IND vs AUS 1st Test, Day 1 highlights: Stumps: India 77/1, Rohit Sharma slams half century

For now just, As expected, it's India who looks in the ascendancy in the first Test. Can Australia add a little more spice via the red soil on day two? Join us for all the updates as the action unfolds in Nagpur! Live updates start at 7:30 in the morning.  

The scattered crowd chanting his name, the sun kissing his forehead as he uttered a silent prayer heaven-ward, Ravindra Jadeja untied his hair-bun and waved his tresses wildly like a rockstar in mid-concert. His teammates would ruffle and pull the hair, but Jadeja would simply keep laughing at the frivolity around him, as he walked back in glee to the dressing room holding aloft the ragged red ball of love on his comeback to international cricket, in a moment of pure joy.

“Interesting,” came the comment from former Australia captain Tim Paine as a footage of Ravindra Jadeja from the first India-Australia Test did rounds on social media on Thursday.

On his comeback in India’s Test whites for the first time since July 2022, Ravindra Jadeja returned with bowling figures of 22-8-47-5 in the first day of the Nagpur Test.

Very happy with the way I was bowling. I was enjoying my bowling. Playing after 5 months, playing Test cricket, it's tough. I was prepared for it and I was working hard on my fitness as well as on my skills at NCA. I played a first-class game (Ranji) after a long time and I bowled almost 42 overs. It gave me a lot of confidence to come here and play a Test match. There was no bounce on the wicket, I was targeting the stump-to-stump line. The oddball was spinning and the odd ball was going straight. Being a left-arm spinner, if you get batsmen out caught behind or stumped, you always give credit to the ball. In Test match cricket, whatever wicket you take, you are happy with that. I was working hard on my bowling when I was in Bangalore at the NCA. I was bowling 10-12 hours every day and that helped me a lot. I was working on my rhythm because I knew that I have to play a Test match and I have to bowl long spells.

Ashwin negotiates the final ball with solid forward defence. Despite losing a wicket right at the end of the day's play it has been India's day. The hosts still trail by 100 runs. Cummins and co. will be looking to come with a better mindset and try to pick a few early wickets and put some pressure back on the hosts. If not this game can drift away pretty quickly from the kangaroos.

Score after 24 overs, IND: 77/1 | Rohit Sharma 56(69), Ravichandran Ashwin 0(5)

Todd Murphy picks up his first international wicket. What a moment for the offspinner. KL Rahul trying to play the ball on the offside gets beaten by the flight of the ball. The ball pitches and turns sharply the batter hits one straight back to Murphy. Opening for the Australians right at the end of the day's play. Ravi Ashwin walks into the middle.

Score after 23 overs, IND: 76/1 | Rohit Sharma 55(67), Ravichandran Ashwin 0(1)

The skipper looked at his elegant best again. He looked fluent he pounced on anything that was loose. The skipper is leading from the front. However, the job is only half done. He would be looking to make it a big score and make sure that the Indians won't have to bat again on this surface.

Score after 22 overs, IND: 76/0 | Rohit Sharma 51(66), KL Rahul 18(66) 

Debutant Todd Murphy looked the most threatening so far of the Aussie bowlers. He is bowling brilliant lines and lengths keeping his end tight. However, the bowlers from the other end are leaking runs and letting the pressure build-up. This has been an average start by the Aussies to the long tour coming in as the world's number one team to the Indian shores.

Score after 22 overs, IND: 70/0 | Rohit Sharma 51(66), KL Rahul 18(66) 

Sriram Veera: Former India spinner and selector Sunil Joshi reckons the Australian off spinners (especially Todd Murphy) aren’t being too effective for couple of reasons: They are undercutting the ball rather than impart more side-spin. And he isn’t too impressed with the round-the-stumps line. Joshi is on the commentary panel on Hotstar’s Kannada offering. Under-cutting (also called as lateral spin) is a good option as a variation but not so consistently. 

