STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsAustralia lost this Test before it started. Lot of critics over the pitch, played more in their minds. Eventually, they couldn’t last even 100 overs in the entire match. Whereas, India’s lower order batters (7-11), batted 435 balls in one innings. On the other hand, Australia’s entire team batted 578 balls the entire match. There were plenty of stats from the first Test:
Rohit, the first all-format centurion as India captain
The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, hadn’t played a single Test since March 2022. In his comeback Test, it did not look like he was out for nearly a year.
On a track where most of the Indian top order batters (1-6) struggled to score runs, Rohit was at his fluent best. By virtue of it, Rohit registered his ninth hundred overall, eighth at home, sixth as an opener and first as the captain of India.
Thanks to that, he became the first Indian captain and fourth overall, to hit a century across all formats.
Jadeja back with a bang
Ravindra Jadeja was also one among the returnees from this squad. Just like Rohit, Jadeja also had a fruitful comeback.
With the ball, Jadeja dismissed the two set batters, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, in the first innings. He then went on to bag a five-for, his 11th in Tests and fourth against Australia, the most for him against a team.
Then, with the bat, the sword came out when he registered yet another fifty-plus score. In Tests, this was the sixth time he had done the double of five-wicket-haul and a 50+ score. Among Indians, that’s the joint most matches in which a player has achieved the double.
Here are some add-ons. In Tests since the 20th century (1900), among bowlers who have taken 50+ wickets against Australia, his average of 18.1 is the best.
In Tests since 2019, Jadeja has scored 1189 runs at an average of 47.6, and has 59 wickets at an average of 26.9. The difference of 20.7 between his batting average and bowling average, is the highest among player who have scored 500+ runs and picked up 20+ wickets.
Murphy makes a mark on debut
There was a lot of talk on who would partner Nathan Lyon in the first Test. A day before, there were signs of Todd Murphy making the debut, and on the morning of the Test, it was confirmed. In his first Test, Murphy registered few notable records:
-Murphy became the first Australian bowler to bag the first four wickets of opposition in his debut innings (first innings of debut match).
-With the wicket of KS Bharat, Murphy became the second visiting spinner after Jason Krejza in 2008, at the same venue, to bag a five-for on debut against India.
-At the age of 22 years and 86 days (at the start of a Test match), he became the youngest Australian spinner to bag a five-wicket-haul across formats.
-His spell of 7/124, is the fourth best spell by a visiting debutant against India in Tests. Overall, it is the fifth best spell against India.
-In debut innings, only Bob Massie (8/84) in 1972 against England, and Krejza (8/215) in 2008 against India, had better spells than Murphy, for Australia.
-In his innings, Murphy bowled 47 overs, which is the most by a visiting debutant against India. Mohammad Farooq of Pakistan in 1960, had bowled 46 overs, the most then.
Ashwin on par with Anil Kumble
In the second innings, Ashwin was on the nerves of the Australian batters from the first over. From his 450th wicket in the first innings, till the five-wicket haul, here are some of the records he achieved from this Test:
-In the first innings, when Ashwin claimed the wicket of Alex Carey, he became the second fastest bowler to pick up 450 wickets in Tests.
-Ashwin claimed David Warner for the 11th time in his Test career, the joint most times he has dismissed a batter. Against Ben Stokes as well, he has 11 dismissals.
-Opening the innings with the ball, Ashwin registered his 150th wicket, the first spinner to bag 150 wickets as an opening bowler in Tests. In total, he has 154 wickets. Rangana Herath with 104 wickets, is the only other spinner to have 100+ wickets while opening.
-In the second, when he picked up his fourth wicket, Ashwin went past Harbhajan Singh’s tally of 95, to become the second leading wicket taker in Border-Gavaskar Trophy
-With the dismissal of Carey in the second innings, through an LBW, Ashwin became the fifth spinner in Tests to bag 100+ wickets through this mode of dismissal.
-In home Tests, Ashwin has 25 five-wicket hauls, which is the joint most for an Indian bowler and the joint-third most overall.
-Ashwin bagged his fifth wicket in his 10th over (9.2), which is his fastest five-for in an innings. Previously, against New Zealand in 2016, he had completed his five-for in 10.1 overs.
-Ashwin bowled only 12 overs for his spell of 5/37. This is the least number of overs he has bowled in an innings where has taken five or more wickets.
Australia suffer a low
After a batting debacle in the first innings, Australia sunk even further in the second innings as they were bundled within 100 runs:
-In Tests, the total of 91 is Australia’s second lowest total against India, and their lowest in India.
-In the second innings, Australia lasted only 32.3 overs, which is the second least overs faced by them in an all-out innings in India. Their lowest came at Wankhede in 2004, when they were bundled out in 30.5 overs.
-In total, Australia scored 268 runs in this match, which is their second lowest in a Test where they have lost all 20 wickets, since 2000. Their lowest (246) came in 2016, against South Africa in Hobart.
-In Asian conditions, only once have they been all-out for a lower total. Against Pakistan in 1956, they were all-out for 80 in Karachi.
FEW OTHER STATS
Suryakumar Yadav became the first Indian to debut in all formats after turning 30. In Tests since 2000, he is the third oldest Indian to make a debut in Tests.
None of the partnership in Australia’s second innings touched the 20-run mark, the highest was 19 between Warner and Labuschagne for the second wicket. This is the first innings in which Australia haven’t had a partnership of 20 or above against India.
The last time they suffered this feat was in 2015 against England, in Nottingham. These are the only two instances in this century.
In this match, 10 dismissals came through LBW for Australia, which is their most in a match.
