The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer failed to get going on Wednesday (March 1) as Australia took command of the ongoing third Test at the Holkar Stadium in Delhi.
On a pitch which offered huge turn and uneven spin, India’s decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired. Australian spinners Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon made the most of the conditions on offer, taking 5 and 3 wickets respectively to blow the hosts away.
India lost 7 wickets inside the first session and were eventually all out for just 109. In reply, Australia went on to finish the day on a commanding 156 for 4 with Usman Khawaja’s classy fifty leading the way. For India, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja picked up all the 4 wickets.
Ian Chappell doubts Shreyas Iyer:
Following the day’s play, Australia great Ian Chappell questioned Shreyas Iyer’s abilities against spin. The right-handed batsman has endured a tough time in the series so far. After missing the first Test, he played knocks of 4 and 12 in the second one in Delhi.
His fortunes has not changed in the ongoing game either. The 28-year old year could not even open his account as Kuhnemann sent him back for a two-ball duck. Following Iyer’s third successive failure in a row in the series, Chappell opined that though some call the batsman a very good player of spin, he wasn’t convinced.
“I keep hearing that Shreyas Iyer is a very good player of spin bowling, but I haven’t seen it yet, and I’m not convinced that he is. To me, he is a bit of a panicker,” Chappell said opined.
“There are some players in the Indian side that haven’t convinced me that they’re good players of spin bowling. I thought that the Australians spooked India early on. A couple of things happened with the pitch. The Australian spinners bowled very accurately. But what we saw was Australian-type batting from the Indians.
“When Australia batted, particularly Usman Khawaja, he was very good. Marnus Labuschagne had a good partnership with him. There was more of the Rohit Sharma batting when he got the century in Australia’s innings. To me, it was Australia who outplayed India and definitely deserved to have the lead,” Chappel opined.
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