Welcome to our live coverage of the first day of the Australia-India Test from Melbourne. Join us for updates, analysis and color. You can find our traditional ball-for-ball commentary here
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1:55 pm local time / 8:25 am IST: Ponting’s take on Warner is not 100% fit
Gnasher can also talk cricket in between his weather updates:
During his short innings, David Warner certainly didn’t seem that comfortable between the wickets. It was always assumed that he would not be 100% fit for this race, but in the build-up it was not hitting or running that was the main cause for concern, but how he would fare on the field. On Channel Seven, Ricky Ponting suggested that the thumping shots Warner played, with the latter resulting in an edge to slip, may have indicated that he was in trouble.
“I think everyone knew he probably wouldn’t be 100% in the Test game,” Ponting said. “The only thing I hope is that he didn’t tweak it again and do a little bit more there. It was from then that those single shots started. So hopefully it didn’t play in his head, hopefully he’s okay and hopefully can we’re just saying David Warner plays something like that so early in a Test match. “
1:40 PM local time / 8:10 AM IST: It’s a game of cat and mouse
As soon as the players from India came out for a warm-up, it started to rain again. It’s pretty dark and gloomy at the SCG, a bit windy and the hoods are intact again. Here it from the Pauls themselves …
1:20 PM local time / 7:50 AM IST: Still no game
“The rain has now stopped and it is much clearer”, our weather forecaster Gnasher reports from the ground. The ground crew and the fourth umpire come out. And covers come off. Umpires Paul Reiffel and Paul Wilson are also looking at the conditions, the next inspection is at 1:30 p.m. local time (8 a.m. IST).
12:25 pm local time / 6:55 am IST: lunch taken
No postponement of rain just yet, so let’s understand debutant Will Pucovski’s situation during the lunch hour (I drink black coffee to stay up, though). He made his debut after a long history of concussion, having already faced two bouncers in the first 35 minutes of play, and will now feel some sort of responsibility to score after Warner’s early dismissal. Remember it hasn’t been a great opener series so far. We’ve already seen him walk quite a bit to the fast bowlers, and after the first few flips a leg trench was also saved for him. He should expect more short shots once play resumes, and his state coach Chris Rogers looks back at Pucovski’s recent form and how he prepares for short shots.
“When I first showed up as coach for Victoria, he and Sammy Harper, they do a lot of work with tennis balls, they get really close with a tennis racket and they shoot at each other. Will has done a lot of work where he wants to get up. and roll the ball down to fine bone. You’ll see quite a bit of that shot of his, “Rogers told RSN Radio. “Then it came to the games and we played SA early on and Wes Agar came on the first substitution and went straight to the bouncers at Will, and he dug them out pretty much the entire first session.
After lunch, he played one of these rolling pull shots and never looked back from there. They targeted him with the short ball for much of the game and then WA did it from about the ninth too. a lot of short balls and he looked comfortable and the way he got up and played it made it easy. So when that happened on day three in Drummoyne, it was a tricky situation where there was nothing to gain and he probably just got confused so hopefully he learns from that. “
12:00 pm local time / 6:30 am IST: still drizzling
I’m not going to say, “I told you so” about the rain, but it’s back and it’s a “fairly steady drizzle again,” Gnasher says from the ground. I forgot to mention that the fourth / reserve referee today is Claire Polosak, the first female match official in a men’s test match. She was on the field for a while with her umbrella and the other game officials.
11:40 AM local time / 6:10 AM IST: Play will resume shortly
Play will resume at 11:45 am local time (6:15 am IST) unless rain comes again by the time you read this. However, fans seem to be having a good time at the SCG.
11:15 am local time / 6:10 am IST: rain arrives at SCG
Rain was forecast and here it is! It is largely the field that is covered by the umpires under the umbrellas after the players jog off the field. Andrew McGlashan from the ground: “There is a row of showers coming up from the south. Today was the day most likely to be interrupted. The forecast for the next four days is good.” Twelve minutes after the players left, the rain has stopped and the covers are coming off.
It will be interesting to see if this will add a swing once playback resumes. Meanwhile, there has been a lot of discussion on social media about the exclusion of Mayank Agarwal. Was it fair to leave him out? Vote in the poll below:
11am local time / 5:30 am IST: Siraj removes Warner for 5am
A very intriguing 18 minute stay for Warner. He ran those quick singles with visible discomfort in his groin, eager to turn the punch, and after two consecutive flashes, he fell far outside of Siraj. On the second ball from the fourth over, he went after a ball that hit from the outside, and when Siraj threw it further and a slightly fuller next ball, Warner did not move his feet enough to get close to the ball as he chased it. , and sharpened to first slip. Pucovski, meanwhile, gets way out of the way while walking the stumps a bit, getting a bouncer in the very first over from Bumrah. No swing at all on this field, even though there was some rain in the run-up to the Test, and something is still expected today and tomorrow. Australia 18 for 1 after the first half hour. “Looks like a really good battle song,” said Glenn McGrath in TV commentary.
10:35 am local time / 5:55 am IST: Warner and Pucovski walk out
Boy, will Australia be excited about Warner’s return. He’s still not 100% fit after his groin injury, but given the nature of this series and what’s at stake, Australia has decided to play with him along with a debut. Tim Paine said on the pitch that Warner’s “high energy” will bolster their “confidence”. Not to mention, Australia has survived their slowest-scoring home series of the century to date, just before the 2018/19 series that also didn’t include Warner. Pucovski, on the other hand, has been in the Test line-up for almost a year now, has a history of concussion and made his way into Test XI with plenty of runs in domestic cricket. Here’s more about Pucovsky’s journey so far.
10.10 a.m. local time / 4.40 a.m. IST: two more debuts in the series
After Cameron Green in Adelaide, Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj at the MCG, we have two more debutants as expected: Will Pucovski and Navdeep Saini. Pucovski got the cap from Andrew McDonald and Saini from Jasprit Bumrah. Australia has opted to hit, with David Warner replacing Travis Head and Matthew Wade moving into the middle order. For India, we already knew yesterday that Rohit Sharma will open with Mayank Agarwal as the ax, and Saini is making his debut as Umesh Yadav has flown home.
Speaking of fast bowlers, India’s tempo battery has Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj and Saini with a combined test experience of 17 as compared to Australia has 144, thanks to Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. That’s one thing Australia will be excited about that they haven’t had to change their attack since the first test.
10 a.m. local time / 4:30 a.m. IST: More reports of doubts about the fourth test in Brisbane
And news is already coming in even before the currency is turned. Here’s Andrew McGlashan with what’s brewing in Australia for the Brisbane test:
Cricket Australia will seek clarification from the BCCI after further suggestions emerged that India would not travel to Brisbane for the final Test, but insists they have not been made aware of concerns. And a report on Thursday morning said the BCCI had officially written to CA saying they did not want to go to Brisbane. ESPNcricinfo understands, however, that the updated plans for the Gabba test, in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney, which led to border restrictions to Queensland, were approved by BCCI office holders on December 29 and there have been no objections since then. received more.
CA has dealt largely with BCCI Secretary Jay Shah and he is reported to be seeking further talks on Thursday.
The players are not limited to their rooms at the team hotels in Sydney and Brisbane – which are fully booked by Cricket Australia – and can mingle in common areas. The only difference is that the restrictions in Sydney are CA protocols, while those in Brisbane are imposed by the Queensland government as conditions for granting exemptions.
9:55 am local time / 4:25 am IST: Warm up for toss
Hello everyone and a very warm welcome to the third test of this exciting series at level 1-1. Another test, possibly another series of debuts (at least one confirmed from India), another tight race for the WTC points and the ICC rankings (New Zealand is now at the top), another selection debate, yet a discussion about who is going to open up, and more. I steal Tim Paine’s words and just say “tension is starting to boil beneath the surface”.
Vishal Dikshit is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo