Spin bug bit Australia viciously on Day 1 of the opening Test against India at the MCA Stadium, Pune as the tourists fell apart completely in the first innings. The Aussies managed 256/9 at stumps after a fluent start to the match. While this may appear as a bowler-dominated day but a late fightback from Mitchell Starc, who remained unbeaten at 57, saved the day for Australia to a great extent.
Openers David Warner and Matt Renshaw looked calm and well-poised against the spin attack, which was introduced right away by Kohli from the second over in the morning session. The ball, as expected, began turning by a huge margin as Ashwin began teasing the outside edge of Warner almost on regular occasions.
Both Warner and Renshaw were unmoved. In fact, Renshaw was remarkably composed, and even felt confident enough to take on Jadeja. The duo lasted 27.2 overs together putting up 82 runs before the former was by Umesh Yadav. Renshaw also departed due to stomach illness the next delivery which brought two new batsman at the same time.
The second session saw Kohli blocking off the scoring areas and provoking the Australians to take risks. The ploy worked as Shaun Marsh was grabbed cheaply while two more wickets came in two overs before the break with Jadeja trapping Peter Handscomb and Ashwin getting Steven Smith caught at mid-on.
By tea, Australia had lost their top four with 153 on the board. But what happened in the final session made the first session look like a miracle. Umesh Yadav, along with the usual suspects Ashwin and Jadeja, gave what the fans at the MCA Stadium in Pune were anticipating since the start of play. The bowlers began to pick wickets in their typical hasty style.
One by one, Australia lost five wickets for just 39 runs to hand India an early advantage. The day which began on a highly promising note eventually was nearing towards becoming a total misery for Australia. But Mitchell Starc dealt with the Indian bowler with a counter-attacking approach which saw Australia adding up crucial runs on the board.
While the ball the pitch seemed a rank turner, it was seam and pace that did the job for India with Umesh Yadav snapping a four-wicket haul. Speaking at the post-match conference, Umesh summarized the day.
“I was practising with Anil (Kumble) and Sanjay (Bangar) about what my line and length should be in the practice sessions. The hard work that I have done in the last six months has been paying off now. That is very important on such wickets. I was trying to bowl very tight lines on this wicket and hope for the batsmen to make mistakes. I was trying to minimize the bad balls and the scoring opportunities. I knew if they go for their shots they would play the false stroke and I would be helped by the reverse to get wickets.
“(On Warner’s wicket) My spell started late and I knew that the ball was moving around quite a bit. I tried to get it much fuller to him and prevent him from freeing his arms. That is exactly what I wanted. (On Saha’s catch) When someone takes a catch like the one Saha took, it helps a bowler immensely. There are very few catches of this kind that are taken because the ball was moving very fast. Hats off to him to take that and he showed that he has the capability to take such catches.”