In the days leading up to the first Test, there was a lot of discussion about the pitch, with some quarters suggesting that the Nagpur track had been improperly prepared or doctored to favour spinners from Day 1. On the first day of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, nine out of the 11 wickets that were lost were against spin. The ground itself, however, was a hard-working wicket that made the bowlers work for wickets and the batters work for runs rather than being a dustbowl that offered turn from the first ball.
After the Indian pacers quickly dismissed the Australian openers, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith worked together to add 82 runs for the third wicket, spending more than 30 overs at the crease. The ball didn’t spin enough to trouble the batters despite the low bounce, with Labuschagne and Smith demonstrating the benefits of playing the ball late and close to the body in good measure. For the Indian bowlers, accuracy was essential, and Ravindra Jadeja is the definition of the word.
On the opening day of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Jadeja made a successful comeback to international cricket after a five-month injury layoff. He quickly eliminated Australia’s middle order, removing Labuschagne and Renshaw in quick succession before taking out Smith, Todd Murphy, and Peter Handscomb. Australia was dismissed for 177 in their first innings in Nagpur, and he finished with 5 for 47.
After the day’s play, Jadeja said the wicket’s characteristics made it difficult to score but manageable to defend at the same time. It wasn’t a rank turner, either. It had low bounce and was slower than other wickets. Although I didn’t think defending was particularly challenging today, it will get harder as the game goes on because that’s how Test cricket is played, so it’s not a game-breaker.
“They [Labuschagne and Smith] were searching for runs and it wasn’t easy to rotate strike and get runs off each ball. Once you start bowling good areas every delivery, they would also start trying different things and they were busy batters. And once they had a partnership, I thought, I should bowl as many dot balls as possible, consistently. The pitch wasn’t offering turn, so I had to bowl good areas and maintain good line and length,” said Jadeja, adding that using the dimensions of the crease worked to his advantage.
“I used the crease as not every delivery was turning and as I said, the bounce was low. So (I was) trying to create doubts in the minds of the batters, I was going wide off the crease and coming close to the stumps and some deliveries if they stepped out and it turned, there would always be a chance. Luckily he (Marnus) stepped out, that one turned after pitching. And for Smith, the ball went straight from that same width of the crease,” Jadeja noted.
