Rohit Sharma’s elevation to open marks another failure with the bat, while Steve Smith stands tall and Sam Konstas has the fans eating out of the palm of his hand.
Here are the quick hits from day two at the MCG.
1. Pitch invader shares a cuddle and dance with Kohli
India endured a frustrating morning to open day two.
Having a relatively fresh new ball in hand, the tourists would have hoped for an early breakthrough or two, but were instead greeted by a counter-attacking partnership, and a pitch invader.
The fan came charging in from fine leg like he was chasing a ball that had been flicked fine by Steve Smith.
He made a beeline for India captain Rohit Sharma, who moved as quickly as he has all summer long to avoid any sort of body contact.
After missing Sharma, the streaker made his way to Virat Kohli, who was more than happy to engage.
Kohli put his arms around the streaker almost like it was a photo opportunity at a meet and greet, and then the streaker decided to pull out a little Fortnite dance.
A lot of action, but not enough wickets from an Indian perspective.
2. Smith knocked over by a single bail
Steve Smith was at his brilliant best on day two as he smacked a rapid fire 140.
Smith’s 140 came off just 197 deliveries as he continually took the attack to every single one of India’s bowlers.
The bowler that most troubled him on both day one and day two was Akash Deep, and after bowling well without luck, Deep finally got something to go his way.
Loading Twitter content
Looking to add some quick runs after lunch, Smith walked down the wicket and tried to slog Deep over the off side, but smacked the ball into his pads instead.
The ball struck Smith’s foot and rolled almost in slow motion onto the stumps as the entire MCG watched it play out.
Smith hoped the ball didn’t have enough momentum to knock the bails over, but had to watch agonisingly as one bail flipped off the top of the stumps while the other remained in position.
It was a terribly unlucky way to end a quite brilliant innings.
3. Rohit’s big gamble fails
India made a huge selection call heading into the Boxing Day Test by dropping Shubman Gill.
Gill was axed to accommodate the woefully out of form skipper Rohit Sharma’s move to the top of the order.
After missing the first Test, which India won, Rohit returned in the number 6 spot and registered scores of three, six and 10.
India moved Rohit to the top of the order alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, moving KL Rahul to number three and leaving Gill out altogether as Washington Sundar came into the side somewhat surprisingly.
The tourists would have hoped that Rohit could find some form against the harder new ball, but once again fell cheaply.
There were positive signs initially, as Rohit punched a full Pat Cummins delivery down the ground for three, but a few balls later, he was gone.
Rohit looked like a man who is seriously out of form as he played a bizarre half-lap, half-pull to a short ball pitched well outside off stump, only to top edge it to Scott Boland.
The tentative stroke was a far cry from the player who has bludgeoned attacks all over the world for the last decade.
As Rohit trudged off the MCG, you couldn’t help but think if his time was up. You wouldn’t fault Rohit for thinking the same.
4. Cummins provides a typical moment of magic
It was a tale of two spells for Pat Cummins in the middle session leading into the tea break.
Cummins opened alongside Mitchell Starc and although his first spell yielded the wicket of Rohit, Australia’s skipper was loose by his standards.
Too often, he strayed too full and was repeatedly driven through the covers. After four overs, he hooked himself after giving up more than six runs an over.
With tea beckoning, Cummins gave himself another crack, this time from the other end.
India looked solid with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul putting together a solid stand.
Loading Twitter content
The tourists were one ball away from the tea break when Cummins, as he tends to do, created something out of nothing.
Rahul has been India’s most effective batter, by playing inside the ball better than any of the other Indian players so far this series.
With the final ball of his over, Cummins hurtled down a ball on a good length which pitched on middle and off, evaded Rahul’s vertical bat, and then clipped the top of off stump.
It was the type of dismissal every fast bowler dreams of, and another example of Cummins being an absolute all-timer.
5. Sam Konstas, man of the people
If his brilliant innings didn’t make him a cult hero already, Sam Konstas’s love-in with Bay 13 did.
The section of the MCG is notorious for having the most rowdy Australian supporters, and Konstas wasted no time whipping them up into a frenzy.
As Australia took to the field, Konstas was mostly stationed at square leg, but occasionally found himself in the vicinity of the adoring Bay 13.
Sam Konstas had an absolute blast fielding in front of the adoring Bay 13 crowd on day two. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)
Konstas played his part perfectly, shimmying, and then shadow bowling as the thousands in the stands imitated his every move.
In the afternoon session, as he did during his innings, Konstas revved up the crowd, getting them to clap as Nathan Lyon ran into bowl.
We get the feeling this is a mutual love affair that will carry on for a long, long time.
The biggest Australia-India moments
Throughout the summer, we’ll look back at some of the best stories and share our own favourite moments from Australia and India’s cricket history.
Join us to continue the conversation on our live blogs and on the radio over the summer before the readers’ top 10 is revealed ahead of the fifth Test at the SCG from January 3.
Select five options to make sure your vote is counted.
dan