India captain Rohit Sharma was visibly frustrated after fellow opener KL Rahul lost his wicket with a loose shot towards the end of Day 1 in India’s first Test against Australia at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 9, 2023 17:03 IST
Rohit left frustrated after Rahul’s dismissal (AP)
By India Today Web Desk: India captain Rohit Sharma was visibly frustrated after fellow opener KL Rahul lost his wicket with a loose shot towards the end of Day 1 in India’s first Test against Australia at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur.
India ended Day 1 of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar series with 77/1 on the board after cleaning up Australia for 177 runs in the first innings.
With India cruising at 76/0 after 22 overs, it looked like the hosts would end the day with all their wickets in hand. However, debutant Todd Murphy had other plans in mind as he tossed up a delivery from around the wicket, which was flicked by Rahul straight at the bowler, who held on to pick his first Test wicket of his career.
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Rahul scored 20 runs off 71 balls at a dismal strike rate of 28.16, hitting one boundary. Rohit, who was the accelerator during the opening partnership for India, was left bewildered by Rahul’s shot selection, that too so late in the day. After Rahul’s dismissal, India got on Ravichandran Ashwin as the night watchman to see the day out.
Prior to Rahul’s wicket, India were in a very dominant position with Rohit hitting his 15th Test half-century in quick time. The India skipper got to his half-century in 66 balls, hitting eight boundaries and one six.
After Cummins won the toss and decided to bat, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj rattled the Aussies with the quick wickets of David Warner and Usman Khawaja. Immediately after lunch, Ravindra Jadeja stunned Australia – theirs was a happy dressing-room at lunch, having seen off 32 overs from the Indian attack. But in the space of two balls, Jadeja turned things around for the hosts.
First, Jadeja lured Marnus Labuschagne out of his crease with a smartly bowled slower ball as KS Bharat completed the stumping and then he trapped Matt Renshaw LBW to leave Australia reeling. Steve Smith was always going to be the biggest thorn in the flesh for India, but Jadeja took care of that too, with the barest turn.
Ravichandran Ashwin then dented Australia further, getting rid of Alex Carey and Cummins. Debutant Todd Murphy was the next to fall at the hands of Jadeja, who dismissed the 22-year-old without letting him open his account, before dismissing Peter Handscomb to complete his five-wicket haul. Ashwin then dismissed pacer Scott Boland, bundling Australia out for 177 runs after 63.5 overs.
