(Cricket news) India are well in front at the end of day 1 of the the 1st Test in Nagpur. Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat first as the pitch looked dry. Australia chose Scott Bolland to Partner Cummins while Todd Murphy was selected ahead of Mitchell Swepson and Ashton Agar as the 2nd spinner. The big bombshell dropped was that Peter Handscome and Matthew Renshaw were selected as middle order batters ahead of the in-form Travis Head.

Head has been one of Australia’s best for the past year or so but he was left out presumably because the other two have experience of playing in India. India on the other hand selected KS Bharat on debut as expected. Suryakumar Yadav was surprisingly handed a debut with Shreyas Iyer injured. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma as openers meant that Shubhman Gill who is in the form of his life was left out.

India were once again given a brilliant start by their seamers. Mohammed Siraj trapped Usman Khawaja in front off his first ball. In the very next over Mohammed Shami sent David Warner’s off stump flying with a brilliant delivery. Australia’s premium batters Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith took charge as they added 82 runs.

From then on it was the Ravindra Jadeja show in Nagpur. Making his comeback after knee surgery, the star all-rounder got back to business. He dismissed Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Handscome and Todd Murphy to complete his fifer. It was a classic spell of bowling by Jadeja who exploited the conditions perfectly.

Ravichandran Ashwin chipped in with 3 wickets as became the 2nd fastest player to complete 450 Test wickets. Australia were bowled out 177 as everyone apart from Smith, Carey and Labuschagne looked out of place. Amidst all the talk about the pitch it wasn’t that bad but the visitors just didn’t apply themselves.

Wicket-keeper Alex Carey played really well for his 36 off 33 which surprised a few. The gloveman used the reverse sweep but in the end got out while playing that shot. Axar Patel was the only Indian bowler to finish without a wicket but he did bowl well.

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul came out to bat with India trailing by 177. Rohit Sharma got off to a flying start as he was picking boundaries off Pat Cummins from the very first over. India were looking really good but then debutant Todd Murphy got rid of KL Rahul. The Indian vice captain played a very slow innings as he got 20 off 71 and got out while trying to score.

He didn’t look as comfortable as his batting partner. Ravichandran Ashwin came out to bat at the top with just a few minutes left to play. Rohit Sharma finished the day unbeaten on 56 off 59 having played beautifully. Australia were 2nd best on the day by a long margin and they will have to come out on day 2 with a lot of improvement.

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