Australia’s hopes of winning the MCG Boxing Day Test are being dashed by the fighting spirit of India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy

The rain first came upon hitting the tee, both as Australia’s savior and tormentor.

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On the third day, things were going badly for the Australians and after a period of gradual unraveling, two young Indian all-rounders were about to completely derail the home team’s plans.

It was supposed to be a big day for Australia. Most of the nearly 80,000 people who arrived on Saturday did so in the hope of watching Sam Konstas, Steve Smith and Travis Head put Australia in a winning position.

Before the fun could begin, however, there were a few pesky errands to run and Australia’s tardiness in taking wicket soon meant the deadline was fast approaching.

The rain may have briefly halted the progress of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar and later ended the day early after most of their work was done, but it also cost Australia valuable time in a Test match they can ill afford not to to win.

We’re halfway through the fourth Test of this summer, so we now have a pretty good understanding of both sides’ strengths and weaknesses.

In India’s case, apart from Jasprit Bumrah, the country’s greatest strength may be the fighting spirit of its youth.

While Rohit Sharma battles his demons and Virat Kohli storms around ready to fight, guys like Nitish, Yashasvi Jaiswal and now Sundar have become the biggest thorns in Australia’s side.

Nitish’s straight shot and clear head were in stark contrast to the acrobatics of Rishabh Pant earlier in the day, who as always walked the fine line between his ‘natural game’ and throwing away his wicket.

If you were kind, you would say that Pant’s shot – he fell on his back while backwards sending a ball straight into third man Nathan Lyon’s throat – was too ambitious and seriously ill-advised. If you were Sunil Gavaskar on the ABC call, you would call it something else: “stupid, stupid, stupid”.

At this point, it seemed like India were determined to offer this Test to Australia as a belated Christmas present after the nonsense between Kohli and Jaiswal the night before. But Nitish’s arrival at the crease changed the pace of the day.

Nitish fought with determination and control. He left the ball well and shot it down flawlessly, but was just as happy to attack and destroy Nathan Lyon when the mood struck him.

And as the partnership between him and Sundar grew in the eighth wicket, Australia became increasingly tired, ragged and without any spark. There were times in the afternoon when this Australian team looked, for lack of a better word, old.

Mitchell Starc had a back problem. Not one that stopped him from bowling, but one that obviously hindered him and caused him pain.

He spent a lot of time trying to get the team physiotherapist’s attention on the narrow leg boundary and was once incredibly slow off the rope while trying to make a catch. It was half a chance at best, but it was still tedious.

In the same over, Lyon chugged after a ball that landed on the boundary but then slipped and kicked the rope while picking it up. Later in the day, Usman Khawaja for some reason tried to slide after a barely moving ball and almost blew out his cruciate ligament.

Australia did not fare badly by any means, but in the face of spirited and determined Indian resistance there was a lack of truly groundbreaking inspiration.

Not for the first time either. If you look back at the great series of recent years in which Australia have failed to win – India’s last game four years ago and especially the last two Ashes away series – you will find moments in games where the game was within reach was. but not confiscated.

Often, Australia’s inability to take lower-order wickets has proven to be their undoing and while Nitish or Sundar can by no means be called a tailender, this has been proven once again here at the MCG.

There is still plenty of time left for a winner and a loser to emerge, but on a pitch that remains a dream to bat on, Australia’s path to victory has narrowed significantly.

The Australians now have to build a clear lead of at least 350 points while giving themselves enough time to keep India out of the way.

Breaking this down further, it means taking the last wicket and managing around 250 runs in just over two sessions, leaving the best part of four sessions for a physically weakened bowling attack to grab 10 wickets and win the game.

The odds in this game, and therefore this series, have shifted significantly in India’s favor and almost all of this can be attributed to the work of Nitish Kumar Reddy on the third day.

His century, marked by late drama as wickets fell at the other end, was just the latest in the growing list of turning points in this summer-long battle. The challenge is once again before Australia, the margin of error is smaller than ever.

Until day five in Sydney, Australia cannot afford any more wasted sessions. Easier said than done against an Indian team with more character than they might be given credit for.