What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
Usman Khawaja scores a ton as Australian batters look their usual selves on a batting track
In the end, Rohit Sharma’s decision to pick the second new ball will always be a point of debate. Perhaps the Indian skipper was thinking that he should let the ball get older soon so that his spinners could get into action early the next day.
Sharma’s move came after India picked two crucial wickets – stand-in skipper Steve Smith and Peter Handscomb – for just 19, and with the old ball, the Indian skipper’s decision will always evoke emotions.
Whatever Sharma was thinking, it surely aided Australia’s cause, as this is the first time in the series they looked comfortable against Indians. Of course, the pitch is a trademark Motera track that lacked bite but looked good for batting.
As Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime minister Anthony Albanese celebrated 75 years of friendship between the two nations with pre-match involvement, the pitch had to live up to the occasion.
And on the flat deck, the Australians looked far more confident to tackle the Indian bowling. True, the win at Indore must have given them the much-needed confidence after their twin losses. But the fact is, they applied themselves better, with Usman Khawaja (104*, 251b, 15×4) and Travis Head (32, 44b, 7×4) adding 62 runs for the opening stand.
Marnus Labuschagne, after showing a lot of promise when the pitch was difficult to tackle in the first two Test matches, once again faltered after losing concentration while defending.
But Khawaja, the only Australian batter who looked some sort of confident in tackling the Indian spinners in this series, and stand-in skipper Steve Smith took the old school approach of grinding out the opposition attack.
They waited for the loose deliveries, and when the opportunity came, they ensured the run flowed.
Unlike the first three Tests, the pitch at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad’s Motera lived up to its true nature – a belter and not a turner to begin with.
It is a wicket that demands patience from bowlers while focusing on maintaining control, defending with their fields and attacking the stumps. It is a type of wicket where your partner on the other end might benefit from your hard work at one end.
On the first day of the fourth Test, it was Axar Patel who kept things tight from one end while Mohammad Shami, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picked wickets from the other.
Both Ashwin were of high quality, as he managed to keep the rival batters in check for the most part of the game.
Meanwhile, on friendly turf, Khawaja and Smith recorded a first for Australia – they managed the first wicketless session in the series as they played a game of patience in the middle session. The presence of Patel means India has the option of a specialist fifth bowler. It also meant that India could toil hard without worrying about pressure on specialist bowlers.
It was the Indian bowlers’ consistency that finally paid off as spinner Ravindra Jadeja broke the 79-run third wicket stand by dismissing Smith (38, 135, 3×4).
Khawaja (104*, 251b, 15×4) went on to complete his 14th century, but what was important was that he and Green added 85 runs for their unbroken fifth-wicket stand.
Green made the most of Sharma’s decision to bat first as he slammed an unbeaten 49 off 64 balls, which included eight boundaries.
BRIEF SCORE (at stumps on Day I): Australia 255 for 4 (Usman Khawaja 104*, Cameron Green 49*; Md Shami 2/65) vs India
