As India’s batting order suffered a collapse in the opening session of Indore Test, focus once again switched towards the pitch on offer for the 3rd Test. Once captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first, it was Australian spinners who ran riot on a strip that offered plenty of assistance to slow bowlers, leaving Indian batters and fans shell-shocked.
The Aussie spin duo of Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon utilised the assistance on offer exceedingly well and sent five Indian batters back to the pavilion inside the opening hour of the Test match. Two more wickets tumbled in the second hour of the day before players walked off the ground for Lunch break with India tottering at 84/6.
Reacting to spinners tasting immense success in just the opening hour of the test, former Australian opener Matthew Hayden voiced his concern and surprise after seeing spinners being introduced in the sixth over of the Test match.
“There's some calmness in the Indian camp because they are so successful in last two Test matches. But just look at the average turn here. This is why I have a problem with these conditions, because there's no way in the world that a spin bowler would come on the 6th over. No way!” Hayden said on air while doing commentary for Star Sports.
“Here in Indore, the average turn is 4.8 degrees. That's a massive turn, that's the turn you expect on Day 3. You've got to give batters a chance, Ravi (Shastri). Judge your players on their performance in Test match cricket. Day 1 and Day 2 should be about batting,” the Aussie great added.
Shastri, who was part of the commentary panel, came up with a two-word reply and said, “Home conditions.”
The former India coach further added, “This is a little more than home conditions. It's going to be tough, there's no two ways about it. One good partnership can make a difference.”
After Kuhnemann dismissed captain Rohit Sharma (12) and Shubman Gill (21), Lyon got the better of Cheteshwar Pujara (1) with an unplayable delivery. The Aussie spinner got the ball to turn viciously from way outside the off stump and rattled Pujara’s woodwork. The ball stayed low and the Indian batter was completely stunned by the turning ball.
India kept losing wickets as the Aussie spinners bowled in challenging lines and forced batters to play the ball. Lyon dismissed Ravindra Jadeja (4) before Kuhnemann cleaned up Shreyas Iyer for a duck, reducing the hosts to 45/5 in 11.2 overs.
Todd Murphy then trapped Virat Kohli (22) before the stumps before Lyon sent KS Bharat (17) back to the pavilion.
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