Virat Kohli is 12 runs short of his 28th Test century as India reached 362/4 at lunch on Day 4 of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday, trailing Australia by 118 runs with six wickets in hand.
Kohli was undefeated on 88, and wicketkeeper-batsman Srikar Bharat was batting on 25 when they put up a 53-run fifth-wicket stand.
As has been the case throughout this Test match, the overnight Indian batsmen gathered runs rather than scoring at a rapid rate. India scored 73 runs while losing one wicket in 32 overs bowled in the morning session.
After a 53-run partnership with Kohli for the fourth wicket, Ravindra Jadeja was caught at mid-on by Usman Khawaja off right-arm off-spinner Todd Murphy for 28 runs.
Strangely, Bharat arrived before Shreyas Iyer, who was sent for scans after complaining of lower back discomfort. After slogging out Nathan Lyon for a six, the keeper bided his time.
The Australian bowlers have been very experienced, and Steve Smith has led with a lot of energy.It has not been simple for Indian batsmen to hit runs easily and quickly.
In the post-lunch session, all eyes will be on Kohli, who is on the cusp of snapping his century drought that has lasted since November 2019.
Brief Scores: Australia (480) leads India (362/4; Shubman Gill 128; Virat Kohli 88*; Cheteshwar Pujara 42; Todd Murphy 2-64) by 118 runs.
