India is in a commanding position ahead of day three of the first Test against Australia in Nagpur, looking to push their first-innings lead towards 200 on Saturday.
The hosts are 7-321 in response to Australia’s first-innings total of 177, with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel unbeaten at the crease overnight on 66 and 52 respectively.
Debutant Todd Murphy, who only started bowling off-spin six years ago, was the hero for Australia on day two, taking his maiden five-wicket haul to single-handedly keep the visitors in the contest, while Indian captain Rohit Sharma smacked a classy 120 before falling victim to rival skipper Pat Cummins.
MATCH CENTRE: India vs Australia day three scorecard
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Murphy’s double strike on day two | 00:56
Concerns over the pitch, which Cummins labelled “custom-made” for India’s spinners, appeared largely unfounded over the first two days of the series opener, with few signs of any demons in the wicket.
The Nagpur curators raised eyebrows with their pitch preparation ahead of the match, electing not to water the area on a good length outside off stump for left-handed batters. Australia’s lefties registered scores of 1, 1, 0, 36 and 0, while Jadeja and Patel both passed fifty in the second innings.
“When you go in to bat you find some difficulty (on that pitch), but it gets easier after spending some time. The talk with Jadeja was to not lose focus,” Patel said at stumps on day two.
“Till the time we bat tomorrow the pitch will play well, and when we get the chance to bowl – we’ll find help.”
According to cricket journalist Kushan Sarkar, Sharma poked fun at the Australian team’s obsession with the pitch before the first Test.
“Focus on the cricket that is going to be played in the next five days and not worry too much about the pitch,” Sharma told reporters on Wednesday.
“The last series that we played here, a lot was said about the pitches. After all, the 22 guys out there are all quality players. So don‘t worry about what the pitches are going to be like, how much will it turn, how much will it seam. Just come out and play good cricket, win the game as simple as that.”
Former Indian batter Wasim Jaffer tweeted: “Everyone thought pitch was spitting cobras but as always, Rohit made it look like a belter. Batted.”
Murphy said after play: “I think the wicket’s holding together quite well … there’s nothing that’s happening out of the blue.”
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Murphy’s selection was unexpected, but has proven a masterstroke, with the 22-year-old becoming the youngest Australian spinner to take a five-wicket haul in Tests.
“This time last year I was still not in the state side, so it has been quite quick progress,” Murphy told reporters at stumps.
“But one of the biggest things for me was getting to go to Sri Lanka and being on that A tour (last year) and having a little bit of success over there that probably gave me the confidence I needed going back to Australia that I could mix it with first-class cricketers.
“Being around some of the guys who had played Test cricket, observing everything and competing in the nets and bowling to the Sri Lankans – I took a lot of confidence out of that.
“I think there’s definitely nerves but there’s also excitement about just being out there and trying to embrace it and just enjoy it and bowl to these sort of guys, some of the best players in the world.
“It’s exciting and (I’ve) sort of got nothing to lose, so I’ve tried to go out there and try to really enjoy it and just compete as hard as I can. Thankfully, today there’s a few rewards, I didn’t get too overawed by it and just tried to embrace it.”
Smith has a stinker in the slips | 00:56
India XI: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Srikar Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
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