- India reach 215-2 after winning the toss
- Mayank Agarwal makes 76 on debut
- Cameron Bancroft opens up on ball tampering scandal
When Geoff Lemon began this OBO by describing the MCG pitch as a twenty-yard slab of solidified cat sick he set the tone for a day of cricket that was always up against it in the beauty and excitement stakes. The moribund deck allied with the obstinate Kookaburra ball made for attritional viewing with Australia unable to fashion many chances and India content to occupy the crease without a great deal of interest in advancing the score.
After the visitors won the toss and chose to bat first they were rewarded with a superb debut 76 from Mayank Agarwal and a 66-ball eight from makeshift opener Hanuma Vihari. That paved the way for Che Pujara and Virat Kohli to lay the foundations for a big first-innings total against a lacklustre Australian attack. That India only mustered a run-rate of 2.4 rpo may yet come back to haunt them.
89th over: India 215-2 (Pujara 68, Kohli 47) Not a show-stopping Starc over this time but it is the over that stops the show. The extra half-hour is not enough to include the 90th over and India walk off happy with their lot.
This is no reflection on other players who may or may not have come into consideration, but imagine the miles that would be in the legs of Australia's quicks by the end of this Test if Handscomb had been selected over M Marsh. #AUSvIND
88th over: India 215-2 (Pujara 68, Kohli 47) Hazlewood’s follow-up over lacks the same pizzazz despite YET ANOTHER INDIAN BATSMAN ALLOWING A SHORT BALL TO STRIKE HIM. This is weird. Pujara again just accepting some pain to his forearm (he has a guard on, but still) from a routine short ball that in another era would have been punished well forward of square leg. I hope someone asks about this in the press conference later.
87th over: India 213-2 (Pujara 66, Kohli 47) There we go! What an over by Mitchell Starc. Fast, aggressive, and no shortage of sideways movement. He traps Kohli on the crease with an inswinging beauty first up, then sends one the other way that the Indian skipper chases, edges, and is DROPPED by a sprawling Paine away to his right in front of first slip. Tough chance; it died on the keeper, but it probably should have been taken. Starc responds by lashing down a wild bouncer that screams away for four byes. The crowd are suddenly into the contest and every ball from Starc to Kohli is an event, including a full-throated appeal for a catch down the legside.
Dropped! Kohli gets a life after a tough chance goes down #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/2p3A7ppOra
86th over: India 209-2 (Pujara 66, Kohli 47) Hazlewood remains off his line and length and Pujara accepts the hospitality, angling his bat to guide the ball to third-man for four. Australia are so far wasting the second new ball, one that is considerably more responsive than the first dud nut they had the misfortune of sending down.
In the first 10 overs today, we saw 0.5° swing; the second new ball is averaging 0.95°. Australia really need to make this count. #AUSvIND
85th over: India 205-2 (Pujara 62, Kohli 47) Starc continues where he left off, chucking largely dross at India with the occasional jaffa thrown in. Pujara and Kohli continue to grind, some might even say they are grindermen, which is in no way a lame segue* to allow me to play this undisputed belter.
84th over: India 202-2 (Pujara 62, Kohli 47) Hazlewood shares the new ball with Starc but he is innocuously short and wide in a very disappointing over.
2 or fewer wickets lost on the first day of an MCG Test:
1970-71 (when only one wicket was lost)
1952-53
1924-25
1903-04#mozzplay
83rd over: India 202-2 (Pujara 62, Kohli 47) The new ball immediately shakes up proceedings. The first delivery of Starc’s over is fast and full and swings in late, beating the outside edge of the Indian skipper’s bat. Starc’s radar is wayward for most of the rest of the over but he gets another one to shape back into Kohli from which the batsman does well to guide into the legside and accumulate a couple of runs.
At the start of the day, WinViz gave the draw a 31% chance. After 82 overs of rather attritional cricket, that's risen to 52%. #AUSvIND
New ball taken. Starc returns to the attack. Half an hour of play remaining in the day. This could be interesting.
82nd over: India 199-2 (Pujara 62, Kohli 45) Still the new ball is declined, perhaps only Starc and Hazlewood have the energy to bowl and Paine doesn’t want them taking on long spells? Whatever the logic, Lyon continues but his 21st over is as wicketless and generally unthreatening as his previous 20.
81st over: India 197-2 (Pujara 61, Kohli 44) The new ball is not taken straight away. Instead Marsh replaces Cummins and hurls down the old ball to little effect. Kohli licks his lips and drives gloriously straight down the ground for four. I should add a correction. Earlier when I said India had the upper hand, what with them being 200 for two and Australia being knackered, apparently I was wrong. “India in the ascendancy, what rubbish,” emails Amod Paranjape. “This is going to be a draw. It’s a way to attract people to Test Cricket, I guess eh Mate.”
Official attendance for Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test is 73,516 #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/bM44vQEti0
80th over: India 193-2 (Pujara 61, Kohli 40) Another quick Lyon over goes for one and the new ball is now due.
Also, just as I suspected, Christmas with Lou is just a little bit better than Christmas with Julian.
79th over: India 192-2 (Pujara 61, Kohli 39) Pat Cummins hasn’t bowled many bad balls in his 19 overs today but he lets one go to Pujara that is whip-cracked to the point boundary like a chameleon darting out his tongue to snatch a tasty bug lunch.
Ian Forth is back to return us to the day’s most pressing concern, The Strokes. “Julian Casablancas has made a classic Christmas song,” he emails, “which deserves to be more widely heard.” Thank you very much Ian. This is very good, but obviously not as good as Lou Reed would have done.
78th over: India 188-2 (Pujara 57, Kohli 39) This pair have been cautious in recent overs but Kohli bucks that trend, whipping his hands through a cover drive to send Lyon’s delivery racing to the boundary.
77th over: India 184-2 (Pujara 57, Kohli 35) ANOTHER INDIAN BATSMAN TURNS AWAY AND DUCKS INTO A SHORT BALL AND ACCEPTS PAIN! What is going on? Why aren’t any Indian batsmen pulling? Why are they so badly misjudging so many short balls? It’s masochistic. Pujara getting a cricket ball shaped lump in his back is the highlight of a hardworking Cummins maiden.
“This is the biggest day in cricket, possibly in the world, and it’s being let down by the pitch.” Why the MCG pitch needs "emergency intervention" | https://t.co/y5NeBbrJHz | #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/C3j85ISkVh
76th over: India 184-2 (Pujara 57, Kohli 35) Rapid uneventful Lyon over. Careering towards the new ball late in the day.
75th over: India 182-2 (Pujara 56, Kohli 34) Determined pace bowling from Pat Cummins keeps India in check as the second new ball nears. On telly Glenn McGrath revisits Justin Langer’s soundbite where he talked of allowing Pat Cummins to marry one of his daughters. It is a quip that still has me shaking my head. I know where he was coming from, but still.
74th over: India 181-2 (Pujara 56, Kohli 33) India don’t allow Lyon to back up his previous good over with more positive footwork denying the bowler any opportunity to find a groove. At this stage in the day my heart goes out to anyone in the cheap seats at the MCG who isn’t completely off their face. It is an unforgiving place to be around this time once the gallons of midstrength beer have partnered with dehydration and sun exposure.
Another 50 from Pujara. Discipline is one of the most undervalued asset in modern day cricket. #AusvInd@7Cricket#BoxingDay
73rd over: India 176-2 (Pujara 52, Kohli 32) In need of a breakthrough Paine throws the ball to Cummins, his star man today, and he delivers - sort of - getting one to rear off a length and crush Pujara’s right index finger against his bat handle. No serious damage appears to be done but the physio is out nonetheless and the game is delayed. Is Pujara bothered? Not in the slightest, driving the ball following the resumption of play for two through mid-on.
65 minutes left in the day, 17 overs still to be bowled (yeah, good luck with that) and seven overs until the new ball.
Related: Julian Casablancas: 'What would you like me to say?'
72nd over: India 174-2 (Pujara 50, Kohli 32) Lyon finally starts to chip away at India in his best over of this spell. It ends with a maiden and included an unsuccessful application of DRS. It was a shocking call to go upstairs though, Kohli had made a big stride forward and across, accounting for that mode of dismissal. Drinks.
The ball struck Kohli miles outside off stump. That was a terrible review.
Lyon thinks he may have Kohli LBW. Not out onfield...
71st over: India 174-2 (Pujara 50, Kohli 32) 50-up for Pujara, a run that also completes the 50 partnership. India firmly in control of this Test.
If this Boxing Day experience isn’t at the kind of pace you’d prefer, may I redirect you to New Zealand where a fair old ding-dong is underway.
MASSIVE DAY! 14 wickets fell on an eventful day one at Hagley Oval.
88/4 Southee 3-29
NZC LIVE CARD | https://t.co/YhNC8DPej2
Tickets for day two | https://t.co/mnbSmtmpxO#NZvSLpic.twitter.com/wRSQOX5a7o
70th over: India 172-2 (Pujara 49, Kohli 31) Lyon continues but this is not the GOAT’s preferred pasture. India navigate the over with ease, including a Pujara three that would have been a four on any other ground in the world.
Nathan Lyon's reintroduction - and how India cope with him - will be key. So far today, he's found 3% false shots, the fewest of any bowler, but if he can grab a wicket before the new ball, then Australia may sense an opportunity. #AUSvIND
69th over: India 168-2 (Pujara 46, Kohli 30) Nice over from Mitch Marsh, hitting a good length on a fourth stump line to Kohli. The Indian skipper is eager to rotate the strike and after a couple of false starts finally pinches a single. The line is straighter to Pujara and the outcome is a stroke more defensive than Julian Casablancas responding to criticism his band were just a poor man’s Velvet Underground.
68th over: India 167-2 (Pujara 46, Kohli 29) Nathan Lyon is recalled but he finds Pujara and Kohli with positive intent at the crease, both batsmen using their feet well to reach the pitch of the ball and snuff out any danger.
67th over: India 165-2 (Pujara 45, Kohli 28) Marsh in again, stump to stump in the high 120 kphs doing his best to maximise the slightest skerrick of reverse swing. It’s subcontinental old ball bowling – on day one of a Test in Australia. While the pitch has received plenty of attention today the ball should also not get off scot free. The modern Kookaburra survives in Test cricket despite never doing a great deal. This surface could easily be a swing and seamer’s paradise with all the grass on it but nope, nothing has moved off straight all day. It’s enough to make you reach for the sandpaper...
Well, here's a thing. The only other player to score 76 on their Test debut, where that debut was in Australia, was Roy Fredericks...at the MCG... 50 years ago to the day. Nice symmetry!
66th over: India 164-2 (Pujara 44, Kohli 28) Starc is bowling to a 7-2 field to Kohli from over the wicket. The outcome, as you might expect, is a line outside off stump, tempting the batsman to chase a wide one. Kohli being Kohli, of course he accepts the bait, but he doesn’t middle anything, nonetheless he earns four with a streaky edge through the gully region. Kohli is scoring near enough a run-a-ball, Pujara a run every three balls.
A feature of Virat Kohli's batting this series has been the way he's taken guard out of his crease against pace. He's gone even further out today, his average striking point now 2.25m away from his stumps. With so little pace in the pitch, Kohli's advancing. #AUSvIND
65th over: India 160-2 (Pujara 44, Kohli 24) Mitch Marsh sends down his 11th over (the same as Starc) and I didn’t pay much attention to it. One run happened. I did catch Michael Slater on TV finally bring up the issue of India’s inability to pull or even look to pull.
Adam Frodo Collins has prevailed in his quest.
