On a dust bowl of an Indore pitch, India got a taste of their own medicine. Australian spinners, especially Matthew Kuhnemann dominated the proceedings to bundle out India for 109 in just 33.2 overs at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. With a stroke of luck, Usman Khawaja’s gutsy half-century and contributions from Marnus Labuschagne and skipper Steve Smith helped Australia take a 47-run lead as the Baggy Green motored to 156/4 at the end of Day 1.
After a poor display with the bat, the onus was on the Indian bowlers to bring the team back into the contest. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma handed the new ball to spinners straightaway. Ravindra Jadeja struck in his first over to dismiss Travis Head. The left-arm spinner trapped him in front of the stumps from round the wicket. In his next over, Jadeja got Labuschagne bowled but off a no ball Labuschagne was yet to get off the mark when he got an early reprieve. It turned out to be a very expensive no ball for India as they leaked boundaries and allowed Australian batters to settle on an unsettling track.
Interestingly, it was for the third time in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series that the Indian left-arm spinner ended up picking a wicket on a no-ball. If you take a closer look at Jadeja's Test career so far, the veteran spinner has always struggled to keep his foot behind the crease while bowling.
Jadeja has bowled more than 50 no-balls in his Test career, which is a ton for a spinner. The left-arm spinner's mistake has come back to haunt him and India as he has dismissed a total of nine batters on illegal deliveries.
Jadeja, who has bagged the most wickets in the series, redeemed himself after committing the error. The left-arm spinner came back strongly and bagged three more wickets. India would hope a solid showing from Jadeja on Day 2 as well.
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