Watch: Game of Chess starts with Ravi Ashwin tricking Marnus Labuschagne with his turn; later signalling him about the ball
India is taking on Australia in the first test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Nagpur. It started with Australia winning the toss and electing to bat first. And the first session of Day 1 has certainly set the tone for a high-voltage series.
The pitch, which was supposed to be a rank turner, produced two good deliveries from the Indian pacers to dismiss both Australian openers. Mohammed Siraj gave India the first breakthrough and dismissed Usman Khawaja for 1 run, then Mohammed Shami got rid of David Warner (1) with a peach of a delivery.
Australia was at 2/2 in 2.1 overs. However, after that, the pair of Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith took control of the proceedings and added an unbeaten 74 runs for the third wicket. The visitors were 76/2 at lunch on Day 1.
However, the Indian spinners didn't let the visitors score freely and kept the pressure on them. But most importantly, Australia hasn't lost another wicket. There were a lot of talks ahead of the start of the match between some key battles from both teams.
And in the first session, fans witnessed some glimpses of it when Ravi Ashwin came out to bowl to Smith and Labuschagne. It happened on the last ball of the 22nd over when a ball from Ashwin spun in and beat the bat of Labuschagne. It turned and bounced, hitting the batter on his body. After that ball, both Ashwin and Labuschagne were seen signalling each other about the sharp spin.
— Gajendra Singh Naruka (@imNaruka13) February 9, 2023
Earlier in the game, India gave debut caps to Suryakumar Yadav and wicketkeeper KS Bharat, both of them are making their Test debuts for India. Meanwhile, spinner Todd Murphy made his debut for Australia. Both teams have gone with a two-pacer bowling attack. Kuldeep Yadav and Shubman Gill couldn't make it to the playing XI, which came as a surprise to many fans.