The captain of India’s cricket team, Rohit Sharma, displayed his annoyance after KL Rahul, the opening batsman, was dismissed with a reckless stroke towards the close of the first day of India’s first Test match against Australia at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur.
On Thursday, February 09, India got off to a fantastic start on the first day of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. With Australia, led by Pat Cummins, winning the toss and electing to bat first in the first Test match in Nagpur, Rohit Sharma and his team quickly made a strong impression. They reduced the opposition to 2 for 2 and soon dismissed them for 177, with Ravindra Jadeja’s impressive performance of 5 for 47 and R Ashwin’s 3 for 42 shining with the ball.
At the end of Day 1 in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar series, India had progressed to 77/1 after successfully dismissing Australian Team for 177 runs in their first innings of the ongoing Nagpur Test match.
As India comfortably reached 76/0 after 22 overs, it appeared that the home team would finish the day with a clean slate of wickets. However, debutant Todd Murphy had a different outcome in mind. He threw a ball from around the wicket and Rahul, attempting to flick it, struck straight towards the bowler. Seizing the opportunity, Murphy caught the ball, earning his first Test wicket of his career.
Rahul’s performance was lackluster as he scored 20 runs off 71 deliveries with a disappointing strike rate of 28.16, managing only one boundary. Rohit, who had been driving the opening partnership for India, was taken aback by Rahul’s choice of shot, especially so late in the day. After Rahul’s dismissal, India turned to Ravichandran Ashwin as the night watchman to finish the day.
Before Rahul’s dismissal, India was in a commanding position with Rohit swiftly reaching his 15th Test half-century. The Indian skipper achieved this milestone in 66 deliveries, striking eight boundaries and one six.