The World Test Championship (WTC) Final between Australia and India got underway at the Oval in London with India winning the toss and electing to field first on a lively pitch.
David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne got things back on track for the Aussies ,after Siraj provided the early breakthrough sending back Khawaja for a duck.
Mohammed Shami and Siraj, the pace spearheads of India’s attack, were giving all sorts of swinging, seaming trouble to the Australia openers, as a green pitch was providing them with a lot of assistance on a sunny day with the weather mostly expected to stay dry and sunny.
After Sharma introduced Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur into the attack, things loosened up a bit for Australia, as Warner took Yadav for 16 in an over.
India again came back after Shardul ‘Lord’ Thakur dismissed Warner for 43, caught behind.
India have fielded Ravindra Jadeja as the lone spinner, and relied heavily on their pace battery on a green track. Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, and Siraj are the four pacers playing.
While deciding to bowl at the toss, India captain spoke about the decision to leave veteran spinner R Ashwin out and former vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane’s return to the Test squad.
‘The spinner is Jadeja. It’s always tough (to leave Ashwin), he’s been a match-winner for us over the course of so many years. But you got to do the things that’s needed for the team and eventually we came up with that decision. He (Rahane) brings a lot of experience, he’s played 80-odd Test matches and he’s done well for the team. He’s been out for a while but but I don’t think the experience that he has can change all of that,’ Sharma said.
The players from both teams as well as the umpires were seen sporting black bands as they stepped out to take the field in solidarity with the victims of the Odisha train crash.
Day 2
Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami took a lot of blows early on day 2 as it was business as usual for Travis Head and Steve Smith early in the day, with boundaries flowing at both ends.
Head seemed uncomfortable with the short ball but India strangely did not seems to work that ploy too much on day 1.
Siraj put it to good use as he dismissed Head chasing a short ball legside only to nick it to Bharat on 163 off 174, thus ending the stand between him and Smith at 285 off 408 balls.
Cameron Green then came in and hit a boundary the first ball he faced before Shami got him caught in the slips with Shubman Gill on catching duties.
Smith seemed like he was ready for a double, as he registered his ninth test century against India, his seventh in England and his 31st overall in Test cricket.
A he was starting to look dangerous, a momentary if you could call it that, saw him up chopping one off Shardul Thakur while on 121.
Smith’s wicket brought some shoulders back up and India back into the game. However, Australia still have gone past 400 at lunch on day 2 as India are looking for three more wickets.
Australia then went on to post 469 on the board in the first innings.
Can India get a good lead?
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland.
This article has been updated.