Courtesy: BCCI
The day five of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) saw Australia defeat India by a comprehensive margin of 184 runs, to take a vital 2-1 lead in the five-match series with the final match still to be played. The Pat Cummins-led Australian cricket team put together a dominating performance in front of more than 3.50 Lakh people showing up at the MCG over the course of five days, to ensure that they won’t be losing the BGT Test series this time around.
Australian captain Pat Cummins was declared the player of the match for his inspired all-round performance, scoring twin 40s with the bat apart from taking six wickets at the MCG across both the innings. For the Indian cricket team, Jasprit Bumrah picked up nine wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the second innings, apart from twin 80s from Yashasvi Jaiswal, but they weren’t able to draw the Melbourne Test during the final session on day five.
In this article, SportsTiger looks at three reasons why India lost the fourth BGT Test match versus Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Drop catches in the field 
The Indian fielders weren’t quite at their best in the Melbourne Test, especially in the second innings with drop catches at critical junctures, which proved to be a massive difference maker in the eventual outcome. Yashasvi Jaiswal put down Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, and Pat Cummins when India were trying to claw their way back into the contest in the Australian second innings, while Mohammed Siraj’s drop of Nathan Lyon allowed the latter to add valuable runs on the board.
