India vs Australia, 3rd Test, day 1 - 5 Talking Points

The highly anticipated third Test between India and Australia began on the JSCA stadium in Ranchi, the first ever Test at the venue. The build-up to the game wasn’t too good as there was the DRS controversy, match-referee had played down the pitches, former Australian cricketers tried to criticise Kohli for his approach. Leaving all that behind, the game began at Ranchi with Australia batting first after winning a crucial toss.

The openers added 50 runs for the first wicket before David Warner threw his wicket away off a full toss from Ravindra Jadeja. Renshaw made a good 44 before holding out to Umesh Yadav. Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb suffered failures as they made 2 and 19 respectively. But the first day belonged to the skipper Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell.

Smith brought up his second hundred in the series and Maxwell too made a half-century to end the day one at 299/4 with the visitors gaining the upper hand. The score might suggest that Indian bowlers did not have a good outing, but the truth is that they didn’t bowl badly. It was the unresponsive pitch as well as the quality batsmanship that made it difficult for them.

Here are the 5 major talking points from the day’s play:

#1) Smith’s love affair with India continues

If there is a batsman who enjoys batting against the Indian bowlers the most, it has to be Steven Smith. He was unbeaten at 117 off 244 balls at stumps with 13 boundaries and notched up his 6th ton against India in the process and was literally flawless.

He was once again brilliant and played the spinners as well as the fast bowlers with full assurance. He did not give even the slightest of opportunities to the Indians to pick up his wicket. Along with Maxwell, he has added 159 runs already for the 5th wicket and a solid platform for a huge score has been built.

#2) Maxwell’s resurgence as a Test batsman

Mitchell Marsh got injured after the second Test and was ruled out of the series but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Australians. Glenn Maxwell was their new man to bat at number 6. He had a great chance to prove himself at the Test level and he did make the full use of the opportunity.

He is unbeaten on 82 off 147 balls, which is his highest score in Test cricket, by far and also the maiden fifty. This is the first time he faced more than 100 balls in the format. People were expecting explosive batting from him but he suppressed his natural instincts and was ready to grind it out. He played a gritty inning and only hit 5 fours and 2 sixes and surely showed his capabilities to play at this level.

#3) Kohli’s injury a worry for India

The skipper always gives his best on the field be it batting or fielding. One such moment occurred while he was chasing a ball towards the mid-wicket boundary. Though he managed to pull the ball in, he dived abruptly on his right shoulder and immediately looked in trouble. The hard surface of the outfield at Ranchi did not help his cause.

The physio came in and Kohli had to walk off the field and did not return for the remainder of the day. Ajinkya Rahane led the side in his absence and the energy was certainly missing. It was a rare occasion to see the fit Kohli getting hurt and being forced to sit out. It remains to be seen whether Kohli will be allowed to bat at his normal number 3 position or not but him getting injured is a big worrying sign for India.

#4) The pitch surprised everyone

There was a lot of talk about the surfaces presented in the series so far. Pune was rated poor by the match-referee Chris Broad who went on to rate the Bengaluru pitch below average. Even before the start of the third Test, comments were made about the Ranchi pitch.

Smith had commented that he hadn’t seen a darker pitch than that and Australia media had slammed it even before watching how it played. There were speculations that this pitch will turn from day 1 too but to everyone’s surprise, there was hardly any turn and it turned out to be a batting-friendly one that rendered Australia score close to 300 in a day.

#5) Umesh Yadav’s spirited effort

There wasn’t much on offer for either the fast bowlers or the spinners and they were made to work hard for the wickets. India managed to pick just 4 wickets in the day, two of which were bagged by Umesh Yadav. India’s biggest positive in the home season has to be the emergence of the pacer at the Test level.

Once again, he bowled his heart out and was the only bowler who looked like picking wickets. First, he accounted for Renshaw’s wicket, getting him out caught at the first slip. Next he bowled a brutal in-swinging yorker to Handscomb that trapped him in front of the wickets. It was a tough day for the bowlers but he was charging in even in the penultimate over of the day and bowled lethal bouncers at Maxwell.