The idea behind undercutting is to get the ball drift away from the right handers and get the ball to usually slide on with the angle. The wrist is slid under the ball (the palm in effect faces the sky) and the fingers grip the seam, basically. So the seam is almost parallel to the ground on a horizontal axis. The ball would drift out and can spin in a bit - but not as much as side-spin, and usually carries on. Hence Todd Murphy is releasing it from round the stumps, and trying to target the outer edge. Joshi believes it would be better if he uses it as a punctuation rather than stock as pitch is aiding turn.

Score after 20 overs, IND: 60/0 | Rohit Sharma 43(62), KL Rahul 16(60) 

Australian skipper Pat Cummins has brought himself back into the attack. Cummins looked a bit off-colour today both with his bowling and captaincy. The skipper bowled a few loose deliveries in the over which Rahul drove for a boundary. The Australians are starting to drop their shoulders. If they won't pick a soon this may be a long Test match for the visitors.

Score after 19 overs, IND: 59/0 | Rohit Sharma 42(55), KL Rahul 16(58) 

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have laid a solid foundation for India. After a brilliant bowling display, this is what the doctor ordered for the Indian team. Australia continues to be on the back foot in this game. A few half-shouts here and there but nothing substantial which is good enough to pick a wicket.

Score after 17 overs, IND: 54/0 | Rohit Sharma 42(49), KL Rahul 11(51) 

Just when it looked like the Australian bowlers were getting their lines and lengths right and the Indian batters were not picking their variations Rohit Sharma hits Lyon for a six. He comes down the track and hits the ball over the bowler's head. This has been brilliant batting by Rohit so far.

Score after 15 overs, IND: 49/0 | Rohit Sharma 38(48), KL Rahul 10(43) 

Todd Murphy has started well on his debut here. He seems to be a good line and length bowler. He had an LBW shout against KL Rahul in the previous over. However, the ball was going over the stumps. Murphy seems to be similar to Nathan Lyon getting a lot of bounce from the surface and overspin on the ball. With experience, he can be a real handful.

Score after 13 overs, IND: 40/0 | Rohit Sharma 32(43), KL Rahul 7(39) 

It has been all India so far in this game. Apart from an hour of batting from Marnus Labuschange and Steven Smith in the morning, the visitors had hardly any say in the game. Though Lyon is starting to get a bit of purchase from the wicket he needs debutant Murphy from the other end to support him. Rohit is looking in ominous form. Rahul is looking solid in his defence.

Score after 12 overs, IND: 38/0 | Rohit Sharma 32(42), KL Rahul 5(31) 

Best average in Border-Gavaskar Trophy (Minimum 30 wickets)
Ravindra Jadeja 68 wkts @ 18.15
Glenn McGrath 51 wksts @ 18.64
Jasprit Bumrah 32 wkts @ 21.25
Ben Hilfenhaus 33 @ 22
Pat Cummins 43 @ 24.46
Jason Gillespie 43 @ 25.44

Score after 11 overs, IND: 38/0 | Rohit Sharma 32(36), KL Rahul 5(31) 

Nathan Lyon gets the first ball to turn. The ball pitches outside the leg stump of Rohit Sharma and turns back into the middle stump. The ball takes the outside edge of Sharma's bat. Lyon is slowly getting into his work here. KL Rahul on the other hand continues to be cautious.

Score after 10 overs, IND: 35/0 | Rohit Sharma 31(34), KL Rahul 4(26) 

Rohit Sharma ends Nathan Lyon's over with a four. Rohit is looking in ominous touch here. The Aussie bowling has not been up to the mark. The seamers have been all over the place with their lines and lengths. Lyon has not looked threatening one bit so far in his brief spell. Score after 7 overs, IND: 27/0 | Rohit Sharma 26(23), KL Rahul 1(19) 

