Mind games begin as India's Mohammed Siraj has some verbal banter with Marnus Labuschagne
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy got off to a cracking start as India and Australia played out an evenly-matched first session.
Pacers Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami were bang on they money. They dismissed Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja with just two runs on the board.
Although the pacers couldn't make further inroads, the battle between Siraj and Marnus Labuschagne was worth watching. The pacer didn't dismiss Labuschagne but got enough movement to beat the No. 1 ranked Test batter multiple times.
In the most typical way of an aggressive fast bowler, Mohammed Siraj was right in Marnus Labuschagne's face and they began to exchange a few words. This is a sign that a lot of banter is yet to come. Here's the video:
Change Of Words Between Muhammad Siraj and Marnus Labuchagne 😎
https://t.co/yoTleFd4cT
#INDvAUS #INDvsAUS #BGT2023
Ravindra Jadeja turns the game in India's favor after lunch
Labuschagne and Smith looked extremely comfortable at the crease and the first session was arguably won by Australia with the score standing at 76/2. However, Ravindra Jadeja has already won the second session for India in just one spell and has brought them back into the Test match.
Labuschagne, on 49, was beautifully deceived by Jadeja and debutant KS Bharat did the rest by completing a fine stumping. The left-arm spinner then got two in two as he trapped Matthew Renshaw for a golden duck.
Steve Smith realized that he had to play some shots and release the pressure, and was successful too to a certain extent. However, it needed a special delivery to dismiss a special player as Jadeja got one to go on with the arm and rattle Smith's stumps, with the batter dismissed for 37.
At the time of writing, Australia were 135/5 with Peter Handscomb batting on 20 and Alex Carey batting on 12.
India Playing XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (C), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (WK), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohd. Siraj, Mohd. Shami.
Australia Playing XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland.