Things got intense at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) as Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah took the wicket of Usman Khawaja on the last ball of Day 1, following a heated argument with 19-year-old Sam Kontas.
After winning the toss Bumrah, who is leading the Indian side after Rohit Sharma “opted to rest” decided to bat first, which was a strange decision in the overcast conditions and on the green top pitch.
India’s openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, who moved to the top of the order in Rohit’s absence, started cautiously. They played solidly in defense, especially outside off stump, at the beginning. However, Rahul played a half-volley from Mitchell Starc on leg stump straight to the square leg fielder, putting India on the back foot.
His partner, Yashasvi Jaiswal, tried to counter Scott Boland’s steady bowling by stepping towards the bowler. However, he ended up edging a delivery that moved across him, which was caught by debutant Beau Webster in the slip field.
Boland almost repeated the moment with Virat Kohli, who edged the first ball he faced towards Steve Smith. Smith got his fingers under the ball but couldn’t hold on to it. Just before lunch, Shubham Gill stepped down to Nathan Lyon and edged the ball to slip, putting India further behind.
Kohli’s stay didn’t last long as he went for an outside-off delivery and got caught in the slip cordon, making it the seventh time he’s been out this series. At the other end, Rishabh Pant, playing more carefully than usual, took a few hits to the body but didn’t try anything unusual, putting up a tough fight.
Rishabh Pant is a tough Guy. 🙇
– It's time to make it big at SCG for India. pic.twitter.com/mcuRk3H8Xy
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 3, 2025
In the 57 overs Pant tried to pull Boland but couldn’t time the ball and once again he was not able to convert his start into a big score. However Nitish Kumar Reddy joined him back in the dressing room as he edged the first ball he faced.
Ravindra Jadeja, who had battled his way to a 95-ball 26, then played across a delivery from Starc and was trapped in front, getting out. Washington Sundar hit a few useful boundaries but was given out after the third umpire ruled that he had gloved his attempted pull on Australia’s review.
Jasir Basharat is a cricket enthusiast capturing the heart of the game through insightful analysis and storytelling sharing his passion for the sport through engaging narratives. He is a business graduate from University of Kashmir.
