Ian Chappell, a former cricketer, highlighted that Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling during Day 1 of the third Test against Australia in Indore was not as consistent as it could have been. Though he had taken four wickets, Chappell remarked that Jadeja had thrown some “easy balls” to the Australian batters. In contrast, the Aussies had been economical with their deliveries, opting to keep things simple rather than resorting to too many variations. Speaking on Jadeja’s spell, he said:
“The Australian spinners bowled much better than India. There was no variation in line and length from the Australian spinners. Even Ravindra Jadeja, who got the wickets, I thought there was way too much variation in his line and length.
“He gave the Australians some easy balls, and very importantly, the Australian batters put them away.”
Wasim Jaffer pointed out that the Indian spinners attempted numerous tactics to try and capture wickets as they desperately sought to break through the opposition. He further noted that there needed to be more room to place fielders in catching positions due to the lack of runs in their scorecard.
““India were looking to get wickets but because the target was so low, they couldn’t have too many fielders close to the bat,” he elaborated. “But I thought they tried too many things and leaked too many runs. For the first time in this series, India looked under pressure.”
Ravindra Jadeja was the star of the show for the Indian team on Day 1, as he picked up all four Australian wickets that fell. Matthew Kuhnemann had an impressive outing with five scalps, while Nathan Lyon, the experienced off-spinner in the team, chipped in with three wickets. Nevertheless, the Aussie batting unit accumulated a vital 47-run lead in the first innings, yet the Indian batting got completely undone on the challenging track, resulting in an underwhelming total of 109 runs.
