Suryakumar, Gill fall early as India totter at 36/4 in Melbourne

New Delhi: India were in deep trouble at 36 for 4 after five overs against Australia in the second T20 International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday, with captain Suryakumar Yadav’s early dismissal compounding their woes.

Absolute drama unfolded at the MCG. Suryakumar, dropped by wicketkeeper Josh Inglis off Hazlewood in the fifth over, failed to make the reprieve count. Two balls later, Hazlewood produced a perfect outswinger that took the outside edge, and Inglis made no mistake this time.

Earlier, opener Shubman Gill endured a nervy stay, escaping a golden duck through DRS and taking a blow on the helmet, before falling for 5 off 10 balls. His partner, Abhishek Sharma, provided brief resistance with a few attacking strokes against pacer Xavier Bartlett before India lost quick wickets.

Suryakumar had sacrificed his usual batting position to let Sanju Samson bat at No. 3, but the move did little to stabilise the innings as Australia’s pacers dominated early.

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh had won the toss and opted to bowl first, with the visitors making one change—Matthew Short replacing Josh Philippe, while India went in with an unchanged XI.

India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (w), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (w), Tim David, Matthew Short, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood.