Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 11: India beat Australia by an innings and 132 runs, at Nagpur’s VCA Stadium on Saturday. After impressive efforts from skipper Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja (5/47, 2/34, and 70), Axar Patel (84, 1/06), and R Ashwin, who claimed his 31st 5-wicket haul in Test cricket, India easily won the match in three days.
India now leads the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy competition 1-0. India has won the last three Test series against Australia. Australia was bowled out for 91 in 32.3 overs on Saturday after being completely destroyed in one session. The humiliating loss in Nagpur would have done a lot of damage to the visitors’ confidence.
R Ashwin dismissed Usman Khawaja in his first over, the second of the Australian innings, after India had jumped out to a commanding first-innings lead. If Virat Kohli had not blown a simple opportunity off David Warner, he would have added another wicket to his tally. However, India did not have to wait long for their subsequent success as Ravindra Jadeja maintained his miraculous recovery with taking Marnus Labuschagne’s wicket.
For Australia, having Steve Smith and David Warner at the wicket is the perfect situation, but never have they had to bat under such strain as they did on the third afternoon of the Nagpur Test. For Australia’s most seasoned cricketers, the challenge was difficult because they were up against elite spinners on a degrading surface.
Moreover, Warner would have wanted to make it count after being dropped by Kohli.
