You play the ball, not the bowler. You play the line and length, not the pitch.
When batters fail to apply these theories of batting, it results in what happened to Australia against India’s spin twins of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin on the opening day of the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
No doubt the strip at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium was a turning track. But it wasn’t as demonic as Australia’s batters made it out to be against a relentless spin trio.
While Axar Patel was unfortunate to have missed out on a wicket, Jadeja and Ashwin shared eight to see Australia crumble to 177 all out.
Masterclass
Rohit Sharma then gave the Aussies a lesson on how to bat in Indian conditions with an unbeaten fifty to help India end the day at 77 for one. India lost vice-captain K.L. Rahul, who lobbed one back to off-spinner Todd Murphy — one of the three debutants on the park — and was dismissed in the dying moments, forcing Ashwin to see the day off along with Rohit.
Total control: Rohit Sharma seems to be showing the Aussies how to bat on Indian pitches. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak
Even before Jadeja and Ashwin came into play after Pat Cummins won a potentially vital toss, India’s pace duo did the damage. While Usman Khawaja missed Mohammed Siraj’s first ball that moved slightly in the air and was trapped in front, a peach from Mohammed Shami skidded through David Warner’s defence and hit top of off-stump.
From two for two, it was an uphill task for Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, Australia’s key batters. While Smith was tentative, even surviving a half-chance off Axar in the slips, Labuschagne was comfortable in his first Test innings in India.
When the duo saw off the session, despite the odd ball from a spinner rising above the waistline, Australia hoped they would resurrect the innings. Labuschagne had driven Shami with finesse and his deft touches behind the wicket on either side off the spinners were a treat to watch.
In the fourth over after the break, however, Jadeja forced Labuschagne to charge down the wicket and fooled him in flight and the ball turned a little bit. K.S. Bharat was quick to collect and whip the bails off for his maiden dismissal.
The next ball, Matt Renshaw played across the line and was adjudged lbw to leave Australia reeling at 84 for four.
Crucial strike
Over the moon: K.S. Bharat celebrates his first Test dismissal, Marnus Labuschagne stumped off Ravindra Jadeja. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak
Smith was growing in confidence and when he played three delightful drives off Axar that raced to the boundary, Australia again had a ray of hope. But Jadeja, in the next over, exposed Smith’s defence. Smith played for turn but the ball held its line to crash into the stumps through the gate.
Despite Alex Carey and Peter Handscomb showing promise, with the older ball starting to turn, Ashwin came into play later in the session and Jadeja celebrated his comeback with a five-wicket haul as Australia’s essay wound up 14 minutes into the last session.
Rohit then played exquisite drives and flicks off Cummins to give Rahul some breathing space. If he can continue in the same vein on the second morning, India will run away with the game. Neither the pitch nor the bowler will matter then.
