3 major talking points from Day 1 of 1st India-Australia Test

Ravindra Jadeja picked up a five-wicket haul on his India return, while Ravichandran Ashwin picked up three wickets as Rohit Sharma and Co. bundled out Australia for 177 shortly after Tea on Day 1.

For all the talk of the pitch, pacers in Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami got India rolling with the wickets of Usman Khawaja and David Warner.

The Indian spinners made the most of the available assistance by targeting the stumps and taking advantage of the natural variations from the pitch. For Australia, Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith were the best batters on display. They looked at ease before Jadeja intervened with two absolute beauties to send them packing.

India’s response was led by their captain Rohit Sharma, who looked calm and assured. KL Rahul dropped anchor as the hosts kept closing in on the Australian total. Aussie skipper Pat Cummins looked off the boil and much of the work was done by Nathan Lyon and debutant Todd Murphy.

Rahul was dismissed later on in the day, but India dominated Day 1 in the much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Here, we take a look at the three key talking points from Day 1 of the India vs Australia Test match:

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#3 Ravindra Jadeja’s grand comeback

Jadeja picked up 5 wickets in his comeback game

After a long injury lay-off, Ravindra Jadeja was back in the mix. On a track that offered plenty of assistance to the spinners, Jadeja, with his fast, accurate left-arm spin, accounted for five Australian wickets.

He was relentless and after a rather scratchy start, he was in his element when he pitched one full and got to turn it away. The ball beat a well-set Labuschagne and KS Bharat was snappy behind the stumps. He then got rid of Matt Renshaw and cleaned up Steve Smith with an arm ball.

Such was his accuracy that the Australian batters had no respite and he ended up with a five-wicket haul that also included the important wicket of Peter Handscomb.

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#2 Marnus Labuschagne-Steven Smith doing what they do best

Marnus was the best Australian batter

Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami got their side off to a cracking start. Siraj trapped Usman Khawaja with his first ball, while Shami castled David Warner with an absolute beauty.

But this was when Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne got together and absorbed all the initial pressure and then slowly transferred the pressure back on the hosts. They were extremely efficient against spinners – and continued to pick up boundaries at every given opportunity.

They added 82 runs for the third wicket and brought Australia back on track. However, the Indian bowlers hit back after the lunch break and Jadeja got rid of Labuschagne with an absolute beauty that spun past his outside edge.

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#1 Rohit Sharma gets India off to a cracking start

Captain Rohit Sharma was off to a bright start.

It was the perfect day for the Mumbai-born cricketer. His bowlers got the job done, he was precise with his bowling and fielding changes to bundle Australia out. Rohit Sharma then stepped out and looked aggressive and intent on scoring runs.

He put a lot of pressure on Pat Cummins and never allowed Nathan Lyon to settle down. With KL Rahul happy to occupy the crease at the other end, Rohit cruised to a fluent half-century and this innings put India firmly in the driver’s seat.

He was very severe on balls that were full and was not hesitant to employ either the sweep shot or even the lofted strokes back down the ground.