Indian spinner Ravindra Jadeja took five wickets on his international return to help Australia bowl out 177 on the first day of the first Test on Thursday.
Jadeja returned figures of 5-47 and fellow spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took three wickets as Australia’s innings collapsed in the final session on a twisting Nagpur pitch.
Marence Libeschen (49) and Steve Smith (37) started the fightback with an 82-run third-wicket partnership after losing openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner earlier in the day.
Peter Handscomb, who scored 31, and wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey, who scored 36, also put on a 53-run partnership before Ashwin ended Carey’s spell to record his 450th Test wicket. .
Jadeja’s double strike off successive balls just after lunch rattled the tourists as he sent Liebschen back and then trapped Matt Renshaw for a first-ball wicket.
The left-arm orthodox spinner, returning to the Indian team after a knee injury, later bowled Smith to a ball that went through his bat and pad.
Ashwin and Jadeja maintained the charge to enter the Australian tail as the tourists teed off at 174-8, adding just three runs in the final session.
Earlier, fast bowler Mohammad Siraj had left Khawaja lbw on his first delivery to the left-hander as the tourists opted to bat in the four-match series opener. What did
An appeal was dismissed by the on-field umpire but India successfully appealed the decision, much to the delight of coach Rahul Dravid, who threw his fists into the pavilion.
In the next over, Mohammad Shami made a splash when the seamer came around the wicket to send the off-stump cartwheeling and bowled the left-handed Warner for one.
Under Pat Cummins, Australia controversially dropped left-arm spinner Travis Head and handed off-spinner Todd Murphy his international debut.
Rohit Sharma’s India handed over Test caps to Twenty20 sensation Surya Kumar Yadav and wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat.
