Ind vs Aus, 4th Test: Siraj, Thakur take early wickets in opening session
Jan 15, 2021
Brisbane [Australia], January 15 : Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur bagged a wicket each to remove openers early on day one in the fourth Test against Australia at the Gabba on Friday.
After the conclusion of the first session, Australia were at 65/2 in 27 overs. Marnus Labuschagne (19*) and Steve Smith (30*) are unbeaten at the crease and building a good partnership to overcome the early blows.
Coming after the epic draw of Sydney, India made four changes to their side. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari and Jasprit Bumrah all missed the final game of the tour due to respective injuries.
The four players were replaced by Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan, Mayank Agarwal and Washinton Sundar. Tamil Nadu duo of spinner Sundar and pacer Natarajan made their Test debuts.
Siraj impressed with the ball as he dismissed David Warner in the first over of the day. Rohit Sharma caught a splendid catch at second slip to send Warner (1) back to the pavilion.
Labuschagne joined opener Marcus Harris in the middle. The duo tried to stitch the innings but failed to do so against fiery visiting bowlers. Despite lacking in experience, the Indian bowlers kept their lengths tight and did not give hosts much room for scoring. Thakur removed Harris (5) in the ninth over and left the hosts reeling at 17/2.
Smith came in to bat at number three and joined Labuschagne in the middle. The duo added an unbeaten 48-run stand for the third wicket. Labuschagne is not out at 19 while Smith is unbeaten on 30 runs.
Earlier, Australia have won the toss and elected to bat first against an inexperienced Indian bowling line-up.
Brief Scores: Australia 65/2 (Steve Smith 30*, Marnus Labuschagne 19*; M Siraj 1-18).
