Watch: Siraj Attempts Bail Swapping Ploy; Labuschagne Loses Wicket Next Over

Mohammed Siraj was seen engaged in a bail swapping battle with Marnus Labuschagne and the batter was dismissed immediately in the next over.

Brisbane: When a batter is settled on the crest he gets into a zone full of unwavering focus. Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne was in a similar sort of zone on the second day of the third Test between India and Australia. However, a lapse in his concentration caused due to Mohammed Siraj’s bail-swapping ploy resulted in a wicket for India.

The Indian pacer is usually fired up while playing for the national side and there was no exception to it in the third Test as well. This time around, Siraj was up against Labuschagne in the 33rd over. After the second delivery, he walked right up to the batter, Labuschagne exchanged some words with him and Siraj flipped the bails at the striker’s end. Just as the Indian pacer walked back to his end, the Australian batter switched the bails back to their original position.

The bail-swapping ploy seemed to work in the very next over as Nitish Kumar Reddy got rid of the 30-year-old. He bowled a delivery full and outside off. The batter went for the diver and nicked it towards 2nd slip where Virat Kohli took a sharp catch.

Australia were on 85/3 after 37 overs with the pair of Steve Smith and Travis Head batting in the middle. Jasprit Bumrah had picked a couple of wickets while Reddy got the key scalp of Labuschagne.

The second day’s play started 30 minutes earlier as only 13.2 overs were played on the opening day of the fixture due to consistent rain. The fourth Test of the series will be played on December 26.