Found them! Well done @adamfearn7 and @matt4126, the work of a Christmas very well spent. #tailendersoftheworlduniteandtakeover#AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/BgfSvq8vHy
64th over: India 159-2 (Pujara 44, Kohli 23) Oi oi! Pujara fancies Mitchell Starc, driving a couple through cover then opening his shoulders and slashing an uppercut over point, both feet off the ground Tendulkar-style. The adrenaline rush almost undoes him a ball later though, getting a lot of bat on a delivery under his left armpit that flies away towards square leg. Speaking of adrenaline, that near miss sends a frustrated Starc spiking at a very menacing 152kph.
Any news yet about when the groundsman will be thrown in the stocks?
63rd over: India 153-2 (Pujara 38, Kohli 23) Just a change of ends for Hazlewood who gives Cummins a breather. He’d wish he hadn’t though after watching Kohli dismissively whip a full delivery from outside off through mid-on for four in a shot that oozed authority. A couple more are worked through the offside next ball, before a HALF-CHANCE. Hazlewood induces a thick outside-edge but it drops short and wide of first slip. There isn’t a second, who might have got closer had he been stationed aggressively close. Kohli then clips another two for good measure to advance the score beyond 150.
62nd over: India 141-2 (Pujara 38, Kohli 11) Mitchell Starc replaces Josh Hazlewood and a run of the mill over ends with yet another Indian hit on the body failing to evade a well-directed but far from unplayable short ball. I think the tourists might benefit from Ricky Ponting giving them a pulling lesson after the close of play.
“Afternoon, Jonathan. Hate to be that guy (I’m lying, I don’t mind one bit), but it’s ‘to the manner born’, at least in Shakespeare.” You are of course correct, Ian Forth, and you deserve your gloat. I’m afraid my 80s adolescent brain was corrupted during a software update by Penelope Keith.
61st over: India 138-2 (Pujara 38, Kohli 10) The engrossing battle between Cummins and Kohli continues and this over goes to the batsman. Solid defence is rewarded with four runs courtesy of a well-timed push through mid-on that Travis Head makes a mess of.
The marvel of Cummins is that he adapts to whatever conditions are thrown at him. His average swing today (0.32°) is the second lowest for any innings in his career, but he's stuck at his task, averaging 142kph. The pitch is giving him nothing, but he's giving plenty. #AUSvIND
60th over: India 133-2 (Pujara 38, Kohli 5) Kohli advances his and his team’s score by one run during a Hazlewood over that makes fast bowlers wish they’d taken up batting, or golf, or forensic accountancy. Anything other than putting all their bodyweight and then some through their front shin in 30 degree heat with a ball behaving like a shuttlecock on a pitch as responsive as a door-stopped Tony Abbott.
59th over: India 132-2 (Pujara 38, Kohli 4) Cummins’s ability to get the ball to jag in off the seam is causing India problems. During a maiden to Pujara he finds enough movement to beat the defensive prod and bellow for LBW, an appeal declined by Ian Gould. Gould is standing alongside Marais Erasmus in this Test, the pair of them convening periodically like avuncular bouncers, or rooks on a chess board.
58th over: India 132-2 (Pujara 38, Kohli 4) Hazlewood overpitches, Pujara presents the full face of his well-pressed willow, the Kookaburra scuttles away for four effortless runs in the vicinity of the sightscreen. A succession of nondescript dot-balls follow until an unexpected pull shot is unfurled to the final delivery of the over, a shot that isn’t controlled but nor is it ever seriously at risk of being caught at fine-leg.
Hazlewood has been consistent today, but has struggled to get the ball moving. Just 2% of the deliveries he's bowled have swung significantly away from the right-hander - without that movement, he's less of a threat. #AUSvIND
57th over: India 127-2 (Pujara 33, Kohli 4) Cummins is very handsome. Traditionally handsome, in the Cary Grant mould. Strong jaw, confident hairline, square shouldered. He heaves his right shoulder with great force in the direction of Virat Kohli on six occasions this over and from the fourth almost commits regicide with King Kohli bottom-edging a smidgen away from his leg stump. The next hour or so is going to set up this Test match. Can Australia get the big breakthrough?
56th over: India 125-2 (Pujara 33, Kohli 2) Hazlewood sends down the first full over after Tea and it is a lovely set of six on a tempting line and length, angling the ball into Pujara from wide of the crease. A maiden ensues but the batsman is fortunate a couple of sketchy inside-edges don’t ricochet onto the stumps. A clandestine whisper of reverse swing perhaps?
Cameron Bancroft and Steve Smith are easing their ways back into the spotlight following their suspensions and their early media commitments are unsurprisingly causing a stir.
Smith has a pop at James Sutherland & Pat Howard when asked about the culture of the team (preview then on Fox). Referring to the loss in Hobart in 2016, he recalled when that the pair said to him: "We don't pay you to play, we pay you to win." Not new but an interesting answer.
I just don’t buy “learnt a lot”. He’s barely even learned how to phrase his explanation. He’s blamed Warner and claimed he didn’t know right from wrong. Irrespective of pressure + the environment he was in, he still comes across as an unimpressive person. https://t.co/KgAJmSx6X8
55th over: India 125-2 (Pujara 33, Kohli 2) With a cacophonous backdrop Kohli pushes a couple to mid-on from the final ball of Cummins’s over to get off the mark immediately.
The MCG is in full voice with 70,000-plus serenading Virat Kohli to the crease. The evening session is about to get underway.
This final session is scheduled to contain 35.1 overs. Ten of these are likely to be bowled with the new ball. Expect play to continue to the limit of the additional half-hour, which means a 6pm finish local time.
Last year, the MCG saw a false shot off just 9.7% of the deliveries bowled in the Test, the lowest figure for a match in Australia since records began.
Currently, this Test has seen a false shot off 8.6% of balls bowled. #AUSvIND
The lazy way the day has unfolded so far should not undermine a couple of superb individual performances. Mayank Agarwal looked to the manor born on debut while Pat Cummins has shown once again he is a captain’s dream, running in tirelessly and hitting the deck hard.
Cummins’s wicket on the stroke of Tea has the potential to disrupt the natural course of this Test match. Australia now have the small matter of a flat pitch, an old ball, and Kohli and Pujara to contend with.
