Todd Murphy becomes second Australian off-spinner to bag five-wicket haul on debut against India

Aussie off-spinner Todd Murphy stunned the Indian batting line-up with a five-wicket haul on debut in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Series in Nagpur on Friday. Murphy became the fourth Australian off-spinner and the second against India to bag a five-fer on his Test debut. Jason Krejza was the bowler to achieve a similar feat against India, interestingly at the same venue, with figures of 8/215 in 2008/09. Murphy bagged four of the first five wickets as others were not able to be effective enough against Indian batters.

Aussie off spinner and Nagpur pitch. The love affair continues with Todd Murphy’s 5 wickets on debut. Well bowled. #INDvsAUS

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) February 10, 2023

Murphy got his maiden Test wicket on the first day as he dismissed KL Rahul with a soft caught and bowled towards the end of the day’s play. On the second day, Murphy started his juggernaut with the wicket of Ravichandran Ashwin, catching him plumb in front of the wickets. The big scalps came then as Murphy got Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli’s wickets on either side of the lunch break. Pujara played an uncharacteristic paddle sweep but got a leading edge to short fine leg. Kohli got an edge as he tried to nudge a ball outside the leg stump and Alex Carey held on to a juggling catch. While luck played against the batters, Murphy had got the two most-priced wickets in the Indian line-up. The off-spinner got his fifth wicket in the last session of Day 2 as he caught Srikar Bharat plumb in front of the wickets. The umpire didn’t rule in his favour but the Aussies reviewed the decision and got the wicket.

Impressed with how Todd Murphy has bowled. There's help in the pitch but you still have to pitch it on the right length with the right pace and he's done that consistently, and earned bit of luck. Dream debut for him with family watching from the stands. #INDvAUS #BGT2023 pic.twitter.com/GDJmPlehZH

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) February 10, 2023

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Apart from Murphy and Krejza, Nathan Lyon and Peter Taylor are the other two Aussie off-spinners to have achieved a similar feat. While Lyon registered 5/35 against Sri Lanka in 2011, Taylor bagged 6/78 against their arch-rivals England more than a century back in 1986/87. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.