It was always being spoken about in hushed whispers. Jasprit Bumrah’s fascinating series, where he elevated himself to further greatness, could all end with a painful hand around an injured part of the body, a nimble walk to the dressing room… throwing India into the darkness. For their team selection simply relied on Bumrah starring.

Having gone in with two spinners in the SCG Test - less to do with an “uncharacteristic” pitch and more to hide their flailing batting returns - the onus was on captain Bumrah once again to lead the pace-bowling attack. He had with him for company Mohammed Siraj, a large-hearted but rather inconsistent fast bowler, Prasidh Krishna, who was returning after a year, and Nitish Kumar Reddy – primarily a batter rather than an all-rounder, a tag that he has been carrying around lately.

After notching up their fifth sub-200 score in the series, India walked into the second day with renewed energy courtesy of a run-in with Sam Konstas in the last over on Friday. A usually zen-like Bumrah charged towards him, almost hilariously being held back by Virat Kohli, who would have his own role to play the following day.

India start strong before disaster strikes

It was Bumrah with the breakthrough again, getting Marnus Labuschagne dismissed for two with a seam-up length ball that kicked up off the wicket. It helped Bumrah overtake Bishan Singh Bedi’s India record for most wickets in an away series, but bit by bit, it was also taking away all energy from the premier pacer.

Almost like a loyal aide, Siraj, who had blown hot and cold throughout, averaging 31.43 before the SCG Test, realised he needed to step up to support his “Jassi bhai” and step up he did.

The first innings on Saturday was defined by some brilliant swing bowling from Siraj, who stuck to his field and mixed up his lines and lengths. He started by bowling fuller to Konstas before settling in and looking for the short-length deliveries that rose to the batters. He cleverly tempted the newcomer with a full outside-the-off ball, which was driven with hard hands to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully. In his very next over, Siraj sent down a short ball to unfaze a shuffling Steve Smith - one that moved away off the seam, beating his outside edge. Smith played and missed several times, giving Siraj a false shot percentage of 40 in the first hour of play.

India scalped three wickets before the first drinks break, but what also stood out was the proactive field placements. There were two gully fielders for most parts for the drive, while the mid-off fielder was employed against debutant Beau Webster, urging him to play the straight drive. Siraj, who induced more false shots than Bumrah (35%) in this period was rewarded with two wickets in the first hour, also sending back Travis Head for four, giving him no room and getting the ball to move across the batter after sending down a full ball a delivery before. Head, who tried to play it away towards mid-on, ended up mistiming it to second slip.

It was a session of two halves, as India let the advantage slip away. Australia made 48 runs in 13 overs before lunch, with Prasidh, in particular, looking lacklustre. He gave away 21 runs in his first six overs and was wayward but Smith’s wicket at the stroke of lunch, bowling slightly fuller, was just the confidence boost he would have needed.

It was normal proceedings after lunch, with Bumrah, who had bowled nine of the 30 overs in the innings, starting, with Krishna alongside him. Bumrah beat Alex Carey first up before ending with a boundary as Australia reached within touching distance of India’s total.

Just when another frustrating lower-middle-order resistance loomed large, it all came true. Bumrah, after bowling 151.2 overs in this series, walked off the field, initially deemed routine. But as the wait extended, so did the fears. Soon, visuals of him in training gear headed for scans emerged, the mind immediately hoping for his well-being. In the larger context, a match had to be won, but would India’s quicks stand up?

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They did. The second session of play was arguably India’s best collective fast-bowling effort in the series and that it came when Kohli was leading, stepping in for Bumrah, was just a nostalgic overdrive.

Krishna came round the wicket to Carey and got the ball in instead of across, preventing him from hitting with the angle through the covers. It knocked back the keeper's stumps, marking his sixth dismissal against a bowler from round the wicket in the series.

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In the second session, Prasidh got more swing, and with the right lengths - just a tad fuller than what he was bowling previously - became unplayable. In his second spell, Prasidh had figures of 6-1-11-1, amply supported by Siraj, who got extra bounce from a length against Webster consistently, restricting his run-scoring. Siraj, who also shone when R Ashwin had to leave the England Test mid-way, relishes a challenge and he gave evidence of that yet again. Krishna eventually scalped Webster, bowling short outside the off, getting undone by the bounce that was generated.

But this was also the innings where India needed their fourth seamer to raise his hand. Reddy, who had bowled just 35 overs before the game in the series, for three wickets, was expensive but ensured he got two important wickets, sending back Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc in successive overs, as India wrapped up Australia’s innings, plucking out the last five wickets for 44 runs without the services of Bumrah.

India’s fielding, which took the game away from India at Melbourne, was spectacular as well, with Jaiswal, Kohli and KL Rahul - the latter plucking out four catches, including a couple of low ones - in the thick of things. On a ground where a team has chased down 200 only once in the last 40 years, India needed to restrict Australia to stay alive in the clash and then hope to add on as many runs with question marks over Bumrah’s participation as well.

By the end of day two, Rishabh Pant found himself in the centre of all the headlines, but if India dare to dream in this game, it is because of the performances of three pacers who gave it their all in a session when the absence of another made bigger news. If the game turns on its head for India, the second session on day two would end up being the clincher.

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