Defeated. Humbled. Embarrassed.
Australia has suffered an innings and 132 run loss to India in Nagpur, bowled out for 91 in ugly scenes at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja wreaked havoc in the second innings, repeatedly trapping Australia’s hapless batters on the pads and turning balls past the outside edge.
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Indian captain Rohit Sharma confessed he did not expect for the match to be wrapped up before tea on day three.
“We were prepared to have hard day‘s bowling, spending session after session. We never thought they would get bowled out in a session,” he told reporters after the triumph.
“As you saw, the pitch became slower and slower and there was no bounce on the pitch, so it was a bit of surprise.
“I don‘t know the mental status of the Australian team. I can vouch for our team and we are the ones who want to play on pitches like these … because we have all grown up playing on pitches like these, so there is no talk about pitches anymore in the changing room.
“Australia love playing Test cricket and they take pride in representing the country and so we are quite aware of them bouncing back and what they can do as team as well.
“We want to play the cricket we are playing and we would continue to do that in three games that we have. As captain, I need to focus on what we have in Delhi and then move on from there.”
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Sharma said it was a “blessing” to lead a trio of champion spinners in Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel.
“It’s like captaining Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc in Australia,” he told reporters at the post-match press conference.
“When you have quality of Axar, Jadeja, and Ash, having played in India for so many years, playing on pitches like these, its always a blessing.
“The conditions are there, yes, but you need to exploit them as well and conditions are for both teams. They know which areas to hit, how to keep applying pressure.”
Indian supporters couldn’t resist poking fun at the pitch debate that took place ahead of series opener, with left-handers Jadeja and Patel both scoring half-centuries despite concerns about areas on a good length outside the left-hander’s off stump.
“(The Australians) were seeing the rough from the moment they sat on the flight,” Jadeja told Star Sports.
“The atmosphere they created that it would spin; it didn‘t spin that much. If we see, they got out more to straight balls. We also got out LBW on straight balls.
“This is bound to happen in India because we will obviously play to our team‘s strength. Our fast bowlers are also good, but spinners win more matches in India and pick up wickets, so why shouldn’t we go with our strength.”
Indian cricket legend Virender Sehwag tweeted: “There was a time Australia were way ahead of the rest in playing mind games. Now they are getting a taste of their own medicine.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan posted: “No surprise at all that the Aussies got hammered in those conditions … Most teams get the same treatment against such a good team … Ashwin and Jadeja are as hard a combination to face as any in there own home conditions … See no way back for the Aussies.”
Former Indian batter Wasim Jaffar posted: “Never judge a pitch until both teams have batted on it. If both teams struggle, it‘s the pitch. If just one team struggles, it’s the skills.”
Attention shifts towards the second Test in Delhi, which gets underway on Friday.
India has not lost a Test match at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, previously known as Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, since 1987. Australia has played seven Tests at the venue, but their lone victory took place was way back in 1959 when Richie Benaud was skipper.
Spin bowlers have averaged 29.80 in Delhi since the start of 2013, while quicks have averaged 36.53 during that period. Of the two Tests Australia has played at Arun Jaitley Stadium this century, 27 of the 30 wickets were taken by spinners.
ICC fine Jadeja for ointment use | 00:37
