Kohli, Pujara steady India, take team to 70 for 2 at tea
Perth, Dec 15: Skipper Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara put on 62 runs for the third wicket after losing both the openers, steering India to 70 for two at tea on day two of the second Test against Australia, here Saturday.
At the break, Kohli was batting on 37 while Cheteshwar Pujara was unbeaten on 23 as India trail by 256 runs.
After losing Murali Vijay (0) at the stroke of lunch, India were immediately under the pump as Josh Hazlewood (1/30) knocked over KL Rahul (2) in the third over after resumption of play.
Rahul was in two minds about how to play a full delivery aimed at the off-stump and was beaten all ends up as the ball destroyed his stumps.
It brought Kohli and Pujara together at the crease, and the duo concentrated on defence in order to push back the Australian attack.
The session turned out to be an intense battle with Nathan Lyon keeping both batsmen under wraps as they tried not to play too many strokes against the off-spinner.
At the other end, Kohli also contended with Hazlewood who bowled an extended spell. The star batsman stood outside the crease and moved early on his front foot to deny any chance of a repeat with what happened at Rahul's dismissal.
They made slow progress, adding 37 runs in the first hour of play after lunch, and their 50-partnership came up in 135 balls.
There were a few more shots towards the end of this session, but overall Australia kept a tight leash on proceedings with both set batsmen deciding not to counterpunch.
Earlier, Australia's lower order added crucial 49 runs after resuming at 277 for six as paceman Ishant Sharma finished with 4 for 41.
Skipper Tim Paine (38) and Pat Cummins (19) frustrated Indian bowling and extended their eighth-wicket partnership to 59 runs.
In doing so, they took Australia past 300 in the 100th over. For their part, India were guilty of bowling too short again and there weren't enough full deliveries attacking the stumps or making batsmen play.
India were content with keeping a lid on the scoring as only 29 runs came in the first hour of play. They started the day's proceedings with Ishant and Mohammed Shami (0/80), with Umesh Yadav (2/78) starting as first change.
Jasprit Bumrah (2/53), who was India's stand out bowler on day one, was the fourth to bowl in an inexplicable tactic from the skipper.
There was certain hint of variable bounce from the pitch, but again India didn't bowl full enough to exploit the same as the Australian tail wagged.
Finally, Yadav got the breakthrough with an over of full deliveries, knocking off Cummin's off-stump in the 105th over. Two balls later, Bumrah trapped Paine lbw and the decision stayed despite a DRS review from the batsman.
Nathan Lyon (9 not out) stayed unbeaten for the third innings in a row as he added quick-fire 16 runs with Mitchell Starc to push Australia to a healthy total on a tough wicket.
Ishant then finished off things with two wickets in two balls, with Starc and Josh Hazlewood (0) caught behind with some acrobatic help from Rishabh Pant.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