While Rohit has romped his way to 26, Rahul is still on 1 and has taken 19 balls. He is taking his time and batting cautiously. "Why can’t we play Kl Rahul as a wicket keeper batsman in test matches too as it will give the middle order more stability in the absence of Rishabh and make shubhman open the innings looking at his form"- asks Naman on twitter. Score after 7 overs, IND: 27/0 | Rohit Sharma 26(23), KL Rahul 1(19)

Rohit has the measure of Cummins. First, he picks up the full-length ball and flicks it off his toes, and then when Cummins went short on the last ball of the over, he simply tickled it away for a four. Great batting. Score after 5 overs, IND: 26/0 | Rohit Sharma 26(22), KL Rahul 0(8)

Nathan Lyon, right-arm off break, is brought into the attack. A slip, leg gully and forward short leg in place. An interesting match up will be between Rohit and Lyon. Score after 4 overs, IND: 16/0 | Rohit Sharma 16(16), KL Rahul 0(8)

Rohit Sharma vs Nathan Lyon in Tests:

Innings - 13
Runs - 136
Dismissals - 6
Average - 22.7
Balls/dismissal - 43.8

Dk makes bold prediction. 'India will bat just once in this game'. When Mark Waugh said it won't be easy, dk went' it (batting) isn't as difficult as Aussies made out to be'. Score after 3 overs, IND: 15/0 | Rohit Sharma 15(11), KL Rahul 0(7)

KL Rahul is under pressure in this series to score some big runs. Former Australia allrounder Michael Hussey picked KL Rahul to be the player of the series as well as the highest run scorer. Will he ? Score after 2 over, IND: 15/0 | Rohit Sharma 15(11), KL Rahul 0(2)

Rohit Sharma has begun with an attacking mindset and gets 13 runs from the opening over! He slams Cummins for three boundaries. Cummins need to get his line right. Bowling on the middle & leg is very unlike him. Score after 1 over, IND: 13/0 | Rohit Sharma 13(5), KL Rahul 0(1)

Rohit and Rahul are at the crease. Rohit is on strike. Cummins will open the attack and it is a four off the first ball. What a roar from the crowd. What a start

Ashwin snares Boland and that's all over for Australia. They have been bowled out for 177 in the first innings. Ashwin has three and Jadeja has five. 'The orginal spin-twins' says Gavaskar on air have done the damage. On a difficult wicket have Australia got enough? Only time will tell. We will be back with the Indian innings.

Left-arm spinner Jadeja has picked up five wickets in the innings. Peter Handsomb who looked comfortable on the wicket was trapped in front by the Indian spinner. Australia has now lost all their recognized batters Scott Boland walks into the middle. Boland has two first-class half-centuries in domestic cricket. 

AUS 177/9

Ravindra Jadeja takes his 11th five-wicket haul as Peter Handscomb departs for 31. He is LBW and goes for the review and ball-tracking shows three reds! A five wicket haul for Jadeja straight after a long injury break. AUS: 176/9 (62.4)   

Having one set batter and a tailender has always been the dilemma of the fielding team captains about how much to attack and defend. Handscomb is the set batter trying to defend the entire over and take the single off the last ball. Rohit kept all his fielders on the boundaries for the first few balls and brought them in for the final ball however, ended up giving the single away.

AUS 176/9

Ravindra Jadeja has taken the ball after the break. Right move from the skipper since he has been the best bowler in the innings so far. He has picked up four wickets and troubled the batters. Australia on the other hand will be looking to build a partnership here. Peter Handscomb has looked good so far in this inning. In fact, he looked the most comfortable on this wicket after Steven Smith.

AUS 175/8

It has been a great session for India. Six wickets is exactly what they would have dreamt of and they have done just that. Australia, on the other hand, will be happy to have added 98 valuable runs, especially after the departure of Smith and Labuschagne. But the man of the moment is surely - Ravindra Jadeja who is one wicket away from a fifer. AUS: 174/8 (60)

Murphy's debut ends with a duck! He is out Lbw to Jadeja! 4th wicket for Jadeja. Jadeja is now one away from FIVE on his return. What a comeback this has been for Jadeja. He comes after lunch & bowls the typical Jadeja way, keeping it to the stumps. Aussie are 8 down now.  Score after 59 overs, AUS: 173/8 | Peter Handscomb 28(65) Nathan Lyon 0(1)

Former Australia batsman Mark Waugh, one of the best slip fielders the game has seen, has pointed out where Virat Kohli is getting it wrong in the position.
 
