On the opening day of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Nagpur on Thursday, India significantly outplayed Australia. In the final session on a shifting surface, Ravindra Jadeja finished with figures of 5-47 and fellow spinner Ravichandran Ashwin added three more to dismiss Australia for 177. India’s reply saw them at 77 for one at the time of stumps, with skipper Rohit Sharma on 56 and Ashwin still at the crease without a run. Australia still has a 100-run lead over the hosts.
Rohit batted easily on a pitch that several Australian experts claimed had been “doctored,” according to allegations that the bone-dry wicket had been selectively watered to give the Indian spinners an unfair edge. Todd Murphy was the only Australian player to take a wicket, eliminating KL Rahul. Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, returned with a 4-1-27-0 record. Australian legends Mark Waugh and Matthew Hayden criticized his performance.
“Pat Cummins, the captain of the side, playing away from home has to lead the side. He bowled rubbish today. He was too full and he didn’t know where he was going with his line and length. If you look at the pitch map, it was way too much that was straying there as well. And it was just a matter of that momentum because Rohit Sharma was standing right at the other end. It does get away from you know,” said Matthew Hayden.
“Pat Cummins in particular got nothing out of the surface, nothing through the air. It was tougher to bat against the new ball this morning and those two early wickets, of Khwaja, were really a setback for Australia. Those two ducks and three guys for one (run). That’s what you got to avoid when you play in India. That is getting out on low scores,” said Mark Waugh.
