Matthew Kuhnemann led the way for Australia as they ended the first day of the third Test against India in the driver's seat. Kuhnemann took his maiden five-wicket haul as India folded for just 109 runs in Indore. Kuhnemann ended the innings with figures of 5/16 in nine overs.
Among Kuhnemann's wickets was India captain Rohit Sharma, who was the top scorer in the series at the start of the match, and his opening partner Shubman Gill. Kuhnemann also got the dangerous duo of Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin before getting the pinch-hitting Umesh Yadav.
Kuhnemann later revealed that he had followed Ravindra Jadeja's example in how to approach bowling on a wicket such as the one on offer in Indore. Jadeja himself went on to take four wickets later in the day.
“I said, have you got any tips for me after the last Test? He said ‘yes, at the end of the series’,” Kuhnemann joked. “The way he uses his crease and probably the biggest thing I picked up in Delhi is that he brings his length back a little bit when the ball gets older. That’s probably the main thing I took out of the second Test and brought into this Test, probably my length. Don’t want to get full, especially on a wicket that stays low, being consistent on that 5-6 metre length,” he said on Wednesday. "I'm a massive fan of Jadeja and Ashwin so watched how they have bowled in the last few years," he said.
{{/usCountry}}“I said, have you got any tips for me after the last Test? He said ‘yes, at the end of the series’,” Kuhnemann joked. “The way he uses his crease and probably the biggest thing I picked up in Delhi is that he brings his length back a little bit when the ball gets older. That’s probably the main thing I took out of the second Test and brought into this Test, probably my length. Don’t want to get full, especially on a wicket that stays low, being consistent on that 5-6 metre length,” he said on Wednesday. "I'm a massive fan of Jadeja and Ashwin so watched how they have bowled in the last few years," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Australia ended the day on 156/4, leading India by 47 runs. While it looked like Australia could suffer a collapse much like how India did on a pitch that was heavily aiding spin when Jadeja got opener Travis Head out quickly, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne shored things up for the visitors and got them close to India's target. India made a few dents in the Australian innings late in the day, with Jadeja dismissing Khawaja after he had scored a half century, Labuschagne and the dangerous Steve Smith.