The India-Australia Border-Gavaskar Trophy has finally begun at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, following much hype and some controversy surrounding the pitch. The home team will be eager to uphold their winning streak on home soil, where they have not lost a Test series since 2012. The outcome of this series will also determine whether or not their hopes for a World Test Championship (WTC) final are fulfilled.
Both teams have suffered injuries to crucial players leading up to the competition. India’s Rishabh Pant’s absence is a major blow as he has been their go-to player in times of need over the past two seasons, particularly as a dynamic wicket-keeper and batter. Additionally, the absence of middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer for the opening Test will require the hosts to adjust their batting lineup.
Australia will be missing two of their top bowlers, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, for the first Test, putting additional pressure on captain Pat Cummins and off-spinner Nathan Lyon. Despite having a formidable batting lineup, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, and Travis Head will face a new challenge, as they have never played a Test match in India before.
Siraj gave India a good start by getting Usman Khawaja out LBW on the first ball of his over. Rohit Sharma challenged the umpire’s decision and the review showed the ball hitting the leg stump. It was a great start from Siraj and the Indian team was amazed by the decision.
After that, Mohammed Shami also clean bowled David Warner in a dangerous manner, giving Australia another jolt without any fuss. Take a look at that off-stump that’s tumbling down. You must have been wondering why Shami began over the wicket to Warner in the very first over. We have witnessed Warner struggling against pacers who bowl from round the wicket. Stuart Broad dominated him in the 2019 Ashes.
Shami too has had significant success with this angle while playing Tests, and he delivered a length ball that nipped back in. The ball took the inside edge and sent the off-stump flying. Actually, there was no edge, Warner was rooted to the crease. The ball just grazed his pad and snuck through, leaving Australia with 2 wickets down within 15 minutes of play.