Brilliant Cummins puts Australia on top as India dismissed for 244
Sydney: A relentless Patrick Cummins and a mean Josh Hazlewood dismissed India for 244 after Cheteshwar Pujara's slowest half-century helped Australia take complete command at tea on the third day of the third Test here on Saturday.
Australia took a first-innings lead of 94 runs and it would be an uphill task for India to make a comeback in this match.
Pujara's (50 off 176 balls) ultra-defensive approach put tremendous pressure on his colleagues and India never quite got the momentum going as Cummins (4/29 in 21.4 overs), Hazlewood (2/43 in 21 overs) and Mitchell Starc (1/61 in 19 overs) continuously attacked the batsmen -- first with a leg-side field and short-ball strategy and then on the corridor of uncertainty.
Pujara doesn't play the pull or hook shot well and he wasn't allowed room to either cut or drive. While he never tried to rotate the strike, the likes of Ajinkya Rahane (22 off 70 balls) and Rishabh Pant (36 off 67 balls) felt the urge to break the shackles in the absence of any such intention from the other end.
It also resulted in three run-outs including the one-off Hanuma Vihari (4 off 38 balls), who fell short while going for a quick but non-existent single.
It was then left to Ravindra Jadeja (27), who had to throw his bat around to bring the lead down to less than 100 runs, but that would be of little comfort considering that India would now have to bat fourth to save the match.
A total of 84 runs from 34 overs in the first session, with lack of intent especially from Pujara, didn't help India's cause and Rahane's dismissal was purely due to the scoreboard pressure.
The Indian captain failed to get a move-on initially on a slow track where bounce became variable as the session progressed.
He did hit a cover drive and then tried to take on Nathan Lyon by lofting him for a six over long-on.
However, Cummins bowled one where he got an extra bounce in his off-cutter, cramping Rahane for room and he was played on. The duo added 32 runs in 22.3 overs and it didn't help the team in any way.
Had KL Rahul been fit, there could have been a case of Vihari getting dropped as he didn't show in any way that he was in control during his half an hour stay at the crease.
Pant got into the groove quickly but a nasty blow on the forearm did affect his shot-making and the result was a caught behind off Hazlewood, after a 53-run stand in a little over 20 overs.
Pujara, at the other end, was bowled short initially with three men on the leg side and then on the off-side with his cover drive dried up.
Even the drive wide off mid-on didn't fetch him boundaries. In the first 100 balls, he didn't have a single boundary.
Finally, after completing his slowest ever half-century in Test cricket, Cummins got one to rear up from short of a length and it was that one good ball every batsman gets when he is not scoring runs.
From 195 for four, suddenly it was 210 for eight and there was only Jadeja left to score a few runs.
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Sonia slams Modi govt's silence on Khamenei killing, demands debate in Parliament
New Delhi (PTI): In a scathing criticism of the Modi government, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said its silence on the targeted assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not neutral but an abdication, and raises serious doubts about the direction and credibility of India's foreign policy.
The former Congress president also demanded that when Parliament reconvenes for the second part of the Budget session, the government's "disturbing silence" over the breakdown of international order must be debated openly and without evasion.
In her article published in The Indian Express, Gandhi said there is an urgent need for "us to rediscover" the moral strength and articulate it with clarity and commitment.
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"On March 1, Iran confirmed that its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, had been assassinated in targeted strikes carried out the previous day by the United States and Israel. The killing of a sitting head of state in the midst of ongoing negotiations marks a grave rupture in contemporary international relations," Gandhi said.
Yet, beyond the shock of the event, what stands out equally starkly is New Delhi's silence, she said.
The Government of India has refrained from condemning the assassination or the violation of Iranian sovereignty, she noted.
'Initially, ignoring the massive US-Israeli onslaught, the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) confined himself to condemning Iran's retaliatory strike on the UAE without addressing the sequence of events that preceded it. Later, he uttered platitudes about his 'deep concern' and talked of 'dialogue and diplomacy' -- which is precisely what was underway before the massive unprovoked attacks launched by Israel and the US," Gandhi said.
