Virat Kohli's Indian side brimming with confidence will aim to finally shed the poor travellers' tag when it takes on a circumspect Australia in what is being perceived as the tourists' best opportunity to win a Test series Down Under in 70 years.
Virat Kohli's Indian side brimming with confidence will aim to finally shed the poor travellers' tag when it takes on a circumspect Australia in what is being perceived as the tourists' best opportunity to win a Test series Down Under in 70 years.
India vs Australia, 1st Test: Full commentary & scorecard
While the narrative remained same during the earlier tours of South Africa (1-2) and England (1-4), Kohli and his men will like to walk the talk as India's tough cycle of away assignment ends with this four-Test series beginning at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
The series is even more important for Kohli as it would also define his legacy as a leader having already established himself as world's premier batsman.
India's past Test record in Australia is quite abysmal. In 44 Tests on Australian soil, they have only managed five wins thus far.
In 70 years and over 11 tours, only two drawn series, under Sunil Gavaskar in 1980-81 and with Sourav Ganguly in charge in 2003-04 is more a reflection of temperament of touring sides over the years rather than quality.
India vs Australia: Teams
Australia XI: Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Tim Paine (c/wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
India's squad: Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
1. TOSS: India to bat first in Adelaide
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Indian Captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Adelaide Oval on Thursday. Kohli has picked Rohit Sharma ahead of Hanuma Vihari for the No. 6 slot in the match. PC: BCCI Twitter
Here are the playing XI of India vs Australia:
AUS XI: M Harris, A Finch, U Khawaja, S Marsh, P Handscomb, T Head, T Paine, P Cummins, M Starc, N Lyon, J Hazlewood
IND XI: M Vijay, L Rahul, C Pujara, V Kohli, A Rahane, R Sharma, R Pant, R Ashwin, M Shami, I Sharma, J Bumrah
2. WICKET!
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Excellent start from the Aussie bowlers, poor start from the tourists. Australian pacer and vice-captain Josh Hazlewood draws first blood, courtesy of KL Rahul's poor short. He gets an outside edge and that's an easy catch for Aaron Finch at the slip cordon. India 3/1 (Overs 2)
KL Rahul c Finch b Hazlewood 2(8)
3. Starc strikes!
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Australian spearhead strikes as he removes India's other opener, Murali Vijay. The batsman misjudges the line and length, as he goes for a drive, he just manages to strike the ball to the wicketkeeper. In a span of five overs, India lose both their openers. Great start for the hosts. The wicket, however, brings the Indian skipper at the crease. PC: ICC Twitter
Murali Vijay c Tim Paine b Mitchell Starc 11(22)
4. KOHLI GOES!
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Like KL Rahul and Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli also falls to Australia's plan to make them drive. He strikes the ball with hard hands, the ball flies to the left of Usman Khawaja at gully at a super fast rate. Khawaja flies to his left and completes a stunning left-handed catch! WOW! What scenes at Adelaide. India have their top 3 back into the dugout already, they are 25/3 after 12 overs. PC: ICC Twitter
Virat Kohli c Usman Khawaja b Pat Cummins 3(16)
5. Rahane goes, India 4-down!
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OUT! The Adelaide morning and won toss is turning out to be a nightmare for the Indian side. One after the another, these guys have been making the same mistake and getting out. Like Vijay, Rahul and Kohli, Rahane also goes after the wide delivery, tries to drive it but he ends up giving an easy catch to second slip. Aussies so far have stuck to a very simple plan: bowl tight, give one wide and the Indians fall to it. Smart from the hosts, atrocious from Kohli's army. PC: PTI
Rahane c Handscomb b Hazlewood 13(31)
India 49/4 (Overs 24)
6. Lunch at Adelaide
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India take lunch at 56 for 4 on the opening day of the first Test against Australia on Thursday. Pujara looks solid as he has faced 60-plus deliveries and has not looked uncomfortable or restless one bit. He has Rohit Sharma on the other end and these two have a huge task ahead after the side lost the top four batsmen cheaply. PC: AFP
7. Second session begins
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Play resumes post lunch at the Adelaide Oval. Rohit and Pujara are at the crease on 21 and 11 respectively. Meanwhile, while the Aussie spearhead Starc and Cummins have a wicket each, Hazlewood has been their pick of the lot with two scalps to his name. But, it was Cummins who trapped the big fish, Kohli, thanks to a blinder one-handed catch from Aussie No. 3 Usman Khawaja. PC: ICC Twitter
8. Rohit Sharma suffers brainfade
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What a bizarre dismissal! Rohit Sharma, who was looking extremely comfortable in the middle gets out playing what can be called an ugly shot. He tries a proper slog on the leg side, completely miscues it and gives a catch to Harris of Lyon's bowling. He was beaten by the flight but should have shown more restraint particularly as the team is in a precarious position.
