Australia, India 2014: Richard Hinds reflects on special day of Test cricket at MCG

AUSTRALIA finished the third day of the Boxing Day Test roughly where it began — poised to take a 3-0 series lead.

Day 3 Test Ryan Harris gets Dhoni caught behind Picture:Wayne Ludbey

AUSTRALIA finished the third day of the Boxing Day Test roughly where it began — well placed to take a 3-0 lead and to complete a third whitewash in its past four home series.

Yet like a backyard gardener downing a beer after an arduous days weeding, there was almost as much satisfaction to be taken in the struggle as the result.

DAY THREE: KOHLI, INDIA CASH IN ON SLOPPY AUSSIES

CRICKET CONFIDENTIAL: AUSTRALIA’S TIDIEST DAY IN FIELD EVER?

KOHLI SWATS AWAY ‘SPOILT BRAT’ JIBES

Even the Australian bowlers forced to toil in the hot sun on the flat and unresponsive pitch upon which Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rhanae took root will feel particularly gratified by the fruits of their labour.

For that the Australians can both curse (as Kohli suggested they did, quite literally) and thank an Indian team which not only tested their mettle, but provided entertainment that even the most one-eyed, rubber inflatable kangaroo waving patriot will have relished.

Kohli and Rahane’s 262 run partnership was not some backs-to-the-wall rearguard action by an Indian team that, on recent tours, has seemed as worldly as a barefooted Appalachian.

This was a Delhi-strength India playing with the confidence, enterprise and aggression we are reliably informed has flowed from its elevated status in the game, and a more prosperous and confident society.

The spirit of this New India is encapsulated by Kohli whose ability to wear bruises and inflict tongue lashings is such you wonder what he craves most — the Border-Gavaskar Trophy or Australian citizenship.

Kholi, in stark contrast to his captain MS Dhoni, invests the game with a sense of aggression and energy that demands respect — even if he claims Mitchell Johnson refuses to give it.

Perhaps that is because when Johnson’s shy at the stumps hit Kohli, the Indian batsman responded with a verbal tirade that did not contain an invitation to his girlfriend’s next Bollywood premiere.

Before and after this tit-for-tat, Kohli and the equally belligerent Rahane threw down the gauntlet to an Australian team accustomed to dictating the terms of engagement on home turf. This provided a stern test for Australia’s L-plate captain Steven Smith

In recent years you could be forgiven the cricket field is a seventies disco with captains compelled to be ‘’funky’’. Smith, to his credit, was attacking without being overly contrived and marshalled an attack that was mostly thrashed despite its bowling, not because of it.

Unusually it was dropped chances rather than particularly poor bowling or field placings that were Australia’s bane. Nathan Lyon holds a simple caught and bowl with Rahane on 70 and debutant Lokesh Rahul arrives to face the frothing Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris clutching a new ball.

Similarly, if Shane Watson clutches a catch from Kohli on 88, or Haddin makes an extra metre to Kohli’s skied hook, India is under pressure, Johnson is not criticised for bowling too short and his figures (0-133) are not so bloated when he runs in to bowl the final over.

As it was those missed chances and Kohli and Rahane’s excellent cavalier batting created a challenge the Australians inevitably met thanks to some admirable sweat and grind from Ryan Harris in particular — although, it must be said, not before India reverted to on-the-road type.

You would say the kamikaze swats with which Rahul and Dhoni sacrificed their wickets were unforgivable given Kohli and Rahane’s hard work, had Kohli’s not conceded his own wicket — and India’s hopes of a first innings lead — with a wild drive at Johnson’s wide ball in the final over.

Still on an exceptionally entertaining day India had at least forced Australia to work hard for its ascendance. Whether it was a cold beer or a sports drink, it will have tasted a bit better than usual in the home sheds.