Live Report - India vs Australia, 4th Test, Ahmedabad

9 Mar 2023

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Day 1 - Australia chose to bat.

Current RR: 2.83

• Last 10 ov (RR): 56/0 (5.60)

3h agoAustralia sneak ahead

Thanks to that new-ball spell during which Cameron Green helped them plunder 54 runs in nine overs, Australia have got their noses ahead on a tightly fought day. They end at 255 for 4 with Green unbeaten on 49 off 64. In those last 45 minutes, India just veered away from what has made them a great Test side. We leave you with a teaser from my end-of-the-day report.

Australia managed only the fourth opening stand of 50 or more for a visiting side in India in the last five years. Umsan Khawaja and Steve Smith batted through the middle session, the first wicketless session of the series, the most comfortable any batting side has been in a session against India in India in the last 10 years. Khawaja scored a fine, patient hundred, only the sixth against India in India in the last five years.

Yet it was India who controlled which way the game headed for most parts of the day after losing the toss on a flat pitch. Only to lose the gamble with the new ball at the end of the day to hand Australia slight advantage. Khawaja ended unbeaten on 103 having brought up the milestone in the last over of the day, and Cameron Green feasted on the new ball to score 49 in 64 in an 85-run stand that started after the loss of two wickets for 19 runs.

3h agoHundred in the last over of the day

More than six hours at the wicket, 246 balls faced, and Usman Khawaja gets to his hundred in the last over of the day. Just the 13 false responses over such a long innings. Well played, Khawaja.

3h agoNew ball travels

That is the first over with the new ball, bowled by Umesh Yadav. Also the costliest over of the day. I am not sure why they have taken the new ball so early, and have given it to a fast bowler.

4h agoIndia take the new ball

The last five overs have gone for just three runs but India have taken the new rock at the end of the 81st over. Nine overs to go in the day, Australia 203 for 4.

I am surprised they have done so. They used to wait for the last four overs or so on such days because you ideally want fresh bowlers with the new ball so as to make sure there is no damage if the pitch doesn't do much for you. That used to give them two shots at it: in the evening and in the morning.

4h agoQuicker pace in the session

Time for the final drinks break of the day. The game has moved along in thus last hour with 42 runs coming and also two wickets falling. Despite having been in control for most of the day, Australia find themselves having to work hard to retain parity because of their slower run-rate. They are 191 for 4 in 80 overs. the final hour will become big if India claim the new ball, but from my experience of having seen this side operate, they will take the new ball with only four or so overs left in the day so as to get two bites at the cherry. Australia 191 for 4. Usman Khawaja looking immoveable on 80 off 211.

4h agoOff stump cartwheels

What a delightful day of bowling it has been from India. You can't overly attack with the field, but India have kept the stumps in play, not letting Australia get away at all. With a 70-over-old ball, Shami gets one to hold its line, and beats the outside edge of Peter Handscomb to sent the off stump on a walk. All of a sudden, it is 170 for 4. India performing like a well-oiled bowling unit here.

5h agoJadeja vs Smith

7 Number of times Ravindra Jadeja has Steve Smith in Tests. Stuart Broad has got him nine times, James Anderson and R Ashwin eight each. It makes sense too because these three sides play against each other the most. Jadeja is the only one among these to average under 30 against Smith. And nobody has found Smith's timber as often as Jadeja: four times.

5h agoOut of nowhere

A drop in concentration from Steve Smith. Not a big error, but on this day, enough to get out. Just after tea, he pushes defensively at one from Ravindra Jadeja, only slightly away from the body, gets an inside edge, onto the pad, and softly into the wicket. Hard enough to dislodge the bail. India's persistence spell after spell has paid off. They have three wickets in just 28 false responses. Now it is 151 for 3. If India can add on top of this, they are right back in it. Smith gone for 38 off 135.

5h agoEasiest in 10 years?

1 Number of sessions of 20 overs or more in the last 10 years in India in which batters had higher control percentage than that middle session: India vs Bangladesh, day 2, Indore, 2019-20. India batted in that session so this is the least trouble a visiting batting side has been in a session in India in 10 years

5h agoFirst wicketless session

First full wicketless session of the series as Australia go into tea at 149 for 2. The scoreboard says that, but you have to commend India for bowling with discipline. On a flat track, they have not just bowled 62 overs in two sessions, they have also conceded at under 2.5 an over. Just the six false responses in 33 overs of bowling in that session. It also shows the batters can trust the pitch enough to wait for the bad ball. Except that not enough have arrived. Can Australia break India's resistance down in the next session? Or can India find some reward for tight bowling? We will soon find out.

6h agoKhawaja gets to fifty

It haas taken him 146 balls, but Usman Khawaja has got to a half-century, his third in the series. He has read the conditions well, and knows that there is not going to be that inevitable with his name on it. So He can trust it, and wait for the loose balls, which have been few and far between. Australia 128 for 2, runs coming quicker in the second hour of the second session.

6h agoAustralia pitch in

Not great signs for India that in the one full hour since lunch, they have drawn only one false response from the batters. However, it is a good sign that they have conceded just 35 in that time, in 17 overs. So in effect, they are bowling so well that even without help from the pitch they are telling the batters they will have to take some risk if they are to score quicker. Overall run-rate only 2.39 on a good batting pitch and despite only two wickets lost in 46 overs. But India will have to keep this kind of control and intensity on for long. Australia 110 for 2.

7h agoDouble change

With 21 trouble-free runs in the first eight overs of post-lunch session, India have had to go back to R Ashwin. Jadeja bowled four overs for 14 runs post lunch. Immediately, Ashwin bowls a maiden, and also Axar Patel replaces Umesh Yadav. Australia 96 for 2.

