India vs Australia: Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma shine on Day 1 to shun visitors

India dominated the proceedings against Australia on Day 1 of the Nagpur Test of the Border-Gavaskar Series with Aussies bundled out for 177 and the hosts batted at a brisk rate and lost just one wicket in 24 overs. While Ravindra Jadeja bagged a five-wicket haul on his international comeback after more than five months, Rohit Sharma, who had missed action due to injury , also notched up a half-century in the last session. India trail Australia by 100 runs at stumps on Day 1 but led the day’s proceedings and have a foot ahead of the Aussies with four days still to play.

Smith, Labuschagne stabilise after wonky start Amidst all talks of “doctored” spinning tracks and Ravichandran Ashwin making a home in Australia’s minds , Indian pacers sent the openers packing in a span of three overs. First, Mohammed Siraj trapped Usman Khawaja leg before and compelled umpire Nitin Menon to overturn his decision with a DRS. Then, Mohammed Shami sent David Warner’s off stump for a morning walk. The wickets even led coach Rahul Dravid to exuberant celebrations. However, after the early burst, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne joined hands and steadied the ship with a flurry of boundaries. Labuschagne edged a few deliveries through the cordon and played some amazing drives. Ravindra Jadeja: I worked on my fitness, skills, and rhythm Smith joined him and played some good shots to blunt the Indian pacers and tackle the spinners at the start of their spells. The duo registered a fifty-run partnership and continued till the end of the session. While Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel bowled some tight lines and created pressure with multiple maiden overs, they couldn’t pass through the defence of the Aussie batsmen. Australia ended the first session at 76/2 in 32 overs. Ravindra Jadeja tumbles Australia’s batting line-up in session 2 After an even contest in the first session, Ravindra Jadeja turned the tide in India’s favour and ran riot through Australia’s middle order. Jadeja first dragged Labuschagne to take a large stride outside the crease and made the ball turn past his outside edge. KS Bharath was swift and stumped the batter to break the 82-run partnership. Images: Ashwin, Jadeja, Rohit shine on Day 1 of Nagpur Test Jadeja was not satisfied and dismissed Matt Renshaw on the very next ball creating a hat-trick chance that he would have at the start of his next over.

A few overs later, Jadeja ripped through Smith’s defence with an almost unplayable delivery and Australia had lost half their side for 109 runs. Alex Carey then tried to counter-attack the Indians with some fantastic shots alongside Peter Handscomb and the duo added 53 runs for the sixth wicket. Ravichandran Ashwin, who seemed ineffective in the first session, finally came to the fore and bagged two quick wickets – also becoming the second fastest to reach 450 Test wickets . Australia scored 98 runs in 28 overs but it came at the cost of six wickets in the second session.

Rohit Sharma turns the Test to an ODI in session 3 After Australia were left reeling at 174/8 at the tea break, it was a matter of time before they would be bundled out. An elongated and inexperienced tail couldn’t wag for long and Jadeja dismissed debutant Todd Murphy to complete his 11th five-wicket haul. The milestone made sure that he had a dream comeback to the international circuit. Ashwin soon wrapped up the innings with Scott Boland’s wicket and Australia were dismissed for 177. Rohit Sharma then came to the crease alongside KL Rahul and made it look like he had a hangover from the recent ODIs against Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

The Indian skipper started briskly, scoring at a strike rate of 100, and also notched up his half-century that included nine boundaries and a maximum. The Indian skipper ended the day with 56 runs from 69 deliveries. KL Rahul, on the other hand, took his time to settle down but let that momentum slip by handing an easy catch to Murphy with just seven balls left to stumps. The spinner’s debut wicket acted like a consolation for Australia late in the day. India sent in Ravichandran Ashwin as night watchman to close the day and he remained steady till stumps. India ended Day 1 at 77/1. Read all the ** Latest News ****,** ** Trending News ****,** ** Cricket News ****,** ** Bollywood News ****,**  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on ** Facebook ****,**  Twitter  and ** Instagram ****.**