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Australia’s spinners tore through India’s batting line-up to turn the third Test on its head and give the tourists hope they can salvage a win in Indore after getting pasted in the first two matches of the series.
With the pitch turning sharply, India were rolled for 109 just seven overs after the lunch break in a capitulation similar to Australia’s second-innings collapse at Delhi which left them 2-0 down in the series.
And with the Aussies grafting their way to 4-156 after 54 overs by stumps, they are well placed to build a decent first innings lead.
With the pitch deteriorating rapidly, there is a possibility the match could be a two-day affair with day three the likely conclusion. Anyone with tickets for day four or five will be disappointed.
Matt Kuhnemann, who wasn’t even selected in the original touring squad before being flown in to make his debut in Delhi, was the unlikely star for Australia with the Queensland left-arm spinner taking 5-16 from nine overs in just his second Test.
Cheteshwar Pujara is bowled by Nathan Lyon. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
The worry for all batters became evident after the ball started exploding off the surface of the pitch within the first few overs.
“If the ball’s going through the top (of the surface) in the first 20 minutes of a Test, off the main part of the pitch, well that’s got to show you the pitch is not up to Test standard. That is not good enough,” former Australian batter Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket during the lunch break. “It doesn’t matter how good a player you are you’re gonna need luck to get runs on this surface.
“I’m extremely worried when Australia come into bat. If they (India) get 120 they will be leading on the first innings.”
Matthew Kuhnemann celebrates taking the wicket of Umesh Yadav. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Those fears were eased by the tourists getting 47 runs in front by stumps but it will be a surprise if too many other batters apart from Usman Khawaja (60) raise the willow for even a half-century on this goat-track.
His former Australian teammate Matthew Hayden, commentating for host broadcaster Star Sports, described the pitch as like “a day-three type wicket” with cracks evident from before the start of play.
“It shouldn’t be keeping low and tuning a mile on day one. This is why I’ve got a problem with these conditions because there’s no way in the world that spin bowlers should come on in the sixth over – 4.8 degrees, that’s massive turn, that’s the sort of turn you’d expect on day three,” he said. “You’ve got to give batters a chance. You’re judging players on their performances in Test match cricket.
“Day one, day two should be about batting.”
Rohit Sharma didn’t give himself a chance when he danced down the wicket to Matt Kuhnemann on 12 to be stumped by Alex Carey after a brisk 27-run opening stand with Shubman Gill.
It was a horrendous shot from the skipper and the fact that it triggered a collapse should weigh heavily on his mind.
Kuhnemann then bagged Shubman Gill in his next over after dimissing Sharma for a breezy 21 off 17.
The unheralded Queensland left-armer turned the ball nicely as Gill played a forward defensive shot, nicking to Smith at first slip to reduce the home side to 2-34 in the eighth over.
And when Lyon turned a sharp off-break through the gate to dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara for one, the tourists were well on top with India 3-36.
It was an uncharacteristically poor decision from Pujara to go back to cut an off break.
Ravindra Jadeja, promoted to No.5, didn’t last long either when he wafted a back-foot cover drive in the air and Kuhnemann was placed perfectly in a catching position to send him on his way for four.
Shreyas Iyer completed the first hour of carnage soon after when he chopped Kuhnemann onto his stumps for a duck as India went to the drinks break at 5-45.
Virat Kohli was trapped LBW by Murphy and Srikar Bharat was also caught in front by Lyon as the Indian collapse gathered further momentum.
The carnage continued after the break as Kuhnemann had Ravichandran Ashwin caught behind for three and Umesh Yadav trapped in front to claim his first five-wicket haul in just his second Test.
India’s innings of woe finished in comical circumstances with Mohammed Siraj running himself out after hesitating when Axar Patel wanted him to come back for a second so he could keep the strike.
It was India’s lowest total in a home Test since they were routed for 105 and 107 in the Pune Test loss to Australia in 2017.
Australia were left shaking their heads after after missing out on the big wicket of India skipper Rohit Sharma twice in the first over of the third Test in Delhi after they failed to review two poor calls from umpire Nitin Menon.
The two wrong decisions were part of a poor first day from the local umpire who later got two LBW calls wrong and didn’t give Ravichandran Ashwin out despite a clear snick off Kuhnemann which the Australians thought was a straightforward dismissal.
And the umpiring woes continued when the Australians were batting when the other on-field official, West Indies veteran Joel Wilson, gave Marnus Labuschagne not out on seven to Ashwin when the replays showed it was out. The Indians, after burning two earlier reviews, elected not to contest the LBW verdict.
Sharma nicked the first ball of the match from Mitchell Starc to Alex Carey but Menon gave him not out and after a quick conference with the bowler and close-in fielders, stand-in skipper Steve Smith opted not to review the decision.
The Australians were ruing their luck when they saw the replay on the big screen at the Holkar Stadium.
But then Starc snuck through Sharma’s defences again with the fourth ball of the opening over on day one with the ball clipping the top of his back pad.
Menon again denied the appeal and Smith, after consulting point fielder Nathan Lyon to judge the height of the delivery, opted not to risk wasting a DRS review in frustration after the opening ball disappointment.
But the replay again showed the on-field decision was wrong with the ball pitching and hitting in line and projected to hit the top of middle and off stumps.
To rub salt into the Australian wounds, Sharma clipped Starc for four from the next delivery to get off the mark.
Star Sports commentator Sunil Gavaskar empathised with Smith, saying you have to be certain before you question an on-field review.
Mitchell Starc appeals unsuccessfully for the wicket of Rohit Sharma. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
His colleague Matthew Hayden was perplexed by the umpiring. “There was nothing but bat, that’s why I was surprised they didn’t review it,” he said of the first incident. “Maybe they got a bit gun-shy because the second innings (in Delhi) as well they got quite a lot wrong.”
The double blow in the first over had the potential to be a huge psychological hurdle for the tourists as they try to overcome the 2-0 series deficit despite having to bat second after losing the toss.
However, Sharma didn’t make them pay too much with the opener falling for just 12.
Marnus Labuschagne has been described as one of the luckiest batters on the global scene and he was fortunate to grind his way to 31 late on day one of the third Test.
The Australian first drop, who occupied the crease for 91 deliveries and shared a vital 96-run partnership with Usman Khawaja, should have been on his way for a duck when he dragged on an attempted cut shot off Jadeja to his stumps.
But he was given a reprieve when third umpire Richard Kettleborough ruled it was a no-ball
Labuschagne’s luck was certainly in because he had chopped on Jadeja before he had opened his account but the third umpire called him back due to a no-ball.
It was the third time this series he had overstepped when taking a wicket, which former India captain Sunil Gavaskar labelled “unacceptable” on the host broadcaster. “No way a spinner can be bowling no-balls,” he fumed. “He has to do something about it.”
Labuschagne was also trapped in front on seven but was given another life when umpire Nitin Menon made one of his six incorrect calls on dismissals for the day.
And he was dropped later in his innings when a vicious Ashwin delivery spun off the shoulder of his blade before bouncing clear off keeper Srikar Bharat’s gloves.
It’s not his fault that the opposition has botched a few chances to get rid of him.
He does need to get rid of his tendency to play back to Jadeja. He got a ball that kept low but for the second time this series he was bowled by the left-armer after playing back when he should have been on the front foot.
Labuschagne famously was dropped four times on his way to 103 against England in the 2021-22 Ashes series, had three chances in making 80 in the Headingley Test of 2019 and has had a couple of other innings where he’s been given a couple of lives.
If the old adage of the harder you work, the luckier you get is true then Labuschagne, a tireless worker in the nets, before during and after matches, deserves all the fortune that comes his way.