The first day of the 3rd Test saw drama unfurling in the opening hour at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, as India lost five wickets while scoring only 45 after opting to bat. Indian captain Rohit Sharma had two lifelines in the opening over of the match against Mitchell Starc, as he edged the first ball and was trapped in front of stumps on the fourth but the umpire remained unmoved. However, Rohit was the first to fall in the sixth over of the match, that eventually triggered a batting collapse for the side.
Shubman Gill, who replaced underperforming opener KL Rahul in the role, was dismissed on 21 while Cheteshwar Pujara (1), Ravindra Jadeja (4), and Shreyas Iyer (0) failed to breach double figures. The first hour saw significant turn for spinners who took all five opening wickets, and former Australia opener Matthew Hayden wasn't too pleased with the proceedings in Indore.
Hayden criticised the pitch conditions rather harshly, stating that “nowhere in the world” would a spinner come to bowl in the sixth over of a Test match on Day 1.
“There's some calmness in the Indian camp because they are so successful in last two Test matches. But just look at the average turn here. This is why I have a problem with these conditions, because there's no way in the world that a spin bowler would come on the 6th over. No way!” Hayden said during his on-air stint in the third Test.
{{/usCountry}}“There's some calmness in the Indian camp because they are so successful in last two Test matches. But just look at the average turn here. This is why I have a problem with these conditions, because there's no way in the world that a spin bowler would come on the 6th over. No way!” Hayden said during his on-air stint in the third Test.
{{/usCountry}}“Here in Indore, the average turn is 4.8 degrees. That's a massive turn, that's the turn you expect on Day 3. You've got to give batters a chance, Ravi (Shastri). Judge your players on their performance in Test match cricket. Day 1 and Day 2 should be about batting,” Hayden further said.
Shastri, who was also on-air at the time, had a two-word reply to Hayden's criticism. “Home conditions,” said Shastri.
After a brief pause, however, Shastri did admit that the conditions are tough for the players. “This is a little more than home conditions. It's going to be tough, there's no two ways about it. One good partnership can make a difference,” said the former India head coach.