AUSTRALIA v INDIA – MCG, THIRD TEST, DAY THREE, STUMPS

India  5 – 54

7-443 (dec)      Australia  151 

Agarwal – 28     Pant – 6

Cummins  4-10

Pat Cummins’ brilliant spell of bowling late on day three of the third Test has revived Australian spirits after a demoralising day with the bat for the home team at the MCG.

Cummins produced a barnstorming spell of bowling, dismissing Hanuma Vihari (13), Cheteshwar  Pujara (0), Ajnkya Rahane(1) and Virat Kohli (0)  late on day three.

"Two catches, in the same spot, in the same over!"

First Pujara, now Kohli, and Pat Cummins has 3/2! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/fTRMe7T48H

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 28, 2018

Earlier, Australia’s feelgood summer of cricket had a cold bucket of water dumped on it as Tim Paine’s team showed that the gap between their ability and their ambition was as wide as that between Shaun Marsh’s bat and pad.

In this era of “elite honesty” here are some facts for the Australian cricket team.

Facing a deficit of 443 runs on the first innings, you were required to show patience and discipline.

What you served up was impulsive and selfish. It seems nobody cared enough to work hard enough to build an innings.

In their first dig, India’s batsmen showed a level of concentration and care for the greater cause. You, by contrast, showed a lack of faith in your own ability and the aspirations of your team.

While India’s bowling had quality, Australia’s batsmen were only too willing to oblige them with a series of reckless shots that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a hit-and-giggle game on Bondi Beach.

The wickets that fell after lunch perfectly summarised the Australian mindset.

WICKET: Here's the moment when Travis Head was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah.

📺 Watch LIVE on Fox Cricket & 📰 join our match centre: https://t.co/1X1BKu1snw #AUSvIND #FoxCricket pic.twitter.com/iJFAUK7GmO

— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) December 28, 2018

Travis Head is still trying to establish himself in this new look Australian line-up. Just after lunch, he fell over himself like a drunk in a bar at closing time trying wallop Jasprit Bumrah through mid-on.

His stumps were shattered – and so might his long term Test cricket prospects if he shows such little regard for his responsibility to be tidy, dig in and defy the bowling.

Mitch Marsh remains such a puzzle he might as well come in a box like a jigsaw.

Marsh seems so petrified of being caught in front LBW that he’s decided his best option is to pretend he doesn’t have legs or feet.

Rooted to the crease, his unceremonious swipe at Ravindra Jadeja’s delivery saw him tangled up like a kite in a tree.

You could hold a Royal Commission into the shot he produced and you still wouldn’t get an answer as to why he played it.

OUT. Mitch Marsh the latest to go.

Australia sink further to 6/102 #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/VtZj7dbIxW

— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 28, 2018

Usman Kahwaja is the premier batsmen in this team.

Problem is, he can’t play slow bowling.  That’s like saying your band has the best drummer in the world but he can’t keep time.

It’s less than ideal.

Marcus Harris has been tonked on the head twice in this series and naturally, the Indians were going to test his resolve with short-pitched bowling, sensing he may have been spooked.

Harris steeled himself to stare them down but rather than ducking underneath the short stuff he attempted an ill-timed hook that confirmed to the Indian quicks that they’ve not only hit him on the head but have got inside it as well.

As much as the Australians composed their own demise, Jasprit Bumrah was happy to be the conductor of the orchestra.

Bumrah has been the find of the summer.

WICKET: Lyon is out for a duck.

📺 Watch LIVE on Fox Cricket & 📰 join our match centre: https://t.co/1X1BKu1snw #AUSvIND #FoxCricket pic.twitter.com/tNYPBhwWge

— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) December 28, 2018

The right arm fast bowler from Ahmedabad made his Test debut in South Africa in January after making a name for himself in the IPL and India’s limited overs teams.

And what a way to introduce himself to Australian cricket fans!

With his halting run up that looks like he’s playing cricket in a phone booth, he delivers a salvo of stiff arm rockets that Australia’s batsmen simply can’t cope with. His 17 wickets in the series so far have hailed the arrival of a world-class talent.

He may get the chance to bowl India to victory on the MCG in the final days of this Test and take them one step closer to a historic series victory in Australia.

Many have tried and failed before Bumrah, Kohli and this Indian team.

You get the sense though that this is their time.