The MCG pitch is about to show us something. It’s not is, it? Oh no. Exactly as we feared. A slideshow of its holiday in Lakes Entrance! Boring! #AUDvIND
Thank you very much Adam, my favourite Mr Collins since David Bamber.
It is my great pleasure to take on the OBO responsibilities for the final session of this thrill-a-minute, can’t take your eyes off it, rollercoaster of a Boxing Day Test, played on a surface that is a credit to the home of Australian cricket. OK, so maybe not, but we can have some fun nonetheless, even if the action is more conducive to a lazy bank holiday snooze.
It may not have been Cummins’s best ball of the day but he certainly earned his second scalp, which brought the session to a close. India advanced from 57-1 to 123-2 along the way; Pujara solid, Agarwal assertive. The local bowlers are running in hard but with so little assistance from the track, they will need everything to go their way after tea when Kohli walks out. For that session, I hand you over to JP Howcroft. Thanks for your company, I’ll catch you tomorrow!
GONE!@patcummins30 strikes again! #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/SHHYC4pWkx
On the stroke of tea - how often do we see it? It came from a Cummins short ball on his hip, a delivery Agarwal didn’t need to play. Instead of running it to fine leg, the extra bounce had the ball kissing his glove and to the diving Paine down the legside. The end of a fantastic hand from the man on debut, India denied a perfect session by two balls.
54th over: India 119-1 (Agarwal 72, Pujara 33) Another solid set from Marsh, keeping Pujara defending throughout. He’s lucky to be in that posture when one shoots through, his bat down to cover up the stumps.
“As suggested I’m dropping a line from inside the ground,” emails Shane Puxley “What an absolute delight this Agarwal innings is proving to be. His poise and composure on debut is great to see. I echo the earlier remarks about the scoreboard. There was an LBW appeal earlier that looked close live. Minutes later there was a replay, zoomed in and not square on. Context was lost and hours later I remain unsure how close it was.”
53rd over: India 119-1 (Agarwal 72, Pujara 33) Agarwal is into the 70s with a delightful cover drive off Cummins. The short balls come in response but he’s continuing to get well underneath them with solid technique.
52nd over: India 115-1 (Agarwal 68, Pujara 33) That was nearly it! Marsh, with a bit of movement back at Pujara, does clip his inside edge. The ball went from there to his back pad before ballooning to the gully in the direction of Khawaja. The Australian No3 did his best with the full-stretch dive but it was just out of his reach. There has been very little wrong about the work of the local seamers today.
51st over: India 115-1 (Agarwal 68, Pujara 33) Ohh, beautiful from Cummins beating the blade of Agarwal with an utter gem to finish, taking off from a length. It came after the opener cut hard for two into the gap; yet more excellent batting. Australia are 15 minutes away from a wicketless session.
“Again, another batsman’s paradise!” emails Dennis Elliott. “Nothing for our bowlers. Give the Boxing Day test match to Sydney and the Big Bash to Melbourne.”
50th over: India 113-1 (Agarwal 66, Pujara 33) Marsh has been swung around for another go from Lyon’s end and he’s again at the pegs. Blimey, Tim Paine is up to the stumps by the end of the set. Say no more. When this happened last summer, I managed to get Pete Doherty into my piece. We made our own fun that week.
49th over: India 112-1 (Agarwal 65, Pujara 33) Cummins is back for a second burst of the session and Agarwal is immediately down the other end with a quick single. Pujara is then tucking two to midwicket off the hip later on – his wrists don’t lie.
48th over: India 109-1 (Agarwal 64, Pujara 31) Whoa, forget about what I said about Agarwal chilling out in defence since drinks, he’s launching at Lyon’s first ball here and popping him into the crowd at midwicket! Have that! What a wonderful time of it this man on debut is having. Going big to begin, he follows up with a push down along the ground for an easy single. I like this bloke an awful lot.
Mayank Agarwal is on
Watch LIVE on Fox Cricket & join our match centre: https://t.co/srfYejz8uS#AUSvIND#FoxCricketpic.twitter.com/OPVzxIlSBH
47th over: India 102-1 (Agarwal 57, Pujara 31) Marsh straight and full, attacking the stumps. Agarwal is happy in defence for the time being, again able to keep the strike with one from the final ball. One for UK readers of the OBO: we’ve had a Tailenders sign spotting! For those of us in the family of that wonderful pod, this is an excellent development. I’m going to find them in the final session for a photo.
#TAILENDERSOFTHEWOLDUNITEANDTAKEOVER spotted in the Ponsford Stand!!!!!!! @felixwhite#AUSvIND
46th over: India 101-1 (Agarwal 56, Pujara 31) Lyon again to Agarwal and one doesn’t get up off the turf. I suppose you would call that natural variation? Hmm. He keeps the strike with a single down the ground from the final ball. This is where Lyon has become such an improved bowler over the last couple of years. For the longest time when a player took him on at the start of a spell – as Agarwal did here – the spinner went into his spell. These days, he immediately bounces back.
The confidence of Agarwal is best shown in the way he's hit against the spin when facing Nathan Lyon. 17 of the 18 runs he's scored against the spinner have come in front of square on the offside. No spin, hit through the line - the uncluttered mind of a newcomer. #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/yeX6rChbDi
45th over: India 100-1 (Agarwal 55, Pujara 31) Marsh is into the attack and again sections of the MCG decide to boo him. What are they suggesting exactly? That Australia should have played six specialist bats and no all-rounder? Madness. Anyway, it’s a tidy over with a bit of movement back to the right-handers, maybe a touch of reverse? Agarwal tucks a single to bring up the India 100.
44rd over: India 99-1 (Agarwal 54, Pujara 31) Pujara is ON. The late cut off Lyon here, played so expertly, is proof of that, running from the face of his bat to the boundary. Earlier, the cricket world’s most effective dancer (so the numbers tell us) came down at Lyon to drive him through extra cover on the up. Lurrrvely.
43rd over: India 91-1 (Agarwal 53, Pujara 24) Pujara plays with such poise, turning Starc for two then standing up to smack him through cover for three more. The runs take this pair to a 50-run partnership, compiled without looking like giving a chance.
42nd over: India 86-1 (Agarwal 53, Pujara 19) Lyon vs Agarwal is turning into a gripping little battle, the former not getting a lot of turn but using his height, flight and accuracy to prevent the latter from leaping out of his crease, as he did a few times as soon as spin was introduced this session. A maiden ensues.
“Hello from foggy Hertfordshire, at 2 o’clock in the morning.” I like the sound of this, Jeremy Yapp. “You asked in your preamble who we’re missing at Christmas. I always raise a glass to Mrs Joan Gold (though I never used her first name), who died aged 89 nineteen years ago. Back then I was running a bookshop in Canberra and she was one of those regular customers who become a friend and make the long hours and indifferent pay of bookselling worthwhile. She was a collector and supporter of the arts, especially Aboriginal art, and often visited art centres in the Northern Territory, spending long hours in small planes then sleeping out under the desert stars even in her late eighties.
That year, 1999, she came into town to give me a Christmas present and have a chat. A few minutes later she was hit by a car, just metres from the door of my shop. She died in hospital a few days afterwards, on Christmas Day. I think she left her considerable art collection to the art centres in NT. It made the papers at the time.”
"We've spoke about being a little bit unpredictable and setting some different fields."
Brad Haddin joined us to discuss Australia's approach in the field #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/az98OkG0Yr
41st over: India 86-1 (Agarwal 53, Pujara 19) Like Hazlewood and Cummins before him in this third hour, Starc is really bending his back. The extra pace is enough to find Pujara’s inside edge after the left-armer cramped him up – no easy achievement. The bouncer to finish is a ripper, nearly finding a glove on the way through. Drinks are called with the visitors adding 29 runs since lunch, making slow but steady progress.
40th over: India 86-1 (Agarwal 53, Pujara 19) They are up for lbw, but it’s in hope from Lyon with the ball not in line with Agarwal’s leg stump – the spinner now round the wicket. But the probing over is good enough to drag the opener back to his crease.
39th over: India 85-1 (Agarwal 53, Pujara 18) Starc replaces Hazlewood from the Carringbush End. To punchy Agarwal wants to immediately drive him through cover but finds Marsh, who has been busy in there since lunch. Later in the over he locates a fielder again when trying to steer behind point, but there is nothing wrong with how he is hitting them. He has a Boxing Day Test debut ton on the shelf here. It’d be the first of those here since... Gary Gosier, perhaps?
38th over: India 85-1 (Agarwal 53, Pujara 18) Pujara again with those rubbery wrists, off strike first ball with a clip forward of square. Lyon earns more respect from Agarwal than he did the last time around. Well, that is until he comes down the track at him once more, driving to long-on along the carpet for one. This is some fine day one batting.
"Dave suggested to me to carry out the action" Cameron Bancroft sits down with @gilly381 in an open and honest interview on the Cape Town ball-tampering incident. https://t.co/Q4jKB3Iqgjpic.twitter.com/x022uDtiI3
37th over: India 83-1 (Agarwal 52, Pujara 17) Pujara’s turn to tick the board over, tucking Hazlewood from his thigh pad with a lovely little flick of the wrists for three. He’s looking very good so far today. Agarwal gets under another rapid bouncer to finish.
“The pitch is boring, ditto the cricket, but to make matters worse the replay function on the scoreboard is hopeless,” roars Ian Dunn “Interesting balls are not replayed, utterly innocuous ones are, we don’t get a picture right down the pitch so any movement can’t be seen. And the wretched thing must have cost a fortune. It’s a DUD!”
36th over: India 80-1 (Agarwal 52, Pujara 14) Lyon replaces Cummins at the southern end and the opener decides to immediately put the foot down, lifting over the top at mid-off and down to the boundary. He repeats the dose to finish, jumping down at Lyon before driving gloriously past the bowler and to the rope. That’s his half-century at the first time of asking in Test cricket, brought up with his sixth boundary. The Indian fans to my left are loving life, waving the national flag with pride.
Mayank Agarwal has looked excellent today, and he's been canny. Attacking 32% of the balls he's faced from Lyon has allowed him to score at 5.4rpo against spin, compared to 5% and 2.8rpo against pace. Calm, calculated batting - he looks the part. #AUSvIND
35th over: India 72-1 (Agarwal 45, Pujara 14) The audience are willing Hazlewood to the wicket, who gets a chance at Pujara having bowled at Agarwal since lunch. The battle of patience between the two begins as you would expect with neither competitor giving an inch.
34th over: India 71-1 (Agarwal 44, Pujara 14) There’s some blood pumping in that over, Cummins banging it in short at Agarwal, who is up to the task of getting out of the way. When the fuller ball arrived he steered past point with lovely timing for three. The crowd, watching the action again, give the slow, building clap for the final delivery and Pujara responds by driving superbly through extra cover for four. They’re his first runs since the interval, acquired magnificently on the up.
“Seasons’ greetings and good calling to you,” emails Ian Swan. Thank you, my best to you and yours. “I must take issue (and exception) to any suggestion that Smith could ever captain the nation again. He has shown a spectacular failure of leadership, and on that basis has disqualified himself for ever.”
33rd over: India 64-1 (Agarwal 41, Pujara 10) Every time Virat Kohli’s face is shown on the screen, the next man in, the Indian fans go wild. For the Australians’ part, they are already into a full-scale Mexican Wave with the MCC even getting involved. In the middle, Agarwal finds the gap at cover after picking out Marsh a couple of times, coming back for two. He gets another later in the over glancing Hazlewood to fine leg.
32nd over: India 61-1 (Agarwal 38, Pujara 10) A quiet start to the session, this a third maiden on the trot with Pujara finding all the time he needs to keep Cummins honest.
Steve Smith has also sat down for an interview with Fox Sports, coming out tonight. Bancroft’s chat at lunch is the main talking point surrounding this Test Match right now. What did you make of his comments that, in short, he did what he did to fit in? Simon Katich says on SEN that he gets how that happened.
31st over: India 61-1 (Agarwal 38, Pujara 10) Back to back maidens, Hazlewood locating Agarwal’s outside edge early in the over but landing well short of strife. As we’ve documented, the pitch isn’t giving a lot but the big NSW quick is really bending his back here, his deliveries arriving in Paine’s gloves at a most acceptable height.
Speaking of that era in my previous post, I dug out some photos at my parents’ place yesterday of me wearing my first set of pads and gloves. Aussie gold, loud and proud.
Where it all started (~1989-90) pic.twitter.com/SWtuwUJpTH
30th over: India 61-1 (Agarwal 38, Pujara 10) Cummins, Australia’s best in the opening stanza, races away from the Great Southern Stand. It’s a stand that has so many memories for me, all the way back to the first international played there in December 1991, a one-dayer between the West Indies and Australia. Malcolm Marshall took four wickets but what I remember it for most is the food fight at the dinner break, which (as a seven year old!) I participated in after an orange hit me in the face. Happy memories. Nobody gets whacked in the face during this set, Pujara leaving then defending in his safe and meditative way.
29th over: India 61-1 (Agarwal 38, Pujara 10) Shoooooot! The first ball after the break is a half-volley asking for the treatment so Agarwal strokes it beautifully to the cover rope, much to the enjoyment of the big Indian crowd in attendance. It doesn’t take Hazlewood long to find his range, cutting the new opener in half then nearly hitting his helmet and/or glove to finish with a much quicker bumper.
The players are back on the field. Agarwal (34) and Pujara (10) are back for the visitors with Hazlewood starting off for Australia from the Cricket Club end. PLAY!
On the other network, Ricky Ponting on Seven is backing in Steve Smith to be the next Australian captain after Tim Paine has finished up. For my part, I can’t imagine any realistic scenario where he won’t be.
Who will be the next Australian Test captain?
Ricky Ponting has his say #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/QDgMyHCHdH
Here is the AAP write-up of the Bancroft interview.
“Dave [Warner] suggested to me to carry the action out on the ball given the situation we were in the game,” Bancroft said in an interview that will be aired during Fox Sports’ Boxing Day coverage.
“I didn’t know any better because I just wanted to fit in and feel valued really. As simple as that. The decision was based around my values, what I valued at the time and I valued fitting in ... you hope that fitting in earns you respect and with that, I guess, there came a pretty big cost for the mistake.”
Related: Cricket ball tampering scandal: I just wanted to fit in, says Cameron Bancroft
Cam Bancroft’s big comeback interview is currently on Fox Sports at lunch. I’m only catching bits and pieces but he’s sounding positive, healthy and impressive. “I’ve been able to do some amazing things over the last nine month,” he’s saying now. “I didn’t want this to be a box-ticking exercise... I was giving to something greater than myself.”
I’ll post up the social media clips as they show up on twitter.
Afternoon everyone. Hope this finds you in great shape after an indulgent Christmas. Well done Australia for staying calm there when realising that the pitch is not going to do them any favours. The Cricprof team have told me over a plate of food that they got more swing in the first session at Dubai in October and more seam at Abu Dhabi. Grim.
How about the MCG crowd booing Mitch Marsh when he came on? I’m a very proud Melburnian - I love this ground like few other things - but that was rubbish. Yes, I understand that he replaced Pete Handscomb in the XI, the local captain. But instinctively booing the vice-captain? Get real.
Hmmmmmm #AUSvINDpic.twitter.com/Go1pLefxWC
Certainly India’s session: they’ve won a great toss to win, though they’ve spared Tim Paine the risk of bowling first and regretting it forever. I don’t think he actually would have, he was just trying to sound indifferent to losing the flip.
Australia bowled pretty well in that session, keeping the runs down and knocking over Vihari after a stubborn occupation. But they’ll have an older and softer ball for the next two sessions, and unless they can conjure some reverse from a pretty green field, they could be in Hurt City later in the day. That said, there’s a fragility about this Indian batting line-up if their top couple of names fail. So who would dare predict anything in cricket?
28th over: India 57-1 (Agarwal 34, Pujara 10) Last over before lunch, and Marsh will send it down. Has a little moment of excitement with another nudge and miss. But Pujara is equal to him, and will now steam off towards the soup tureen.
27th over: India 57-1 (Agarwal 34, Pujara 10) Hazlewood will now partner Marsh. Gets a couple of lively deliveries away, then Pujara cuts him for three.
Bancroft speaks!
Related: Cricket ball tampering scandal: I just wanted to fit in, says Cameron Bancroft
26th over: India 54-1 (Agarwal 34, Pujara 7) Very decent ball from Marsh, beats Pujara comprehensively with a bit of away-cut. Keeps him watchful until Pujara nudges a run square.
@GeoffLemonSport Marsh bowling. Have Australia given up on this pitch already? Will the Aussie quicks last the series? Will I actually wake up and find it's all a dream? 0630 hrs on Boxing Day is #CruelTime
25th over: India 53-1 (Agarwal 34, Pujara 6) Agarwal and Pujara hopping and swaying while Starc keeps peppering, but they don’t seem flustered. The bowling is dealt with, and it can’t continue for very long.
Let’s address the comment below.
@GeoffLemonSport you reckon all this over egged pudding of niceness is going to run into the new year? You guys maybe batted a little outside the crease before but now your standing on your own stumps...
24th over: India 52-1 (Agarwal 34, Pujara 5) Mitch Marsh continuing, a couple of singles worked, and a massive appeal from the bowler after Agarwal smashes an inside edge into his pads.
Trivia:
How many times has Nathan Lyon bowled to an opener on 0 @GeoffLemonSport?
23rd over: India 50-1 (Agarwal 33, Pujara 4) Starc is back, Paine looking to force something with pace. The bowler attacks the body, but both batsmen are able to hop up and fend a ball around the corner for a single. Pujara’s would have been straight to leg slip had there been one. Short leg remains under the lid. Two slips, gully and third man for CP. Interesting they’ve got that run-saving option. The first score milestone comes up.
