Washington plays supporting role in India's fightback

SCOTT Boland was running at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It is his backyard. Every time he turns up there, the Victorian pacer has done something special. On Saturday, he was going up against Nitish K Reddy.

- GOMESH S

SCOTT Boland was running at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It is his backyard. Every time he turns up there, the Victorian pacer has done something special. On Saturday, he was going up against Nitish K Reddy. The two have already played against each other at the same venue. It was last month, India A versus Australia A.

This, however, was different. In the fourth Test between India and Australia with record crowd attendance for a Boxing Day Test at the MCG, the duel was on the expected line -- intense. So was the match and the series. India had slowly rebuilt thanks to Washington Sundar and Reddy but with the lead ahead of them, and having already lost seven wickets, things could go south on any given moment.