India vs Australia: Australia fans had a day to forget at the first day of the Border Gavaskar Trophy at Nagpur. The fans speculated several conspiracies throughout the day.
Nagpur,UPDATED: Feb 9, 2023 19:52 IST
Australian fans had a day to forget in the first day of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023.(PTI Photo)
By India Today Web Desk: Conspiracy theories ran wild on the first day of Border Gavaskar Trophy on February 9, Thursday. The Australian fans were not happy with the proceedings that went about in Nagpur on the first day of the opening Test match and voiced their concerns in social media. This was in keeping with the pitch controversy that erupted several days ahead of the first game. Former Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy commented in a breakfast show that Australia could have a good chance of winning if the pitches were not rank turners in the subcontinent.
The comments built up the hype for the Nagpur pitch, which turned out be a decent one with low bounce of the first day of the Test match. the Australian coach Andrew McDonald and former players also helped in pacifying the situation with McDonald stating that it was the job of the Australian team to solve problems presented to them.
“Our job is to solve the problems that the wicket presents and that’s the great part about Test cricket, is the conditions change from country to country and from venue to venue within the country,” McDonald told SEN’s Whateley on Thursday.
Right ahead of the Test match, in a column at the Sydney Morning Herald, former captain Mark Taylor echoed the sentiments and advised the Australian side to stop whining and focus on their game.
“Australia have to block that out and say, ‘We’re playing on the same pitch as India over the next four or five days. We’ve got to make more runs.’ That’s as simple as you’ve got to keep it,” Mark Taylor wrote in his column published on Febuary 9, just ahead of the Test match.
That did not stop the fans from conspiring, and it started off pretty early with the Usman Khawaja dismissal. The left hander was trapped in front of the wicket against a Mohammed Siraj inswinger, but that did not sit well with a section fo the fans.
That however was not the talking point of the day, as several fans complained about Ravindra Jadeja exchange with Siraj, where it looked like the bowler was borrowing some moisturizing ointment from the latter.
Former Australia captain Tim Paine’s comments added fuel to the fire and many speculated if there was some ball tampering involved.
At the end of day’s play however, Australia performed poorly despite getting to bat first, and were able to put up just 177 runs. In reply, India notched up 77/1 at the end of day’s play, thanks to captain Rohit Sharma’s aggressive innings.
India will start the second day of the Test match, exactly 100 runs behind the top ranked Test side in the world.
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