On Day 1 of the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Nagpur, Kohli failed to hold two tough chances that came his way. In the first session, Steve Smith played a cut against Ravindra Jadeja which flew to Kohli at first slip. Although he got a hand to it, he couldn't hold on. Waugh, who was on air, said Kohli had got off quickly and should have been standing a bit low in these conditions to pouch such chances.

Similarly, in the second session as Peter Handscomb edged one off Jadeja, it deflected off KS Bharat and flew quickly. This time Kohli reacted late, prompting Waugh to note that the former India captain had got his stance wrong once again. "Your legs have to be lot closer to be able to move quickly" Waugh would go on to say.

Ashwin sets up Cummins beautifully with a few tossed up deliveries and then bowls a flatter one which draws the edge. This time Kohli takes it in the slips and is smiling. Second wicket for Ashwin! Debutant Todd Murphy, left handed bat, comes to the crease. AUS: 172/7 (57.3)

Jadeja induces the edge of Handscomb and the ball deflects from the keepers pads and goes past first slip. Kohli tries to get his hands to it but is late. 'He doesn't seem to be ready, not in the game,' observes Mark Waugh on commentary. 'His feet are so wide apart. On this pitch I would expect a catch every ball and be on my toes. Not so with Kohli,' he adds. Is India missing Ajinkya Rahane ? Score after 55 overs, AUS: 172/6 | Peter Handscomb* 27(56), Pat Cummins* 6(5)

Ravichandran Ashwin becomes the 11th bowler to take 450 (or more) wickets in Test cricket.

Fastest to reach 450 Test wickets (by innings) :-
132 - Muthiah Muralitharan 
165 - Anil Kumble 
167* - R Ashwin
187 - Shane Warne 
195 - Glenn McGrath

450 wickets for R Ashwin. Alex Carey attempts a reverse-sweep but could only inside edge it on to the stumps. First wicket of the match for Ashwin, takes him to a landmark figure. 450 wicket at an average of 24.32 in 89 matches. AUS: 162/6 (53.1)

As Alex Carey gets successive boundaries, some slightly annoyed faces in the Indian camp. Another boundary through the third-man region. On a pitch with low bounce having a third man fielder won't be a bad idea. Carey and Handscomb are adding some valuable runs here. Score after 53 overs, AUS: 162/5 | Peter Handscomb* 23(50), Alex Carey 36(32)

Axar Patel is back into the attack and Carey gets down on his knees and sweeps it away for a FOUR! The ball reaches the fence towards the fine leg boundary. India have bowled poorly to this pair, field positions could have been better for Alex Carey, this partnership is growing, need to break it as soon as possible. Score after 52overs, AUS: 153/5 | Peter Handscomb* 23(49), Alex Carey 27(27)

Alex Carey is toying with the Indian bowlers right now. Paddle sweep, reverse sweep and cover drives. Fantastic batting.  Score after 51 overs, AUS: 148/5 | Peter Handscomb* 23(47), Alex Carey 22(23)

After a couple of quiet overs from the spinners, Carey attacks Mohammed Siraj, who is brought back into the attack. A lovely drive forces Siraj to go round the wicket but once again Carey reads the length and executes a glorious cover drive. This counter-attack by Alex Carey and Peter handscomb looks strong and if they continue like this, Australia may win this session. Score after 50 overs, AUS: 144/5 | Peter Handscomb* 20(42), Alex Carey 21(22)

Alex Carey won't stop reverse-sweeping and he mistimes one and its up in the air but no harm done. Score after 47 overs, AUS: 130/5 | Peter Handscomb* 20(34), Alex Carey 11(12)

Firs Carey reverse-sweeps for a four and then Handscomb gets a streaky boundary past the slip region. Score after 46 overs, AUS: 129/5 | Peter Handscomb* 20(33), Alex Carey 10(7)

Alex Carey has already been busy reverse sweeping and paddling the spinners. He once told cricket.com.au: My wife is the harshest critic of the reverse sweep. I just tell her, “You haven’t played the game. So ..” (Laughs).  It gets me a lot of runs. Going forward, to keep trusting that method.I tend to sweep spin no matter where it is.” 

“He has the ability to take the wickets of top batsmen” Sunil Gavaskar, clearly battling cold, purred in admiration at Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling. This is why India were desperate to get Jadeja fit and back for this marquee series. At lunch, it had seemed Australians were gaining control with Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. But Jadeja changed all that in a jiffy. A

A cracking left-armer’s beauty - flight, grip, and quick spin - had Labuschagne meet thin air. Then he got another ripping turner from off and middle line to trap Matt Henshaw lbw. Next, he took the biggest one yet - Steve Smith. 

With that most deadly delivery on a turner: the straight ball. Smith had his bat a touch outside the line, perhaps for the turn, but the ball landed on a length around off stump line and hit the off. Again, the fizz off the pitch isn’t slow usually from Jadeja and that didn’t allow someone as quick with his hands as Smith even to adjust. By Sriram Veera  | Score after 45 overs, AUS: 120/5 | Peter Handscomb* 16(29), Alex Carey 5(5)

Ashwin comes in as soon as left-hander Alex Carey walks in to bat and Alex Carey gets off the mark with a reverse-sweep. This will be an interesting match-up. Score after 43 overs, AUS: 118/5 | Peter Handscomb* 16(20), Alex Carey 4(1)

Jadeja cleans up Steve Smith with an absolute beauty. This is the ball that Australia were dreading - pitching close to off stump, doesn't turn and hits the stumps. Smith was playing for the turn but it was not there. Jadeja is on fire with 3 wickets as of now for him. Both the set batters dismissed after lunch for Australia. Score after 42 overs, AUS: 109/5 

Steve Smith, the aggressor, showing no half-measures and takes the attack to Axar Patel and gets three boundaries in the over. Two of them are over the top of extra-cover which shows his attacking mindset. Attack, stay aggressive and keep the scoreboard ticking might be the good strategy on this wicket and Aussies are doing it now. Score after 41 overs, AUS: 105/4 | Steven Smith* 37(102), Peter Handscomb* 8(13)

Handscomb with a big stride forward and then a big stride back and hit its away past the point area. Excellent technique shown by the batter. Handscomb once again shows his quick feet and whacks it away on the on-side and run four. Excellent running. Score after 40 overs, AUS: 93/4 | Steven Smith* 25(96), Peter Handscomb* 8(13)

The secret of how both Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne repelled the Indian spinners lies in their hands. The other factors for sure like: playing late, head over the ball, trying not to lunge or play across, but many good batsmen can do all that. What sets these two apart is the way they use their hands to get bat in angles to get them out of jail even if they have misread the length or in slightly awkward balance. By Sriram Veera 

Jadeja does not get his hat-trick and then oversteps. Two slips and a short leg in place for him and its a quiet over. Score after 38 overs, AUS: 85/4 | Steven Smith* 25(90), Peter Handscomb* 0(7)

Srikar Bharat take a bow. Sadanand Vishwanath would have been proud of that effort. It was a lovely ball from Ravindra Jadeja - bit more air, and lot more grip on the surface and completely had Marnus Labuchagne, who was sucked into the drive and then left abandoned by the turn.  But he hadn’t charged out of the crease. More a natural lunge-forward for the shot. But Bharat was more than ready - for the turn, bounce, and the opportunity. He snapped it like a crocodile, both palms out, and took off the bails in a rapid blur, leaving no chance for Marnus to get back.

