Brisbane, Australia: Mitchell Johnson took three wickets in a destructive opening spell as India's batting lineup collapsed on Saturday, giving Australia control of the second test.
India resumed at 71-1 on day four but, with opener Shikhar Dhawan staying in the pavilion after being injured in morning practice, lost 4-11 in 20 balls as Johnson exploited some overhead cloud cover and extra bounce. At lunch, India was 157-7, an overall lead of 60, with Dhawan (41 not out) back at the crease.
Johnson had Virat Kohli (1) out chopping onto his stumps, Ajinkya Rahane (10) caught at gully by Nathan Lyon and Rohit Sharma (0) caught behind within 11 balls. Josh Hazlewood then trapped skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (0) lbw as India slumped to 87-5.
Ravi Ashwin batted well for 19 to help India erase the 97-run first-innings deficit before he was contentiously given out, caught behind off Mitchell Starc to a ball that appeared to miss the edge. The video review system is not used in this series at India's behest.
Dhawan rejoined overnight partner Cheteshwar Pujara at 117-6 and they moved the total to 143 before Hazlewood struck again, having Pujara (43) fending to gully.
It was a costly morning session for India, losing 6-86 and turning a match that had appeared to be evenly poised heading into the weekend.
India team management complained about the condition of the practice wickets at the Gabba, saying Dhawan and Kohli were hurt while batting in the nets before play.
Kohli hurt his left wrist in the nets but was able to go out to bat at the start of play. He faced only 11 balls before his dismissal triggered the collapse.
Dhawan batted for 23 overs late Friday and was not out on 26 overnight, but hurt his right wrist in a net session. He didn't have time to go for medical scans as wickets tumbled and he went back out to bat before lunch.
India team management said it had been asking for several days for fresh practice pitches to be prepared in the nets but it had not happened.
"Instead of that, they have asked (us) to practice on worn out wickets which (have) uneven bounce," the team said in a statement. "Because of that two of our batsmen got injured."