7h agoThe Axar question

14 Number of spells Axar Patel has bowled this series for just 40 overs. That is the problem with Axar: he looks like he needs long spells under his belt, but he has not provided enough control or penetration to be bowling long spells. Ideally he would have played a Ranji game before the series, but he had personal commitments, which is fair enough.

7h agoHow important was that second hour for India?

The answer to it lies in the other question: how big was that first hour? It was a rare dominating opening stand against India in India as Shiva Jayaraman has worked out. On that note we start the second session with Ravindra Jadeja getting a change of ends. Umesh Yadav will share the attack.

In recent times very rarely have visiting openers had India on the mat like Travis Head and Usman Khawaja had them in the first hour. Since the beginning of 2018 and before this Test, opening partnerships of visiting teams had averaged a poor 15.7 runs in India – easily the lowest among countries that have hosted more than one Test in this period (India’s first wicket has averaged 50.9 in these matches). The next-worst country for the opening wicket for away teams is West Indies, where the average opening stand has been broken for 20.3 runs. Exactly half of the 38 opening partnerships by visitors in India had been broken before they could add 10 runs. As many as eight opening stands had not bothered the scorers. Only three of those 38 opening stands had managed to reach 50 and each of them have come in the first innings. One of these was 151 by New Zealand in Kanpur on a rare lifeless track offered by the hosts. New Zealand managed to draw that match. Rory Burns and Dom Sibley added 63 for England’s in the first innings of the first Chennai Test in 2020-21 – a match that the visitors won. The third one came in this series in Delhi where David Warner and Khawaja added 50 runs laying a platform for a competitive first-innings total on that pitch. In that Test too, the visitors were well placed to win before their collapse on the third morning. Even on pitches tailor-made to suit the home team in India, visiting teams have had a fighting chance if they have started well in their first dig. This Ahmedabad wicket has looked like it will demand a lot more from bowlers than the earlier pitches seen in this series. Australia would’ve wanted Head to put a dearer price on his wicket here. They had the chance to finish ahead in the first session.

8h agoAustralia 75 for 2 at lunch

Hard-fought Test in which the quality of R Ashwin shone through, and Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami supported him superbly. After Australia's start of 56 for 0 in the first session, India have pulled things back with just 19 runs and two wickets in the next 15 overs. Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith are the unbeaten batters. Ashwin has had a great session with 10-4-18-1 with not more than two easy balls. Jadeja is 4-2-6-0 and Shami 8-2-14-1.

That it is a good pitch is obvious in how only 20 balls out of 172 have created a false response. Australia will be disappointed they have lost one wicket too many, but that is the skill of Shami. Just that little bit of late movement, and he had Labuschagne bowled.

We'll be back shortly.

8h agoExcellent bowling change

Despite a good start of 4-1-6-0 from Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma goes to Mohammed Shami. My suspicion is, they have seen the ball might be ready for reverse. Two balls in Shami has found the inside edge of Marnus Labuschagne, and then the wicket. Australia 72 for 2 now. The last half hour has been full of control for India. Just 16 runs in eight overs, and they have brought them two wickets.

9h agoAshwin dismisses Head

It has been bowling with excellent control from R Ashwin with three overs for six runs on the first morning on a batting track. He has managed to get Travis Head to take the extra attacking option. Head skips down the track looking to hit him straight, perhaps over mid-off, but the ball drifts and doesn't turn, taking the inner half of the bat to mid-on. This is a pitch where India need their spinners to stand apart from Australia's, and Ashwin will like to believe he has made a start.

9h agoFirst hour to Australia

Travis Head has run away to a quick start on a batting track as Australia get to 56 for 0 in 14 overs. Head is 31 off 39, having attacked any sign of width, and then milked the consequent straightness. Umesh Yadav has gone at 4.5 an over, and there have been eight byes too. Are India reminded of the Chennai Test that they lost to England in 2021?

9h agoBharat drops Head

Not the greatest of starts for India on what looks like a pitch that will make them work hard. Mohammed Shami started with his radar not quite there. Then KS Bharat wasn't quite flash to a couple of difficult takes. However, the big one came towards the end of the sixth over, Umesh Yadav drawing the outside edge from Travis Head, and he just dropped a sitter. He just got his hands in the wrong place, and his feet also got locked. Australia 23 for 0 in six overs. Eight byes, one wide, one no-ball.

10h agoHello Harmy

The Test action is finally underway. Mohammed Shami starts off with a big wide, reminiscent of Steve Harmison's start to the 200-6-07 Ashes. Virat Kohli collects at second slip.

10h ago10h agoAustralia bat, remain unchanged

The captains both feel it is a much better batting surface than in the first three Tests. Which means it becomes a no-brainer for Australia to elect to bat. No green seamers, as India's captain had earlier hinted at for preparation for the WTC final.

Australia are unchanged, India have made one change: Mohammed Shami in for Mohammed Siraj. Australia will be looking at the Chennai Test from 2021 where on a flat pitch, England managed to bury India under a mountain of runs. India know they will have to work hard on day one here.

India 1 Rohit Sharma (capt.), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 KS Bharat (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Axar Patel, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Mohammed Shami

Australia 1 Travis Head, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt.), 5 Peter Handscomb, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Todd Murphy, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Matthew Kuhnemann

10h agoToss delayed

Well we will have to wait because of the celebrations going on. The toss is delayed as it stands.

11h agoGame on

The friendship celebrations in Ahmedabad are over. Now it is time for the toss. All three Tests so far have been won by sides losing the toss. Might a team be tempted to bowl after winning the toss? I doubt it, but it is something worth pondering.

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is staying with India, but India have won every Test series at home in the last 10 years. They will hate for this to be a draw. And, to be fair, a drawn series here will be as good as a win for Australia.

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