Just a ball before that, Rohit nearly holed out in the deep mid wicket, only for the ball to go for a six. But not so lucky next time around. Rohit gone after 37 out of 61 balls, punctuated with 2 boundaries and 3 sixes. He was showing right intent but just threw caution to the wind against wily Lyon.
It is a shot that is justified when the team is nine wickets down, not when the team is looking to rebuild on the first day of the test match. PC: AFP
9. Pant falls to Lyon's spin
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OUT!
The only batsman to get dismissed for not going after a wider ball - Pant - tries to defend it but he was never going to get away from the turn Lyon produced here. A faint edge to the keeper. On-field Dharmasena was initially hesitant before he raised his finger. The Aussies looked so confident that if Dharmasena would not give that out, Paine would have immediately reviewed it. \
Nevertheless, India lose their fifth wicket, Lyon bags his second of the day as Aussies continue to make merry of India's misery here.
Pant c Paine b Lyon 25(38)
10. Take a bow, Pujara
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Twentieth Test fifty for Pujara! He has taken his own sweet time, 150 balls to reach his mark but all the patience and resistance was worth it. As wickets kept falling on the other end, Pujara hardly has kept a wrong foot today. He's played just five false shots against the seamers today, giving some hope for the Indian fans. He looks to have gotten in the zone, doesn't look in the mood to give up. Pujara might be enfolding his once-in-a-lifetime innings. PC: AFP
11. Pat Cummins with the breakthrough
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Just when India looked to stitch a key partnership, Pat Cummins made a crucial breakthrough by breaking the 62-run stand between Pujara and Ashwin by dismissing the latter. Whenever Australia have seen themselves into trouble and in a need of a wicket, Cummins has been their man for some time now. But this time, it was not Ashwin's fault totally, the extra bounce generated by the pacer just made him uncomfortable. As Ashwin tried to push it, an edge flew to Handscomb in the slip cordon. One of the best things about Australia has been their catching today. And as they say, "catches win you matches." PC: AFP
Ashwin c Handcomb b Cummins 25(76)
12. Starc, you beauty!
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Just after the second new ball is taken, Starc almost makes a breakthrough. He swings the ball on Ishant's middle-stump that lands on the latter's knee-roll. From the look of it, everybody including the umpire was convinced that Starc got his man LBW, however, Ishant immediately asks for a review, which saves his wicket.
11 balls later, Starc has the last laugh, Ishant OUT! Starc at his full pace and reverse swing rattles Ishant's wickets. Meanwhile, Pujara marches on, closing to a special milestone. PC: AFP
Ishant b Starc 4(20)
13. Miletone, Century, wicket & stumps!
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In the 84th over, a short ball from Hazlewood was pulled hesitantly by Pujara for a six and that took him to the 5,000-mark in Test cricket. That shot was followed by a smashing pull through square leg boundary. Is this Pujara 2.0? Wow! Pujara, who clinched his 16th Test century in front of the Adelaide Oval crowd, became the eighth Indian batsman to reach 5,000 Test runs.
Four overs later, it needed an exceptional effort from the Aussies to stop this Pujara 2.0. Cummins' superb direct throw got Pujara run out who walked back receiving the deserving standing ovation for his 246-ball 123. The umpires signalled stumps and India will resume Day 2 on 250 for 9 with Shami and Bumrah at the crease.
