India v Australia 1st Test - Australia Player Ratings

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Steve O'Keefe Australia
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Steve O’Keefe. (Photo Source: BCCI)

Australia showed just why you should never look to count them out. In a season where the Indian team has completely dominated all the opponents who have visited them at home, the Aussies were top notch with their performance. Right from the batting to the bowling as well as fielding they beat the hosts in each and every department of the game. Skipper Steve Smith had the toss of luck when he got to choose to bat first.

His bowling changes, giving the pacer spells in short bust and changing ends when one wasn’t able to make an impact from a particular side proved to be the difference. Steve O’Keefe looked ordinary in the first session and was unplayable after that to end the game with 12 wickets. Australia bowled out India for sub 100 scores in both innings and started the series with a fantastic win. Here we analyze the performance of the XI players:

Matt Renshaw – 7/10

A stomach bug forced young Matt Renshaw to halt his inning mid-way on the first day but resuming at 36 he was defiant, played the spinners really well showed a lot of intent and application. He was aggressive against Ravindra Jadeja the left-arm spinner who brought the ball back into him and cautious against Ravi Ashwin who took it away. His 68 in the first innings gave structure to the Australian innings and helped them post 260.

In the second innings though he would have wanted to do well but a 31 on a tough batting wicket deserves credit as well.

Also read- India vs Australia, 1st Test, Day 3: 5 Talking Points

David Warner – 5/10

He took the team off to a solid start in the first innings. While a lot of people expected him to fall against the Indian offie who also started the bowling Warner played him well in the morning session and scored with caution something that goes against his natural game. Towards the end of the session though he was dismissed by Umesh Yadav who was reverse swinging the ball at a decent pace. Warner was trapped early in the second inning by Ashwin and he contributed 38 and 10 runs in both innings respectively.

Steve Smith – 9/10

Steve Smith deserves the credit for this win as much as anybody. He was brilliant with the bat and exceptional as the captain making some smart moves on the field and utilized his bowling resources to the optimum best. As against India who played three spinners and two pacers – Australia had just 2 of each but they were still able to get the desired result.

He had his share of luck in the second inning but got a feel of the pitch and made most of it scoring a century in the second knock. Smith scored 109 on a surface the entire Indian team was bowled out for 107.

Shaun Marsh – 2/10

The elder Marsh brother was considered their most important player against spin after his stubborn stands in Sri Lanka. Shaun couldn’t do much in this Test, though. In the first innings, he fell prey to a plotted dismissal by the Indian skipper. In the second knock, he walked out to open the batting in place of Renshaw who was struggling with his stomach and was dismissed by Ashwin for a duck.

Peter Handscomb – 4/10

Handscomb more than the bat made an impact with his close-in fielding, the Australian spinners were creating opportunities and he converted half chances into wickets with his splendid fielding. He anticipated well and was quick to react, his fielding had a crucial role to play in India’s downfall in the first innings. With the bat, he contributed a total of 41 runs in the match.

Mitchell Marsh – 3/10

Mitch was included in the team not as an allrounder but more for his abilities with the bat and on spinner-friendly surfaces. Despite a huge win, the team would be disappointed with his batting as he was dismissed for 4 in the first innings and 31 in the second. Mitchell Marsh fell to Indian left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja twice in the game.

Matthew Wade – 3/10

It was a tough Test for Wade behind the wickets and he did really well there but was clearly not his game with the bat. He kept well and hardly anything was missed. A quick stumping in the first inning found Jayant short and took three catches in the match. He could only score 28 runs in the match overall and would want to improve there going ahead in the series.

Mitchell Starc – 8/10

Starc was termed Australia’s trump card coming into the series and proved it right first with the bat and then in his superior trade as well. When it looked like Australia would be bowled out around 200 Mitchell Starc played a stroke-filled 61-run knock that not only defied the Indian bowlers but also pushed them on the back foot. With the ball, he gave them two big blows in over dismissing Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in the same over and Kohli for a duck.

In the second inning as well he scored a run-a-ball 30 though didn’t have much bowling to do was a very successful Test for the leading pacer in the world.

Steve O’Keefe – 9.5/10

There was nothing more he could have done or even thought of. He was considered probably the least lethal bowler in the Australian bowling line-up and that proved to be fatal. The left-arm spinner, once he realized his mojo bowling from the Hill end in Pune, was unplayable. No batsman looked in control against him. He turned the ball but got most his wickets with the one that didn’t turn. Batsmen played for it and were trapped in front.

India’s Jadeja who is a lot more experienced than him couldn’t match him. O’Keefe had exactly similar figures of 6/35 in both the innings. He finished the game with best bowling figures for an Australian against India in Tests.

Nathan Lyon – 7/10

Coming into the series Lyon said he had watched Ashwin bowling and picked a few things he would like to implement and did that really well. He bowled just the right line and maintained a pace that didn’t let the batsmen get away. He turned the ball there and that gave him the edge, something Ashwin didn’t manage to do. Lyon used the angles well and maintained the pressure while O’Keefe was cleaning up the stacks of wickets at the other end. He picked 4 wickets in the second inning to finish the game with five.

Josh Hazlewood – 5/10

In the first inning, Hazlewood drew first blood coming in as the change bowler. He used reverse swing really well to keep the batsmen in doubt. He is always so good and accurate with his line and maintains himself in the channel of uncertainty and the batsmen are always forced to play. He dismissed Vijay in the first inning and bowled 7 overs, in the second inning though skipper Smith used him for just 2 overs with the spinners doing all the damage.

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