India's meticulous plan to bring about the downfall of Australia's batsmen has sparked praise and brought the tourists within touching distance of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The tourists' fast bowlers have regularly mentioned they had perused tapes of previous tours here and had learnt the lesson to pitch the ball up more.
Ultra consistent: Jasprit Bumrah traps Shaun Marsh lbw on another disappointing day for Australia's batting line-up.Credit:AAP
This Melbourne Test has again reinforced the value of this mantra, with Jasprit Bumrah producing more deliveries on a good line and length – 50 per cent – than any bowler.
The Indians have been relentless in exploiting the weaknesses of their rivals, leaving Australia through almost three full Tests without a batsman who has yet to reach 80 – let alone a hundred.
Advertisement
The home side will resume day five at the MCG on 8-258, needing something of a miracle if they are to conjure another 141 runs to secure victory.
That was reinforced after tea on Saturday when Travis Head, who had been fighting hard, chased a wide delivery outside off stump to Ishant Sharma and played on.
Head had been bowled in the first innings but the Indians knew he enjoys driving away from his body, as had been the case in Perth when he was twice caught slicing to third man.
"The Indians are definitely targeting him," Glenn McGrath said.
Head has a propensity of having his back leg collapse, meaning he cannot control his shot. He told The Age heading into the Boxing Day Test he would need to be mindful of falling into the trap outside off stump but the Indians got him again.
He deserves some praise, for he is the home side's leading run-scorer, but he is averaging an underwhelming 36.16 and has been unable to produce a major innings required to rubber-stamp his spot in the side.
The tourists have also worked over Marcus Harris. Twice he has been hit in the helmet, and there were repercussions in the first innings when he went after a Bumrah short ball and was caught at fine leg. He will continue to be tested by the short ball. Then there's Aaron Finch, whose Test career – certainly at the top of the order – has been put under the spotlight because of his footwork.
Momentum: Ravindra Jadeja dismisses Tim Paine as Australia lurched towards defeat at the MCG.Credit:AP
India's preparations for a heavyweight year began in late 2017 when they opted to hold back Bumrah from making his Test debut on home soil.
Coach Ravi Shastri explained on Saturday they had wanted Bumrah to debut on the tour of South Africa, typically a fast bowler's paradise, for this would set up the man with the unorthodox action for a testing campaign ahead also featuring tours of England and Australia.
The benefits of this cannot be underestimated, for Bumrah has almost 50 wickets in his first year of international cricket – the most by an Indian in his debut year of Test cricket.
"Yes, I have not played a Test in India but whenever you go to different countries, you have new learning and experiences from playing in every country. I have had a good start and let's see how it goes further," he said.
Shane Warne declared Bumrah had been the second-best fast bowler this year, behind only South Africa's new-generation spearhead Kagiso Rabada.
On the frontline: Ishant Sharma enjoys the wicket of Travis Head.Credit:AAP
Heading into this campaign, the tourists boasted what many regarded as the best pace attack they had brought here. They got it wrong in Perth when they fell into the trap of opting for four quicks without a specialist spinner but the frontline attack of Sharma, Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have lived up to the billing.
Former Indian batsman Aakash Chopra said India's rise to the No.1 ranking was not so much because of the brilliance of Virat Kohli's batting but rather the depth and quality of the pace attack, where they have "horses for courses".
Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun said he was delighted with the team's performance and agreed this had been "the year of the fast bowler".
"Over a period of time, right from when we started on the South Africa tour, they have done exceptionally well," he said.
"They executed the plans perfectly – that's why I have no complaints. They can be fast, they can be mean and they can consistent."
Nathan Lyon, who will resume unbeaten on six, said this had been one of the best Indian attacks he had seen, acknowledging their "seam up" pacemen had been able to extract damaging swing.
The tourists have also had the better of what may seem the minor technicalities of the game.
Chopra pointed out they had done a better job at short leg, where those positioned there have been able to crouch lower for longer, providing more opportunity to complete a sharp catch. Australia have used Peter Handscomb, Finch, Head and Harris in close with mixed success, another area the world's No.5 ranked side must improve on if they are to again emerge as a consistent force.
Jon Pierik is a sports writer with The Age, focusing primarily on AFL football, cricket and basketball. He has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.
Most Viewed in Sport
[contf] [contfnew] 
Australian Breaking News Headlines
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
