Indian bowlers showed their might at home yet again on the first day of the first test. The Indian bowlers with 8 wickets between Jadeja and Ashwin knocked out Australia for 177 in their 1st innings. The end of the Australian downfall in the 1st innings came just few overs after Tea as the Indian spin bowlers ran rampant. The test match began with war of words over the pitch, saw more war of words over the wicket of Usman Khawaja during the 1st day which has created controversy.
Mohammad Siraj gets Khawaja early –
India began with the seamers getting the first bite of cherry in Shami and Siraj. After an uneventful 1st over, Rohit Sharma tossed the ball to Siraj. The 28 year old from Hyderabad was on the money right from the start. Siraj got the ball to tail as Khawaja went for a flick shot and missed the line of the ball., Umpire Nitin Menon said not out as India went up for DRS. The third umpire saw three reds as Khawaja was given out LBW.
FOX Cricket stokes controversy again –
Just before the start of the game, FOX Cricket had posted a tweet about the Nagpur pitch. The Australian broadcasters alleged pitch doctoring by Indian curators for the Nagpur strip. Post the wicket of Khawaja, Fox Cricket was at it again when they took to Twitter and wrote “Ball Tracker Broken? Aussies left stunned just minutes into 1st test by “interesting” DRS moment
"Ball tracker broken? 🤔"
— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) February 9, 2023
Aussies left stunned just minutes into first Test by "interesting" DRS moment >> https://t.co/7H7qXMDhBX pic.twitter.com/x3tR443KZf
— MINI BUS 2022 (@minibus2022) February 9, 2023
Ravindra Jadeja picks a fifer on comeback –
It was an interesting comeback to the Indian team for Ravindra Jadeja. The 34 year old picked his 11th five wicket haul in test cricket. Jadeja ended the innings with 5/47. Jadeja got the wickets of Labuschagne and Renshaw of successive balls, before getting the big wicket of Steve Smith. Post tea, Jadeja got the wicket of debutant Todd Murphy for a duck and claimed his 5th wicket when he had Handscomb out LBW for 31.
Ashwin’s landmark feat –
Playing his 89th test match, Ashwin began the game with 449 wickets on the board. The 450th wicket came when Ashwin bowled Alex Carey for 36. Ashwin became the 2nd fastest bowler to reach thew 450 wicket mark. Ashwin then got the wickets of Pat Cummins for 6 and Boland bowled for 1 to finish with 3/42 as Australia were all out for 177 during the 1st day.