Australia were completely hammered by India in the first Test at Nagpur. The spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja completely dismantled the Aussies.
While Jadeja picked up his five wickets in the first innings, Ashwin got his fifer in the second innings.
A critical point to note from this Test is that the lower-order batsmen contributed the most for India in this game.
From No.7 till the end, there were some great contributions to the Indian team.
India’s final wicket fell at 400 and they put up a pretty big target for the Aussies to chase down.
Skipper Rohit Sharma also looked in fine form in the first innings as he scored his ton and was the only one in this Test.
On the other hand, Australia’s lower-order batters did not have any major contributions to their team.
This has caused some major headaches for head coach, Andrew McDonald.
McDonald says that the lower order will make a huge difference in this series
Speaking on the same, McDonald has pointed out clearly that the lower-order batters will be key to winning this series.
Says McDonald,
Their (India’s) lower-order batting is also going to be a differentiator in this series in (Ravindra) Jadeja, (Axar) Patel and (Ravichandran) Ashwin, they’ve got a really strong lower-order and we’re going to be challenged by that.
Adding further, McDonald spoke on how Australia’s lower-order batters didn’t make any significant contributions to the team.
They’re no doubt going to have more runs available to their lower order than ours, so we’ve got to try and work out how to break even in that sense.
In just three days’ time, India and Australia will be battling it out in the second Test in New Delhi.
India will be looking to wrap up the series and gain a spot in the finals of the ICC World Test Championship.
Meanwhile, Australia will also be looking to maintain its position at the top and give a tough fight to India.
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