The returning Ravindra Jadeja picked up his 11th five-wicket haul as India skittled out Australia for 177 in their first innings just after tea on Day 1 of the opening Test in Nagpur. (More Cricket News)
After winning the toss, Australia captain Pat Cummins decided to bat first.
They were faced with problems immediately, as seamers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj dealt early blows to the visitors. Usman Khawaja (1) and David Warner (1) returned to the pavilion within the first 3 overs.
Australia's dependable batters Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith forged an 82-run partnership before Jadeja got Labuschagne (49) out off of a stumping by Srikar Bharat. Matt Renshaw departed soon for a first-ball duck
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Smith (37), who hit a few boundaries, was dismissed when he played the wrong line to an arm-ball from Jadeja.
By tea, the visitors had slumped for 174/8 with Jadeja taking 4 wickets and Ravichandran Ashwin claiming two scalps.
There is no denying the fact that there is considerable turn and bounce on offer, but Australian batters too were guilty of playing some bad shots.
Ashwin, who primarily bowled from round the wicket, induced a false shot from Carey who went for a non-existent reverse sweep while Pat Cummins became Ashwin’s second victim when he offered a regulation catch to Virat Kohli at slips.
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Jadeja and Ashwin then cleaned up the tail by getting rid of debutant Todd Murphy and Scott Boland.
India started their batting strong, as captain Rohit Sharma scored 13 runs off the first over from Pat Cummins.
Sharma scored the bulk of the runs in his 76-run opening partnership with KL Rahul, who was dismissed by Murphy off a caught-and-bowled for 20 runs.
Sharma compiled a well-made half-century, as he left the field with 56 runs off 69 balls with India's scoreboard reading 77/1 and trailing Australia by 100 runs.
