Shubman Gill scores half-century, India reach 129/1 after losing Rohit Sharma

Young Shubman Gill justified his inclusion in the playing XI with a composed halfcentury as India scored at a fair clip to reach 129 for one at lunch on the third day of the fourth Test against Australia here SaturdayIndia are still 351 runs behind Australias first innings score of 480India lost the wicket of their skipper Rohit Sharma 35 off 58 balls who let slip a golden opportunity to get a big score on the best batting surface of the seriesGill 65 batting 119 balls and Rohit added 74 runs for the opening wicketSharma looked in good flow as he pulled a Mitchell Starc behind square for a six and ran well between the wickets during their 21over standThe mode of dismissal was disappointing as the delivery from leftarm spinner Matt Kuhnemann 120 wasnt a wickettaking oneIt was pitched short and Sharma could have hit it anywhere but his uppish backfoot punch found Marnus Labuschagne stationed at short extracover for that particular shotGill didnt have any issues tackling the Australian attack as he got a steady partner in Cheteshwar Pujara 22 batting who showed more purpose at the crease during their unbroken stand of 55 runsAlso read BorderGavaskar Trophy Serve Shubman Gill for startersThe opener has hit five fours and a six while Pujara stepped out to smash offspinner Todd Murphy through the covers for a boundaryTowards the end of the session there was one traditional offbreak from Murphy that turned significantly to miss Gills bat the bails as well as wicketkeeper Alex Careys glovesThe pacers arent getting much help from the track and the shortball tactic that both Starc and Cameron Green used didnt pay much dividends The pitch is still on the slower side and pace off the track isnt much to hurry the batters into playing their strokesThere is all the time in the world to rock back to either play the cut or punch through the offside or play the pull infront or behind the squareGill scored his first 40 runs quickly but after that slowed a bitThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever