AUS vs IND, 2020-21: 2nd Test, Day 1 – Australia's low total, Siraj's impactful debut, Smith's rare duck and more stats

India held an edge over Australia on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test, thanks to a collective bowling effort from the visitors. Ravichandran Ashwin claimed three wickets including two before the Lunch while Jasprit Bumrah wrenched the home team’s batting with a 4-wicket haul. Debutant Mohammed Siraj claimed two crucial wickets as the Aussies settled with only 195. India lost the wicket of Mayank Agarwal in the very first over while a quick-fire 28* from Shubman Gill helped India end the day on 36/1.

Here are all the statistical highlights from the opening day’s play of the Boxing Day Test at MCG:

The milestone AUS vs IND Test:

100 – The Boxing Day Test is the 100th match between Australia and India in Test cricket. This is only the 7th rivalry in Test cricket which has extended to 100 or more matches.

50 – This game is also the 50th match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy; a Test cricket title between Australia and India that began in 1996. This is also the 50th Test match between the two sides in Australia which makes India the 4th team to feature in 50 Tests on Australia soil.

A low total for Australia:

195/10 – Australia’s total of 195/10 is now their lowest first-innings total after electing to bat first in any Test that began on Boxing Day. Their previous lowest was 198 against West Indies during the 1981 Boxing Day Test.

2010 – Last time Australia got bowled out under 200 in the first innings of a home Test after electing to bat first was 136 against England in the 2015 Birmingham Test. Last such instance at home was during the 2010 New Year Test at the SCG against Pakistan where they made only 127.

Ashwin shines with the ball yet again:

1 – Ravichandran Ashwin is the first spin bowler to claim multiple wickets in the very first session of a Boxing Day Test match at the MCG. Ashwin is also the first spinner to bag multiple wickets in the first session of a Test match in Melbourne since 1933. Ashwin got the wickets of Matthew Wade and Steve Smith before the Lunch interval.

3 – Only three instances of spin bowlers picking three or more wickets in the first innings of a Boxing Day Test since 2008: All those three have been recorded by Ravichandran Ashwin only – 3/81 in 2011, 3/134 in 2014 and 3/35 in 2020.

A rare duck for Smith:

1 – Steve Smith’s duck in the bowling of Ravi Ashwin is now his maiden duck in the first innings of a Test match. It is also Smith’s first duck in Test cricket in the last 52 innings and also his maiden duck in International cricket against India.

Siraj makes an impact:

1 – Mohammed Siraj became the first specialist pace bowler from India to be bowling his first over in Test cricket as the third change or later bowler. Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav opened the bowling for India while Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja turned out to be India’s first and second change bowlers. Siraj’s first over in Test cricket turned out to be the opening over after lunch interval.

2 – Mohammed Siraj is only the 2nd Indian to pick two or more wickets and also claim 2+ catches on the very first day of Test cricket. The first such player was Montu Banerjee who ended the opening day of the 1948-49 Kolkata Test against West Indies with three wickets and two catches while making his debut.

Boxing Day’s youngest debutant:

21y 109d – At the age of 21 years and 109 days, Shubman Gill became the youngest visiting player to make debut in a Boxing Test match at the MCG. Sri Lanka’s Jayantha Silva was the previous youngest who was 22 years and 207 days at the time of 1995 Boxing Day Test.

Debutants combine to dismiss Marnus:

9 – Marnus Labuschagne got out in the bowling of debutant Mohammed Siraj by giving a catch to another debutant Shubman Gill. The duo of Siraj and Gill is now the 9th Indian pair of Test debutants whose 1st wicket and 1st dismissal came together. The last such pair was Zaheer Khan and Saba Karim during in the 2000 Dhaka Test which was marked to be Bangladesh’s Test debut.

Siraj and Gill are also the first pair of debutants to be involved in a wicket for India in Test cricket since Munaf Patel and Piyush Chawla (Batsman – Andrew Flintoff) in the 2006 Mohali Test against England.

India’s biggest contingent:

28 – With Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Siraj playing the MCG Test, the number of players used by India in the Australian tour extended to 28. These are now the most number of players that India have used in an away tour in International cricket. The previous most was 27 players during their last Australian tour in 2018-19 season.