IND vs AUS 1st Test: The most awaited Test series on Indian soil has started and the first day has been nothing short of fantastic, at least if you look at it from the Indian point of view. Matters related to the turf in Nagpur made headlines, but honestly, it did not live up to its past reputation. The bounce was certainly on the lower side, but as far as the turn is concerned, it was all happening in Australia's head. The duo of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul negated the turning deliveries beautifully and never looked in any kind of discomfort.
Australia might have fancied their chance at the start. Pat Cummins went on to win the toss and elected to bat first. As per its reputation, the turf promised to get tougher on day 4 and day 5 and India might have thought that they were in trouble very early on. The Aussies prepared themselves for spin, but it looked like they forgot to prepare for pace. Shami and Siraj were absolutely spot on with the ball as they got the Australian openers Warner and Khwaja very cheaply. For a brief period, things turned in Australia's favour with Smith and his compatriot Labuschagne playing the balls on merit, but things changed pretty quickly post-lunch.
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Ravindra Jadeja who made his international comeback after 5 months outfoxed Labuschagne and ended his 82-run partnership with Steven Smith. Labuschage was the top scorer for Australia with 49 runs off 123 deliveries. Smith played a total of 107 deliveries but managed to score just 37 odd runs. Both Alex Carey and Peter Handscopmb tried to force matters into Australia's favour, but the Indian spinners were just too good for them. Ravindra Jadeja claimed a fifer and his spin partner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up three wickets. Australia bundled out for 177 runs.
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Indian skipper Rohit Sharma looked at utter ease as he came out to bat with Indian vice-captain KL Rahul. Australian skipper Cummins threw in every option that he had, but nothing tends to work once Rohit starts to find the middle of his bat. Rahul and Rohit registered a 50-run partnership and India looked well on their course to register a huge total, but Todd Murphy dismissed KL Rahul while he was batting on 20 off 71 deliveries. India then sent R. Ashwin to bat at the end of the day's play. As of now, India are trailing by 100 runs and if Australia are to challenge the hosts, they will have to find a way out on the second day to make inroads into the Indian batting lineup.
India XI: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Srikar Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland
