Watch cricket video highlights of India tour of Australia 2024. 1st Test between Australia and India. Venue of the match will be Perth.
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The most recent battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy began in spectacular fashion, complete with wild momentum swings and a DRS dispute, as speed bowlers from both attacks comprehensively dominated in favorable circumstances at Optus Stadium, reflecting the rivalry between Australia and India. After stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah destroyed Australia’s top order with brilliant seam bowling, India astonishingly finished ahead after a crazy first day of play. His final score from 10 overs was 4 for 17.
He turned a fast-paced first Test on its head by dismissing Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith with successive balls in the seventh over after dismissing rookie Nathan McSweeney for 10 in the third over. Opening the batting in just his second red-ball encounter, McSweeney was put in a baptism of fire and made a good first assessment of the length before Bumrah changed to a longer length and trapped him on the pads. After Smith walked over his stumps and was plumb lbw by a vicious Bumrah ball that blasted back a mile, his return to his preferred No. 4 did not start well.
Australia took a further hit when Mitchell Marsh and Marnus Labuschagne were dismissed by Mohammed Siraj, and Travis Head was bowled by a brilliant ball from debutant fast bowler Harshit Rana. Labuschagne had a terrible season after getting off to a sluggish start. He failed not score off his first 23 deliveries faced and was dropped by Virat Kohli at second slip after edging Bumrah. When he eventually ended his drought, the spectators gave him faux applause, but Labuschagne struggled to get going and made a laborious 2 off 52 balls.
With Australia limping to a stop at 67 for 7, Bumrah wasn’t finished as he reappeared in the shadows to remove Pat Cummins. After India was bowled out for 150 in just 49.4 overs, it was an incredible comeback. In a dismissal method that has been popular in Perth over the years at Optus Stadium and the adjacent WACA venue, nine Indian batters were caught behind the wicket-keeper or in the well-stocked cordon. Bumrah won the toss and chose to bat after India shockingly excluded senior spinners Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin.
Batting first seemed like the sensible course of action because the pitch is predicted to deteriorate later in the match due to warmer temperatures, but it was definitely a painful decision with cloudy skies above a green-tinged surface. There had been special interest in how the pitch would perform because of the unusually rainy weather that had been forecast before the game. There was bounce and movement, but maybe not the minefield that the scoreboard shows.
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, who took all four wickets in the first session, bowled brilliant new balls that left India’s top order at a loss. To set the tone for an Australian speed onslaught that stifled India, Starc in particular was brilliant. Starc was healthy going into the season after overcoming injury concerns last summer. His clean line and away swing particularly troubled the left-handers as he maintained his excellent form with quick and inquisitive bowling.
Starc’s opening delivery was an anticlimax, missing opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s leg stump and flying to the boundary, seemingly in an effort to begin the series similarly to the 2021–22 Ashes series. After that, he was on target, and Jaiswal, who was trying to score his maiden runs in Australia, drove on the rise and edged to McSweeney in the gully on his ninth delivery, was overtaken by his precision. It was an inaccurate hit with his bat well in front of his body, reminiscent of Pakistan skipper Shan Masood’s awkward demise in the Perth Test last year.
After making an impression in the previous India A matches, Devdutt Padikkal was given an unexpected opportunity at No. 3 when skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were absent. However, he failed to score off his first 22 deliveries faced because he was completely restrained by the quicks. In an attempt to defend to covers, Padikkal used an angled bat to edge Hazlewood behind on the following delivery, but the pressure was too much. While Indian fans on the terraces were greatly outnumbered—a unusual sight—all eyes were on Kohli, who got hearty acclaim from the 31,302 spectators.
On a field where he hit an incredible century in the 2018–19 series, India urgently needed their longtime talisman to overcome a form dip. In a tried-and-true tactic that he had previously used with success in Australia, Kohli batted well outside the crease. However, after years of success against Kohli, Hazlewood changed tactics and bowled a back of length. On number five, Kohli was only able to deflect a rising Hazlewood ball that went right to first slip.
KL Rahul, the opener, heroically batted through the chaos despite having been hit in the elbow in an intra-squad match simulation only a week prior. In an awkward move, he attempted to avoid a Cummins short ball in the 12th over, but it touched his bat and flew over the slips, resulting in India’s maiden boundary off the bat. After Starc argued for caught behind, Rahul reached 26 before being declared not out by on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough. The verdict was reversed when Australia reviewed because Snicko displayed a spike as the ball passed the bat.
As India fell to 47 for 4, Rahul shook his head and limped off the ground after signaling that the bat had struck his pad. All-rounder Marsh successfully returned to bowling after lunch, taking out Washington Sundar and Dhruv Jurel, who had been chosen because to his impressive achievements for India A. Only four overs have been bowled by Marsh since he tore his hamstring during the IPL. But without all-rounder Cameron Green, who will miss the entire series owing to a back injury, he raced in forcefully and finished with 2-12 from five overs, giving an attack a lift.
With rookie Nitish Kumar Reddy and counterattacking Rishabh Pant scoring 48 runs between them, the largest partnership of the innings, India’s chances were in good hands. Pant was always daring, as seen by his bold six-ball scoop off a big delivery from Cummins, and Reddy used a combination of paddle sweeps and conventional drives to stop offspinner Nathan Lyon. However, both failed to get going as tea dismissed India.
Cummins concluded with 2 for 67 from 15.4 overs, looking a bit underdone and struggling to maintain a consistent length in his first red-ball contest since the New Zealand Tests in March. He exited the field feeling quite satisfied with Australia’s effort after dismissing Pant and Reddy. But Cummins’ attitude rapidly worsened, and after being fired by his opposing number, he went off the field a little more than two hours later.
In better batting conditions at Optus Stadium, openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul put an end to a stumbling Australia attack, giving India the upper hand in the opening Test following a hectic start to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. A determined Rahul was undefeated at 62 as India reached stumps at 172 for 0 with a lead of 218 runs, while Jaiswal closed in on a spectacular century and completed 90 not out. A madcap first day saw an incredible 17 wickets fall, while the second day saw lengthy attrition that resulted in just three wickets.
With a crowd of 32,368 that occasionally turned to Mexican waves and cries for amusement, it was a return to some kind of normalcy. India was fine with playing at a slow pace. Rahul scored his half-century in 124 deliveries, while Jaiswal got his slowest fifty of his brief Test career in 123 balls. The unbroken alliance has outscored both teams’ first innings totals. With Jaiswal and Rahul batting through two sessions, India’s position in the series opener has been significantly reinforced following an unexpected first innings lead of 46 runs, the fifth-highest by any team scoring 150 or less when batting first.
Jaiswal was much more confident right away after having a difficult start in his first Test batting in Australia, where he made a duck due to obvious nervousness. In India’s first innings of 150, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood had taken six wickets between them. He played from deep in the crease to dull their new ball bowling. The 22-year-old Jaiswal and Rahul worked in perfect tandem, running well between the wickets and dashing singles to shiver an Australian squad that seemed to be playing within their own skin.
After his courageous innings early on the first day, which terminated due to a contentious DRS decision, Rahul persisted in batting with determination. Although he was generally happy to play anchor, he unleashed a stunning on drive against Pat Cummins that sped to the boundary despite a slow outfield. Jaiswal seemed compact in defense and left the ball efficiently. He took sure not to push hard at the ball because he had learnt his lesson from the first innings.
He usually unfurled perfect strokes through the covers and down the ground, yet there was some of his signature ferocity, such as when he smacked Starc over the deep square leg and uppercut Cummins over the slips. He sent Nathan Lyon into the stands over long-on by skipping down at him late in the day. Australia’s outstanding performance on the first day was not replicated by their speed assault. On a pitch that looked to flatten in the sunshine, Australia appeared powerless, maybe feeling exhausted from having to retreat so rapidly.
Conditions were more benign, however there was still considerable movement off the surface and sporadic uneven bounce. However, Australia were occasionally conservative, using fielders deep to support Jaiswal’s domination and seven bowlers, with Marnus Labuschagne failing to implement his widely-discussed short-ball plan. In his first red-ball game since the March Test tour of New Zealand, Cummins appeared a little underdone, just like in India’s opening innings. He finished with 13 overs with a score of 0 for 44.
Usman Khawaja dropped a difficult chance low down at first slip when Jaiswal had a let off on 51 after he had beaten Starc, but Australia did not take any chances. Rahul backed up too much on the following ball, resulting in a lost run-out opportunity, but the openers rallied to carry on India’s incredible comeback. Australia was knocked out for 104 earlier at lunchtime. It was their ninth-lowest home score since 1900 and their fourth-lowest Test score against India. Late in the first day, stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah put on an all-time effort, finishing with 5 for 30 from 18 overs.
Along with Kapil Dev, it was his ninth five-wicket haul outside of Asia and his eleventh overall in Test cricket. There had been a remote possibility that the game might be over in two days before play began. With his first throw of the morning, Bumrah took out the in-form Alex Carey for 21, further accelerating the pace of play. Bumrah posed a danger with nearly every ball because to his length and movement off the wicket. However, rookie Harshit Rana was rewarded for his combative session when he struck Lyon with a crisp bouncer that popped to the slips cordon after catching the glove.
Australia was on the verge of being dismissed at 79 for 9, surpassing their historic 83 in the MCG in 1981 and their lowest total against India. However, Starc persevered and found a willing ally in Hazlewood, who after play on the first day had said that the surface wasn’t as hard to bat on as the scoreboard indicated. In 18 overs for the final wicket, they put on 26 runs, the highest partnership of the innings. As the former teammates of the Kolkata Knight Riders participated in a verbal sparring match, Starc had to endure a short-pitch assault from Rana.
When Australia hit 100, a milestone that appeared improbable for the majority of their innings, the spectators gave a fake applause. During the game’s first quiet phase, offspinner Washington Sundar, who was unexpectedly picked above veterans R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, and debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy came into the attack and bowled solidly. They were unable to provide a breakthrough, and it seemed like an irate India would have to consider their strategy over the lunch break.
However, he holed out in a mild manner to terminate a fighting knock right before the half, and Starc lost his running duel with Rana. With 26 runs off of 112 balls, he more than doubled Labuschagne’s next-highest number of deliveries, which was 52.
