortly after lunch for medical scans on his back after to suffer spasms.
Prasidh Krishna (3-42), Mohammed Siraj (3-51) and Nitish Kumar Reddy stepped into the big bowling void left by their skipper to dismiss Australia and fire India to a slender lead for Tea's first of four runs.
There was still plenty of fire in the wick, though, and paceman Scott Boland took 4-42 in the final session to add four-wicket haul on Fridaywhile Australia ripped the roof off the Indian batting and dug deep in the middle order.
Rishabh Pant threw off the shackles and produced some amazing shots in a stunning 28-ball half-century to stop the rot but also departed for 61 in the last over, Australian skipper Pat Cummins a ' claimed the 14th wicket of the day.
There was still time for Boland to claim his fourth victim in the form of Nitish Kumar Reddy, leaving Ravindra Jadeja, who was eight not out, and Washington Sundar, not out on six, at the end of the over. game
“As many runs as possible would be good for us,” Krishna said when asked how much the Indian bowlers would be comfortable defending, possibly without Bumrah.
“We don't really know how the wicket is behaving. It goes up, it goes down. If you can be aggressive, there is risk, but you get a running reward. “
Australian coach Andrew McDonald attributed the drop in wickets to “generational” bowling talent in both teams and said his plans for Day Three were simple.
“First and foremost, we have four wickets available, to try and keep that number as low as possible,” he told reporters.
“There's still a long way to go… so we'll see what happens.”
The Sydney sunshine crowd of 47,257 certainly got their money's worth as the momentum swung back and forth, as it did over the course of the series, which gave Australia a 2-1 lead.
Opener Beau Webster, Australia's top scorer of 57, was encouraged by the rafters for his half-century and again when he removed Shubman Gill for 13 later in the innings. day to get his first Test wicket.
Virat Kohli, who stepped in as India's captain after Bumrah's departure, was pressed for what is likely to be his last innings in Australia, and cheered back to the boundary rope after Boland caught in the slips for a terrifying six.
Boland is fast becoming a cult hero in Australia and perhaps the loudest roar came when he pulled off a peach of a delivery to remove opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and end a promising innings on 22.
The Indian supporters had plenty to celebrate too, starting with Bumrah dismissing Marnus Labuschagne in the morning session to take his streak to 32 wickets at an average of 13.06.
Krishna's Indian flags were also waving when he caught Steve Smith in the slips for 33 to break a fifth-wicket partnership of 57 with Webster and leave the former Australian captain five short of 10,000 Test runs.
India, who dropped captain Rohit Sharma for the match, need a win in Sydney to level the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
A win for Australia will seal not only the series but a place in the World Test Championship final at Lord's in London, United Kingdom, against South Africa in June.