22nd over: India 48-1 (Agarwal 32, Pujara 3) Marsh gets a bit of pep! Lifts one from the surface and slams Agarwal in the digits. The Pooje then gets off the mark with a back-cut for three.
21st over: India 44-1 (Agarwal 31, Pujara 0) Cummins, steaming in, having just taken a wicket, but Pujara does Pujara things. Defends, leaves, defends, leaves.
20th over: India 44-1 (Agarwal 31, Pujara 0) Mitchell Marsh on to bowl. Was there a bit of booing there? May have been, the Victorian captain was dropped for the West Australian captain. But unfortunate if that was the case.
I’m getting some news reports saying that Cameron Bancroft has named David Warner as the person who got him to sandpaper the ball in Cape Town. Which is redundant of course, because we already knew that from the charge sheet back in March. What Bancroft has done is give an interview to one of the TV broadcasters in which he’s explained his thought process about trying to fit in.
19th over: India 40-1 (Agarwal 27, Pujara 0) Cheteshwar Pujara walks out. He might make four million on this surface.
Aggression has done it! Cummins has coaxed a wicket from what has already looked a lifeless pitch. After 66 balls the strokeless vigil ends. He’s been the only bowler who has created a sense of anger this morning, and now he comes good on that promise. Again it was poorly played by Vihari. The ball pitched very short, so the batsman looked to duck under it, but didn’t get low enough. Then the ball came through relatively low, again just below shoulder height had Vihari been standing. But he was already in a crouch, uncontrolled, not low enough to evade it, and so he threw his gloves at the ball to protect himself. The fend lobs away high into the cordon and Finch waits beneath it like a dog watching a kitten up a tree.
18th over: India 38-0 (Vihari 6, Agarwal 27) Lyon whirls through another over for a single...
17th over: India 37-0 (Vihari 5, Agarwal 27) Vihari really is battling for runs this morning. He’s not bad defensively, but maybe he’s so determined to do his dour opening job that the prospect of scoring hasn’t occurred to him. He finally scraps a single here thanks to an overthrow, but that’s all from Cummins’s over.
16th over: India 36-0 (Vihari 4, Agarwal 27) Agarwal’s loving this Test debut as the pitch looks flatter by the ball. He clouts another cover drive for four. But hello... the replays are showing that earlier in the over, Lyon had Vihari leg before wicket. Australia appeals but didn’t review after a defensive push missed the ball. Did they think there was an edge? Or was it was just that he’d come a long way down the track? Either way, three reds on HawkEye, but no review called for...
15th over: India 31-0 (Vihari 3, Agarwal 23) Whack! Cummins again, playing the brute this morning. Another short ball, this time it’s Agarwal playing it poorly. It’s not like Cummins is trying to hit anyone, but the batsmen aren’t watching the ball. Agarwal wears this one on the shoulder, and it bounces over his helmet off his body. He uses his bat for the rest of the over. And that’s drinks.
14th over: India 31-0 (Vihari 3, Agarwal 23) Another maiden for Hanuma Vihari. He’s faced 49 balls for his three, and he’s on for a beautiful example of the Cowan Ton genre.
Elite honesty.
Fllllllllllllaaaaaaaattttttt... #boxingdaytest
13th over: India 31-0 (Vihari 3, Agarwal 23) Pat Cummins has his first over, and immediately hits Vihari in the head. That was a short ball that didn’t really get up, only coming through about collarbone height. Vihari had started ducking but couldn’t get down fast enough, and ducked into it in the end. Wasn’t watching the ball when it hit him. It ricochets 20 metres away through square leg for a leg bye, and umpire Ian Gould comes and lays a hand on the batsman’s shoulder to check on his health. The team doctor gives him the OK. There wasn’t enough pace in the pitch to get that bouncer up where it should have been.
12th over: India 29-0 (Vihari 3, Agarwal 22) Lyon now, and Agarwal taps a single into the covers and ducks through. “Is he limping yet?” asks Matthew Doherty, in a nod to Gordon Greenidge, who tended to smash attacks when he only had one leg to stand on. Agarwal is not quite at that level of dominance yet, with one decent boundary and a streaky flash through gully.
11th over: India 28-0 (Vihari 3, Agarwal 21) Vihari is like a kid playing with his Christmas Lego set: block, block, block. Gets a couple of accidental runs off a safe inside edge, with Hazlewood continuing.
10th over: India 26-0 (Vihari 1, Agarwal 21) And with Lyon continuing, Agarwal is happy to chill out, take a look at him and see what’s what. This new Indian opening partnership is looking solid. Mind you, KL Rahul and Murali Vijay might feel a bit hard done by at missing this pitch after playing in Perth. How often have both openers been dropped by a Test side? Send me some examples.
9th over: India 26-0 (Vihari 1, Agarwal 21) Hazlewood has swung around to the Members End after starting with the Great Southern Stand at his back. That may be why Lyon was introduced... but the off-spinner is going to continue after Hazlewood’s maiden to Vihari.
8th over: India 26-0 (Vihari 1, Agarwal 21) Hear that roar of the crowd? Hear that deep bass boom of a mass of humanity? They’re cheering for Nathan Lyon. The New South Welshman who moved to Canberra and then played for South Australia is well loved in Victoria. The MCG was where the whole crowd was supposed to shout a tribute to him a couple of years ago, only for him to ruin it by taking a wicket on the designated delivery. See the video below.
Vihari finally gets off the mark with a dashed single to mid-on, then Agarwal drives the last ball through cover for four. Very positive.
7th over: India 21-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 17) Nearly a screamer! Mitchell Marsh launches in the gully but can’t quite reel in the catch. Got airborne. He took one like that off Brendon McCullum in Christchurch a couple of years ago, only for the batsman to be reprieved by a no-ball. McCullum was on 37 and went on to the fastest Test hundred of all time.
