The 1st Test Match of the Border-Gavaskar series very well belonged to the spinners. If the first day belonged to India’s star spinner Ravindra Jadeja who bagged a fifer on return, Australia’s debutant Todd Murphy took another on day 2 in Nagpur.
But other than the tweakers, the highlight of the match so far has been India’s batting. After the Aussies crumbled to a low 177 on day 1, the hosts in return were given a solid start. Skipper Rohit Sharma was at his elegant best scoring a century, but it was his opening partner and deputy KL Rahul who has been the talking point, being called out over his selection.
“To be fair to KL Rahul, in the last 10 Test innings , he has couple of hundreds and fifties”
The 30-year-old who has faced constant criticism over the past few months was under scanner once again as he fell prey to the Aussie off spinner Murphy on 20 runs on day 1, after a decent 76 runs opening partnership with the skipper. Which was enough for the fans and critics to question his spot over the in-form Shubman Gill.
A similar question was asked to India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour during post match press conference to get a view of what the management thinks of this cacophony and whether his place is in doubts
“I wouldn’t be able to comment on that. To be fair to KL, in the last 10 Test innings (matches) that he has played, he has, I think, couple of hundreds and couple of fifties. He has a hundred in South Africa and one in England. He has a couple of fifties as well. So, I don’t think we are there.” told Rathour.
A comeback or a consolation for Australia?
While the outside world is busy contemplating the selection choices and pitches, the hosts seem to have no problems pressing on their advantageous situation. But for Australia, hardly anything has gone their way.
After a fatal show on day 1, it was the young off spinner Murphy whose historic fifer bought back some life to the game, but exactly as this match has progressed for the visitors, the catching let them down this time. The Indians now have taken a comfortable 144 run lead with Jadeja and Axar still batting.
Nonetheless, the third day of the test match is the moving day and relying on their spinners, the Kangaroos will have to carve out a classic to get a result in their favor.
Also Read: IND vs AUS: Indian Spinner Ravindra Jadeja Rubbishes Claims Of Pitch Being Rank Turner On Day 1