It was going to be a key day in the series.  India needed to lift if they were to have any chance of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.  Their batsmen were letting them down and they were becoming totally dependent on their impressive bowling attack to turn the match around.

 Australia need not have worried, they had a twenty year old opener apparently with a cricket brain well ahead of his years to guide them towards a first innings lead.

Matthew Renshaw playing just his sixth Test and second in India stood in the home side’s way.  He had shown great determination in the first Test in Pune despite suffering from a stomach upset.  He managed to score 68 and 31 batting almost four hours across the two innings.  

Renshaw has a knack of either leaving the ball or playing inside the line. If the bowler beats the outside edge, so be it.  Let the bowler get frustrated and even annoyed.  It doesn’t bother Renshaw. 

At the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium there was a lot going on during an intense first session of Test cricket.  Only 47 runs were scored during the 29 overs bowled.  Tempers were rising, temperaments were being tested.  The Indian fielders led by Ravi Ashwin and his captain Virat Kohli were trying to throw the batsmen with mind games almost as much as their cricket skill.  

Renshaw’s response was to bat throughout the session scoring just 24 runs from the 97 balls that he faced.  12 of those runs came from edges through the slips off Umesh Yadav that went to the boundary.  

“It’s trying to play for the one that doesn’t turn and then if it goes past the bat, it goes past the bat.  It’s a bit harder against the quicks as it’s not bouncing as much,” Renshaw said.

He had a slice of luck on 29 when Kohli seemed slow to react to a ball that he edged low to India’s captain’s left at first slip.  The catch could have been taken.  

When Steve Smith came to the wicket Ravi Ashwin immediately engaged him in a heated discussion over which side of the wicket he should stand on at the non-strikers end.  Kohli became involved and for much of the remainder of the session there was heated debate with the same three players generally involved.

 “I don’t try and say too much out there,” Renshaw said. “I was just trying to smile because in my past experience smiling seems to unnerve the bowlers a bit more than talking back.”

 However, it wasn’t long until Renshaw was involved.

“I was just trying to enjoy it, trying to laugh at what he was saying because some of it was quite funny.  He was just saying that I might need to run off and go to the toilet again,” Renshaw said.

“We know that they’re just trying to get under our skin because we’ve got a one-nil win in the series.”

On 50, Renshaw opted for another approach.  Unfortunately it was also his undoing.  He started showing more aggression and coming down the wicket at almost every ball.  It seemed premeditated.  He hit the first six of the match.  Two balls later he was fooled.  Not surprisingly, Jadeja had worked out Renshaw’s plans and fired the ball down the leg side as the batsman approached.  It provided a simple stumping and a lesson to be learned for Renshaw.

“With the ball coming back in from Jadeja I was trying to use the spin and hit with it,” Renshaw said. “I don’t know if it was a change of mindset but there was a change of bowling conditions that I thought that I could try to attack a bit more.”

“Every run is vital and we felt like we were just about to get on top of the game when I got out so it’s quite frustrating from that point of view.”

This tour was always going to be a different challenge for the young opener.  His displays so far have shown that although he’s still learning his art, we should be seeing a lot more of his talent.