Cheteshwar Pujara spares India's blushes on day 1 at Adelaide
The only thing that India managed to win on the morning of the first Test was the toss. If it were not for Cheteshwar Pujara's resilient knock, India would have struggled to get back in this game. Nobody seemed to put a price on their wicket except the unfazed Pujara.
After selecting to bat first Virat Kohli and co were looking forward to getting a big total on the board. However, with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood oozing fire from ball one, the Indians were never able to build a good partnership in the first session.
KL Rahul who was struggling against inswinging deliveries, for a change was dismissed on an away swinger off Hazlewood. The openers, the captain and the vice-captain all gave away their wickets driving the ball. Vijay looked solid at the start but couldn't resist the temptation to drive against a full delivery from Starc and ended up nicking the ball to Tim Paine.
Cummins had just started his first spell and was trying to get into a good rhythm. That's when Kohli decided to hit one of his extravagant cover drives. The delivery was so wide that it would have been called a wide in limited overs cricket.
Rohit Sharma who was looking for a fresh start in whites looked set to get a decent score after scoring 37 off 61 balls, but the hitman tried to hit Lyon out of the park and got caught in the process. Rishabh Pant came in with his typical carefree attitude but didn't last long either. Starc was all fired up and clocked 151 kmph as Pant was trying to hit every ball out of the park.
Ashwin and Pujara provided some resistance in the third session. Pujara was the only one who stood tall amidst the chaos at the other end. He scored a gritty hundred and kept India the game. It was a well-paced hundred. He accelerated towards the end of the day when the bowlers were tired. His innings has given the Indian bowlers a chance to get the visitors back in the game. They have to make the most of the new ball on day two as it gets easier to bat as the day progresses.
If Indian bowlers can match the performance of Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins, and Lyon, this match will be nicely set up for the remainder of the Test.