 "India's Yashasvi Jaiswal departs after getting dismissed for an eight-ball duck as the Australian players celebrate in the background on Day 1 of the first Test in Perth. AP")
Indian batters continued to underwhelm as the Australian pacers ran through the visitors’ batting lineup on the opening day of the five-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India’s shaky batting order was one of the primary reasons behind their humiliating 0-3 whitewash at the hands of New Zealand at home , and they hardly appear to have improved since then as they were bundled out for 150 on Day 1 in Perth after stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah opted to bat.
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Nitish Kumar Reddy top-scored for the Indians with a knock 41 off 59 balls after making his Test debut along with Harshit Rana . Had it not been for his innings along with Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul’s handy contributions of 37 and 26 respectively, the visitors might have struggled to cross the century mark at the fast and bouncy Optus Stadium in Perth.
The biggest disappointments of the day were Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli, who were dismissed for 0 and 5 respectively with the latter getting bounced out by senior Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, resulting in a catch for Usman Khawaja in the slips. Jaiswal, meanwhile, was dismissed off the first attacking shot of the day as he nicked the ball to Nathan McSweeney at gully to depart in his eighth delivery without opening his account.
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Also departing for a duck was Devdutt Padikkal, who replaced the injured Shubman Gill and faced 15 more balls than Jaiswal.
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View AllRahul, meanwhile, was mounting an impressive fight back after being included as an opener in place of skipper Rohit Sharma, who missed the Perth Test for the birth of his son. The senior wicketkeeper-batter produced a few exquisite shots and collected three boundaries before getting caught-behind off Mitchell Starc’s bowling in a rather contentious manner .
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Pant would later briefly steady the ship with Reddy, the pair adding 38 for the eighth wicket, with the former collecting three fours and a typical “no-look” six off Australian skipper Pat Cummins. Like several of his teammates, his stay at the crease would also come to an end with a thick outside edge, resulting in a catch for Steve Smith in the slips above his head.
Reddy, who struck six fours along with a maximum, hung around long enough to ensure the visitors got to 150 at the very least.
It was an all-pace show for the Aussies with Hazlewood the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/29 while the trio of Starc (2/14), Mitchell Marsh (2/12) and Cummins (2/67) collected a couple of wickets each.