Australia reach 94 for three in 25 overs at lunch

New Delhi: Ravichandran Ashwin got the wickets of the dangerous Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith within the space of three balls to weigh the scales India's way in the first session. Australia were looking good until that over, with Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne racing along with an attacking partnership. 

Before that, Khawaja had managed to put up a 50-run opening stand with David Warner. Warner hardly ever looked comfortable and eventually fell to Mohammed Shami. Khawaja has managed to score a half century. Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green remain unavailable for the visitors while Travis Head has come in for Matt Renshaw. Australia have brought in a third spinner in the form of debutant Matthew Kuhnemann. 

Meanwhile, India have brought back Shreyas Iyer in place of Suryakumar



Yadav. Cheteshwar Pujara is set to join an elite group of Indian Test stalwarts on Friday. The 35-year-old will become the 13th Indian players to have earned his 100th Test cap, having made his debut against Australia in Bengaluru in October 2010. India will be hoping to mark the occasion with a good start to the game first and then, eventually, a victory that will help them retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. 

Australia, on the other hand, have the odds stacked quite steeply against them after their dismal surrender in the first Test. While they were in the contest for much of the first two days, they withered towards the end of the second day and their batting lineup look woefully ill-equipped to deal with the spin threat of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.