This time Starc bowls wide, and Agarwal doesn’t exactly throw the bat but places it in the ball’s path, trying to force it square, a totally impulsive shot. It flew away with no control, but a flying Marsh couldn’t close the gap. Starc immediately loses his radar and bowls four byes down the leg side, as he did several times in Adelaide.
6th over: India 13-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 13) That’s a maiden from Hazlewood, but not because Vihari was defending this time. Three times he found the middle of the bat looking to score. Once he found square leg and twice Pat Cummins at mid-on.
5th over: India 13-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 13) Interesting little battle shaping up. Starc produces a snorter mid-over, whispering past Agarwal’s nose as the short ball climbed unpleasantly. Around that, though, the batsman collects three braces just by dropping the ball into gaps with a defensive blade. Easily working this spread field even as Vihari is yet to score, and yet to attempt to score. Wasn’t there a Test where Justin Langer made 50 before Matthew Hayden had scored more than a run? We’re on track.
4th over: India 7-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 7) Agarwal drives another three, this time through midwicket. He has all the runs so far. Hazlewood beats Vihari’s edge in the first such instance for the day.
My desk editor, Pádraig Collins, is filling me in on his festive activities, and has nominated this as as the greatest Christmas song of all time. Probably could find plenty of supporters.
3rd over: India 4-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 4) Agarwal stays busy, glancing a single from Starc. Vihari blocks the rest. Nothing notable from this surface for the bowlers yet. Hmmmmm.
2nd over: India 3-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 3) Interesting field for Hazlewood. Three slips, gully, point. Massive gap to mid-off. Then a mid-on and a short leg, so no one saving runs in the principal gaps either side of the wicket. Long leg down on the fence for the glance in traditional fashion. Agarwal on debut gets what looked to me like a leading edge through the big gap at cover to open his innings with three runs.
1st over: India 0-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 0) Mitchell Starc starts with the ball. Hanuma Vihari will face him, after being promoted from No6. He averages nearly 60 in first-class cricket, Vihari, so he’s a proper player. And he’s showing it with some solid defensive shots as Starc is on the money from ball one, right around off stump. It’s a maiden, greeted with warm applause by the crowd that’s starting to swell. Probably something over 40,000 in already I’d say, and they’d be expecting to top 70,000 by the end of the day.
“Happy Christmas!” emails Andrew Benton, who’s already on the 2019 Nice List. “My cat puked up yesterday and it looked like a really top quality pitch (!) More to the point, will Steve Smith be coming over for the Ashes?”
You just try and stop him, Andrew. (It’s not like Australia has a middle order at the moment.)
Interesting yaaaaaaarn, as the local terminology goes, from our colleague Michael Ramsay for AAP.
Virat Kohli reckons the secret to success on Australian soil is all above the shoulders.
...
Please stand for the ceremonial singing of that song off the Qantas ad, with the kids standing on the Opera House or whatever it is they do.
India
Mayank Agarwal
Hanuma Vihari
Cheteshwar Pujara
Virat Kohli *
Ajinkya Rahane
Rohit Sharma
Rishabh Pant +
Ravindra Jadeja
Mohammed Shami
Ishant Sharma
Jasprit Bumrah
Australia
Marcus Harris
Aaron Finch
Usman Khawaja
Shaun Marsh
Travis Head
Mitchell Marsh
Tim Paine +*
Pat Cummins
Mitchell Starc
Nathan Lyon
Josh Hazlewood
Virat Kohli calls correctly and has no hesitation. I guess you play the percentages and don’t bat last, especially when day one is sunny and clear. But this pitch... it looks hideous, I’ll tell you that. The one last year where Alistair Cook made his double hundred was just a brown featureless slab of rolled mud. This time they’ve tried to leave grass on it, so there’s rolled mud with weird patches of green mange. It looks like a twenty-yard slab of solidified cat sick. It looks lumpy and blotchy and confused. Maybe it will play beautifully, I have no idea. But we’re just going on the aesthetics at this stage.
This from Daniel Andrews, in the context of the Test taking place among the Indian Summer Festival, which is surrounding the ground all through Yarra Park. Lots of stages and stalls and music and tucker.
“This is an important way to celebrate that Melbourne and Victoria has the biggest Indian community across the nation: more than 220,000 people of Indian heritage and that number keeps on growing. There’s great diversity within the Indian community in terms of faith and different regions, but one thing that unites all Indian Australians is of course their love of cricket... Great weather, fantastic venue, and we’ve been delighted to put on this festival that sees thousands of families come through and celebrate Indian food, music, film, dance, a great way to immerse yourself in the Indian cultural experience. We can’t imagine a modern Victoria without the contribution that the Indian community makes.”
Reports on that shortly. Now then. It is an absolutely perfect day here in Melbourne. We get about 20 of these a year, I reckon, spread across autumn and spring: where the sky is cloudless blue, the breeze is mild and cool, then sun is warm but not yet hot, and everything seems gentle and thriving and full of life. Those 20 days are the ones that make us stick around for the other 345, where it’s either an oven or a fridge. The perfect days are a memory dissolution agent, making all thoughts of other kinds of days disappear.
Good day to start a Test.
I’m just trotting downstairs at the MCG to hear Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts do a press conference with Victorian state Premier Daniel Andrews. Forgive me if I faint from excitement and take a while to be revived.
Goood morning to those in the relevant timezones, good afternoons and evenings where appropriate. Is it late on Christmas night for you in the United* Kingdom? Are you fresh and bouncy the day after Yuletide somewhere else? We’d love to hear about your festive season, and how it was spent: the joys, the sadnesses, the people met and the people missed. Good tidings to all, and much love to those who did it tough. Drop us a line, one and all, on the OBO throughout the day.
Australia and India are warming up in the middle. The Boxing Day Test is a bit over an hour away. And I wrote you all a preview yesterday, so I’m not going to write it all out again. Click the link.
Related: Advantage Australia but pitfalls await against India in Boxing Day Test | Geoff Lemon
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