"When the targeted killing of a foreign leader draws no clear defence of sovereignty or international law from our country and impartiality is abandoned, it raises serious doubts about the direction and credibility of our foreign policy," Gandhi said in her article.
Silence, in this instance, is not neutral, she asserted.
Gandhi pointed out that the assassination was carried out without a formal declaration of war and during an ongoing diplomatic process.
"Article 2 (4) of the United Nations Charter prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. A targeted killing of a serving head of state strikes at the heart of these principles," she said.
If such acts pass without principled objection from the world's largest democracy, the erosion of international norms becomes easier to normalise, she argued.
"The unease is compounded by the timing. Barely 48 hours before the assassination, the Prime Minister returned from a visit to Israel, where he reiterated unequivocal support for the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, even as the Gaza conflict continues to draw global outrage over the scale of civilian casualties, many of them women and children," Gandhi said.
At a time when much of the Global South, along with major powers and India's partners in BRICS such as Russia and China, have kept their distance, India's high-profile political endorsement without moral clarity marks a visible and troubling departure, she said.
"The consequences of this event extend beyond geopolitics. The ripples of this tragedy are visible across continents. And India's stance is signalling tacit endorsement of this tragedy," she claimed.
Gandhi pointed out that the Congress has unequivocally condemned the bombings and targeted assassinations on Iranian soil, describing them as a dangerous escalation with grave regional and global consequences.
"We have extended condolences to the Iranian people and to Shia communities worldwide, reiterating that India's foreign policy is anchored in the peaceful settlement of disputes, as reflected in Article 51 of the Constitution of India. These principles ' sovereign equality, non-intervention and the promotion of peace ' have historically been integral to India's diplomatic identity. The present reticence, therefore, appears not merely tactical, but discordant with our stated principles," she said.
The present government would do well to remember that in April 2001, the then prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, during an official visit to Tehran, warmly reaffirmed India's deep ties with Iran, both civilisational and contemporary, Gandhi said.
"His (Vajpayee's) acknowledgement of those long-standing relations seems to hold no relevance for our current government," she said.
Noting that India's ties with Israel have, in recent years, expanded across defence, agriculture and technology, the Congress leader said it is precisely because India maintains relations with both Tehran and Tel Aviv that it possesses diplomatic space to urge restraint.
"But such space depends on credibility. Credibility, in turn, rests on the perception that India speaks from principle rather than expediency.
"This is not merely a moral proposition; it is a strategic necessity. Nearly 10 million Indians live and work across the Gulf. In past crises – from the Gulf War to Yemen to Iraq and Syria – India's ability to safeguard its citizens has rested on its credibility as an independent actor, not as a proxy," she argued.
She further asked as to why should countries in the Global South trust India to defend their territorial integrity tomorrow if it appears hesitant to defend that principle today.
"The appropriate forum for resolving this dissonance is Parliament. When it reconvenes, this disturbing silence over the breakdown of international order must be debated openly and without evasion," Gandhi said.
The targeted killing of a foreign head of state, the erosion of international norms, and the widening instability in West Asia are not peripheral matters; they touch directly upon India's strategic interests and moral commitments, she asserted.
"A clear articulation of India's position is overdue. Democratic accountability demands no less, and strategic clarity requires it," Gandhi said.
"India has long invoked the ideal of vasudhaiva kutumbakam ' the world is one family. That civilisational ethos is not a slogan for ceremonial diplomacy; it implies a commitment to justice, restraint and dialogue, even when doing so is inconvenient.
"At moments when the rules-based order is under visible strain, silence is abdication," Gandhi said.
India has long-aspired to be more than a regional power and it has sought to serve as the conscience-keeper of the world, she said.
That stature was built on a willingness to speak for sovereignty, peace, non-violence and justice even when doing so was inconvenient, she said.
"At this moment, there is an urgent need for us to rediscover that moral strength and articulate it with clarity and commitment," Gandhi said.
Khamenei was killed in a major attack by Israel and the US in the early hours of Saturday.
The United States and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, with US President Donald Trump calling on the Iranian public to seize control of their destiny and rise against the Islamic leadership that has ruled their country since 1979.
