IND vs AUS 3rd Test: Jasprit Bumrah's five-for only saving grace as Travis Head, Steve Smith punish India at the Gabba

Jasprit Bumrah scalped five off the seven wickets Australia lost on Day 2 (BCCI Photo)

Travis Head didn't trouble the scorers in his last three Test innings at the Gabba. On Sunday, on the second day of the third Test between India and Australia at this venue, he scored his ninth Test hundred to sap the life out of India’s challenge. Bad weather is predicted in Brisbane for the next three days, and at the moment, it looks to be the visitors' only hope despite the fact that they haven't batted yet in this game.

There's that 2011-12 feeling, when India were clean-swept (4-0) by Australia under MS Dhoni. The tourists will not suffer a whitewash this time, for they have already won the first Test in Perth. The initiative, though, was surrendered in Adelaide. And as Head continued to punish India and Steve Smith got into the groove in Brisbane, Rohit Sharma’s captaincy offered a throwback to the team under Dhoni.

In the second session and then after Tea, when the game swung decisively in Australia’s favour, India looked terribly flat on the field. At 75/3, the hosts were in trouble. But Head counter-attacked after getting his eye in, and Rohit allowed the game to drift. He waited for things to happen, rather than trying to make them.

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Everyone knows Head is not comfortable against the short ball, if a bowler is getting it up into his armpit at pace. The Indian bowlers couldn't do that consistently and the left-hand batter got under the ball and merrily used the upper-cut to his advantage. To make matters worse, Rohit dropped a fairly regulation catch at slip off Nitish Kumar Reddy to give Head a reprieve on 112. Nothing seems to be going right for the India captain at the moment.

In the World Test Championship final at the Oval last year, Head and Smith had paired up at 76/3 and slammed the door shut on India via a 285-run partnership. On Sunday, at the Gabba, they put on 241 runs for the fourth wicket. Smith scored 101 off 190 balls, his 33rd Test hundred and 10th against India. Head eventually perished for 152 off 160.

For Smith, it was an innings of two halves. For the first 50 runs, he was circumspect, initially struggling against Akash Deep. But he gradually found his rhythm and was in his element. A string of low scores saw the great batsman copping some criticism. Here, he served another reminder that class is permanent.

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As the day rolled into evening, Bumrah accounted for three wickets in 12 balls to claim another five-for. But he couldn't bowl from both ends.

As for Mohammed Siraj, yet again, he tried to revel in an adrenaline rush. But the fast bowler couldn't back it up with his performance. He furiously threw a ball at the non-striker's end, making Ravindra Jadeja angry. Head had already completed the single and the rush of blood was unnecessary. Siraj lost the plot.

At stumps on Day 2, Australia were 405 for 7, with Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc more than capable of landing some hefty blows when play resumes.