Rohit Sharma’s men have outplayed the Australians by innings and 132 runs in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Nagpur. The Kangaroos lost 10 wickets in a single session, kudos to the Indian bowlers as they bowled out Australia for 91 runs. With this win, India are 1-0 ahead in the series.
It was a masterclass from Ravichandran Ashwin who registered his 31st five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He scalped the wickets of Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, and Alex Carey to achieve the milestone. Ravindra Jadeja also took three wickets. Todd Murphy starred with the ball for Australia by picking seven wickets in the first innings.
India started the day at 321 for seven with Ravindra Jadeja (70) and Patel at the crease. Jadeja then was sent back to the pavilion while Axar Patel played a crucial knock of 84 runs and powered India to 400. It was Rohit Sharma's brilliant century that gave India a terrific start as he led from the front even though wickets fell around him on a difficult track to play, especially against the spinners, the 35-year-old stayed determined and was ready to fight it out.
Earlier, visiting skipper Pat Cummins decided to bat first in the game and India bundled out Australia for 177 where Ravindra Jadeja took a five-wicket haul.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (injured and yet to recover), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia: Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green (injured), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc (injured), Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.