Rohit Sharma’s Team India are locking horns with Australia in their first match game of the ongoing World Cup 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Australian skipper Pat Cummins emerged victorious at the toss and opted to bat first against the Indian team. The Men in Blue have included three spinners with the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Kuldeep Yadav to exploit Chennai’s spin-friendly track.
During the first ball of the 28th over, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja bowled an unplayable delivery that went on to rattle Steve Smith’s tumps. Jadeja pitched the ball in the good length region and the ball ripped around Smith's forward defence. Smith couldn't do much but ended up smiling as it was an unplayable delivery. Smith scored 46 runs before getting out.
Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah got better off Mitchell Marsh in his second over of the game when his sharp out swinger shocked the Aussie opener. The right-handed batter got an outside edge and the ball carried towards the slip where Virat Kohli was stationed.
The former India skipper ended up taking a sensational catch and ensured India’s first breakthrough. Kohli also created history as he broke former India player Anil Kumble’s record of 14 catches and also became the most successful fielder from India. Virat has taken a total of 15 catches in 27 ODI World Cup games.
Earlier, at the time of toss, India’s skipper Rohit Sharma said, “The conditions are there for the bowlers and the ball will turn as the game goes on, you need to understand what line and lengths to bowl and adjust accordingly. We played a lot of cricket before that, we played two good series before the warm up games, we have covered all bases. Unfortunately he (Shubman Gill) didn't recover in time, we waited till today morning and he couldn't recover. Ishan comes in to replace him, he will open the batting.”