Rohit Sharma slams fifty after Ravindra Jadeja five-fer as hosts dominate Day 1 of 1st IND vs AUS Test

Team India left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja claimed 5/47 on his international comeback as the hosts bundled out Australia for a mere 177 in 63.5 overs on Day 1 of the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Nagpur on Thursday, February 9. Indian captain Rohit Sharma (56*) then scored a brisk half-century as India went to stumps at 77/1, trailing the Aussies by exactly 100 runs, with nine wickets in hand.

After Australia won the toss and decided to bat first, India’s pacers sent back the Aussie openers cheaply. Mohammed Siraj trapped Usman Khawaja (one) lbw with a smart in-swinger. The on-field umpire negated the appeal, but India took the DRS to get the decision overturned.

David Warner (one) was then castled by a dream delivery from Mohammed Shami. The seasoned pacer got one to seam in from an area just outside off and sent the Aussie batter’s off-stump for a cartwheel.

A third-wicket stand of 82 between Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith represented the best phase of Day 1 for Australia. The duo looked in little trouble against the Indian spinners, using their feet and judgment to great effect.

Smith enjoyed some luck as he was dropped by Virat Kohli at slip off Axar Patel’s bowling at the start of the 16th over. Overall, though, Smith and Labuschagne demonstrated good resolve to take Australia to 76/2 at lunch.

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Jadeja, Ashwin stall Aussie fightback

What promised to be an intriguing second session turned out to be a one-sided contest as Jadeja found his groove. The canny left-arm spinner dragged Labuschagne (49) out of his crease by beating him in the air and having him stumped.

On the very next delivery, he trapped Matt Renshaw (0) lbw. Jadeja then got Smith (37) with a ripper. The former Aussie skipper played for the turn, but the left-arm spinner got one to go straight through and stunned Smith.

Alex Carey looked good during his 36 before being bowled by Ashwin as he attempted a reverse sweep. With the wicket, Ashwin reached the 450 mark in Test matches. He became the second-fastest bowler to claim 450 scalps in Tests (89 matches), next only to Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan (80 matches).

The off-spinner also dismissed Australian captain Pat Cummins for six, forcing him to edge a delivery to Kohli at slip. Jadeja then dismissed debutant Todd Murphy for a duck and completed a five-fer on his comeback when Peter Handscomb (31) missed his sweep and was trapped lbw. Australia’s first innings came to a close when Ashwin knocked over Scott Boland (one) with a carrom ball.

In response to Australia’s first-innings total of 177, Indian openers Rohit and KL Rahul added 76 runs for the first wicket. The Indian captain was the dominant partner in the stand, slamming nine fours and a six.

Rahul (20) looked jittery and was dismissed just before the close of play, chipping a simple return catch to debutant off-spinner Todd Murphy. The late scalp gave Australia something to cheer about on a day dominated by India.