India’s quest to conquer Australia again on their own turf has begun in disastrous fashion on a dramatic opening morning of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy during which Virat Kohli was removed cheaply and batting stalwart KL Rahul was involved in a controversial third-umpire decision.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the tourists found themselves in major trouble at 4-51 at lunch at Perth Stadium on day one of the series.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and No.3 Devdutt Padikkal both perished for ducks, from eight and 23 balls respectively, in their first Test innings in Australia.
Having earlier been presented with his Baggy Green by former Test coach Darren Lehmann, it took just 13 balls for debutant Nathan McSweeney to get into the action as he comfortably took a catch at gully off the bowling of Mitchell Starc to remove Jaiswal for the first wicket.
India’s young prodigy, coming into the series with a Test average of 56.28, went hard at a ball outside his off stump but was unable to control it.
Starc and Hazlewood (both 2-10 off eight overs) were brilliant in the opening session on a bouncy Perth pitch, with the latter removing Padikkal after a miserable 39-minute stay at the crease which did not trouble the scorers.
Padikkal’s dismissal brought Kohli to the crease at 2-14, a situation which was far from ideal for the Indian superstar given his woes of late. Since COVID-19, Kohli has been a shade of his former self and has made just two centuries in the past five years.
Hazlewood worked Kohli over before India’s most dangerous batter guided a rising delivery to Usman Khawaja at first slip to depart for five from 12 balls.
Since India’s second Test against New Zealand in October, Kohli has posted scores of 1, 17, 4, 1 and 5.
Australia celebrate after Josh Hazlewood’s dismissal of Virat Kohli.Credit: AP
Kohli’s premature departure left India reeling at 3-32, and their predicament worsened when Rahul was adjudged caught behind for a hard-fought 26.
Australia thought Rahul had nicked a delivery from Starc, but it was initially given not out. The home side immediately referred the decision upstairs, and it was duly overturned after snicko showed a spike as the ball went past the bat.
Rahul, however, clearly felt the bat had hit his pad on the way through, and the decision left him visibly upset as he walked from the field shaking his head after appearing to remonstrate in the umpires’ direction.
Initial replays on the broadcast did not show footage of the ball going past the bat, raising questions as to whether snicko had picked up the sound of bat hitting pad.
More to come