Then, Jadeja took out Matt Henshaw as well with a quickish turn-in. Renshaw lunged forward and had to play around the front pad, and couldn’t get bat to ball. “It wasn’t from the rough but the surface was disturbed a touch,” Mark Waugh would say on air. "You have to take a shorter stride than that". By Sriram Veera 

Matt Renshaw, left handed bat, comes to the crease and its a loud appeal for lbw on his first ball! OUT! Umpire gives it out! The batter opts for a review but its umpire call and he has to go back. 2 in 2 for Jadeja and continues his excellent record against left-handers. Jadeja strikes again, dismisses Matt Renshaw (0). Welcome back Ravindra Jadeja. Score after 36 overs, AUS: 84/4

What a delivery from Jadeja, teasing the batter with the loop and getting it to turn slightly and a big wicket for India. Great bit of work from keeper KS Bharat. The ball gripped the surface and smart stumping from Bharat. AUS: 84/3 (35.5) 

If Steve Smith and Labuschagne continue to bat like this, India is in real danger. What a star, Labuschagne is A lot of people expected him to struggle in India but looks like he is going to have a mega series along with Smith. Score after 35 overs, AUS: 84/2 | Steven Smith* 25(84), Marnus Labuschagne* 49(118)

Jadeja takes the ball from the other end and the third ball of his over stays very low as the left-armer darts one into the batter. Labuschagne does not commit fully forward and gets his bat down in time. How well is he playing today. Score after 34 overs, AUS: 83/2 | Steven Smith* 25(80), Marnus Labuschagne* 48(116)

Shami steaming in once again and he goes short on the third ball and Smith pulls it away for a four. Something interesting happened on the next ball - hint of reverse swing as Smith is rapped on the pads. No LBW though!  Score after 33 overs, AUS: 81/2 | Steven Smith* 24(78), Marnus Labuschagne* 47(110)

-Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith stitched a gritty third-wicket partnership to help Australia overcome a wobbly start and reach 76-2 at lunch

- Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat on a spin-friendly track

-Both the Australia openers were back in the hut inside the first 13 deliveries of the match.

- Labuschagne is unbeaten 47 with Smith 19 not out.

-Mohammed Siraj struck with his first delivery - an outswinger that struck Usman Khawaja (one) low on his pad.

- Umpire Nitin Menon turned down the lbw appeal but India reviewed the decision, which was overturned after replays confirmed the ball would have gone on to hit the leg stump.

- Shami sent David Warner's off-stump cartwheeling with the first ball of his second over to reduce Australia to two for two.

- For India, Suryakumar Yadav, the top-ranked Twenty20 batter, made his test debut alongside wicketkeeper KS Bharat.

Let’s return to that dropped chance by Kohli to reprieve Smith. Smith was on 6 then and it was the first ball of the 16th over.  Luckily for us, possibly the greatest slip catcher of all time Mark Waugh was on air. Immediately, he picked up a couple of cues.  “Kohli was very high-up in his position. Should have stayed down a bit.” The replays showed Kohli wasn’t crouching low, as he would do after that drop. His hands were above his knee, the top body more erect “high-up” as junior Waugh said. From that position, the body balance all goes awry when reacting to a sharp chance. As they say, it’s easy to go up to adjust to a high catch as opposed to lunging down. 

Waugh offered more reasons: “He should have done a little bit better. Almost as if he wasn't expecting it.”  Last year, the former fielding coach R Sridhar had talked about Kohli at slips.

“Virat Kohli has gone on to become one of India's better slip fielders purely with practice. He was not a very good slip fielder initially because he was too energetic - he was a bundle of energy - and that is Kohli. Not that he is not energetic now. He is still very much there but he is able to know when to be calm and he has channelled his energy better. But I am telling you it's practice.”

That energy does come through every now and then even now. He would stand up a bit early in the piece, or not get his hands low and cupped. With him, it’s about how he calms his mind and gets to the basics while at slips. By Sriram Veera