Indian batsmen employed a cautious approach against the Australian pacers and scored at a snail's pace to reach 54 for one at lunch on the second day of the second cricket Test, here today.
Opener Murali Vijay and No 3 batsman Cheteshwar Pujara decided to defend doggedly as they went into break on individual scores of 29 and 15 respectively.
In the opening session today, India faced 27 overs adding 49 runs to their overnight score of five.
Peter Siddle got the only breakthrough of the first session removing an out-of-form Virender Sehwag. The Aussies had the upperhand as the pace trio of Siddle, James Pattinson and all-rounder Moises Henriques kept the pace of run-scoring under control.
Henriques bowled accurate stump to stump line, Pattinson did unsettle the Indian pair with some short-pitched stuff and Siddle kept them under tight leash.
Just 23 minutes into the second day, Sehwag was dismissed by Siddle with a rising delivery. The pacer hit the three-quarter length and got the ball to rear up awkwardly and also moved a shade kissing the edge of Sehwag's bat as Matthew Wade took the catch.
While the bowler wasn't sure, Wade and the slip cordon were confident and umpire Kumar Dharmasena raised his finger after some deliberation. Sehwag managed only 6.
The sequence of scores for Sehwag in his last six Test innings read: 23, 49, 0, 2, 19 and 6.
A total of 99 runs in six Test innings at a dismal average of 16.50 certainly doesn't paint a bright picture of the veteran opener, who used to be a match-winner even 18 months back.
