After a 139-run partnership between Sachin Tendulkar (71) and Rahul Dravid (93) put India on a strong mantle, the Aussies struck back in the last session to reduce the visitors to 297-6 on the opening day of the Perth Test.
Irfan Pathan and MS Dhoni, both on eight, were in the middle at the end of the day's play.
India lost four wickets in the post tea session to hand the initiative to the home side. The Aussie pace bowlers wiped out the cream of the formidable Indian batting in the last session as Tendulkar, Ganguly (nine), Laxman (27) and Dravid fell in quick time.
After Anil Kumble decided to bat, Sehwag after warming the bench for the first two Tests, was in the vicinity of his best as the Delhi batsman along with Wasim Jaffer took India off to a steady start. But tight bowling after the first hour strangled the openers and soon a perfect delivery by Johnson induced an edge from Sehwag and the opener was dismissed for 29.
Jaffer, who has been Brett Lee’s bunny through the series, fell to the speedster once again in what was a dismissal identical to that of the second innings of the Sydney Test. The Mumbai batsman got 16, his highest in the series so far.
Tendulkar and Dravid steadied the Indian ship as the visitors played through the second session without any hiccups. The duo successfully combated an all-pace attack on a bouncy WACA pitch to guide India to a solid position in the penultimate match of the four-Test series.
Tendulkar’s surge was halted abruptly on 71 a little after tea when Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf adjudged him leg before to Brett Lee, a decision that raised many eyebrows as the ball struck the batsman above his knee roll on a bouncy pitch
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