If you are an Indian fan, you need not worry, they may say. Teams who have gone to dominate the Day One of the Test in this series have eventually lost it. Not really. If you are an Indian fan, you have reasons aplenty to worry. In both the games, it was win the toss win the game. At stumps on Day One in the third Test at Ranchi, Australia are 299 for 4. No team has dominated Day One of a Test, the way visitors did today. Laying rest to the cheat-gate, Australian skipper Steven Smith slammed his 19th Test ton and added an unbeaten 159 with Glenn Maxwell to ensure Australia’s dominance. In between there were moments which will remain the fans, Suvajit Mustafi looks at the highlights from the first day’s play. Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs Australia 3rd Test at Ranchi
Kohli-Smith shake hands: For a cricket connoisseur who lives by the cliché, ‘ultimately cricket wins’, the sight of Indian captain shaking hands with Smith was Raakhee’s Karan Arjun milaap moment. There has been plenty of drama since the Bengaluru Test and moments of tension between the two skippers.
The captains shook hands. Smith won the toss and had no qualms in electing to bat. All of it was done in a fashion that would make you wonder whether the controversy was real. Now, if you wonder whether tosses cannot involve controversies, the names Steve Waugh and Sourav Ganguly may ring a bell.
The tweets sums up that there was no ‘brain fade’ or ‘cheat’ moment this time.
steve smith wins the toss and elects to bat without turning around and glancing at his dressing room for consultation #IndvAus
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) March 16, 2017
Blame it on _____? There has been a lot of pitch talk and how David Warner has failed in subcontinent wickets. He has not been able to counter Ravichandran Ashwin’s turners off the surface. Pundits have analysed Warner’s stance and movement, among other things, but the Australian vice-captain decided to surprise them all by choosing a full-toss to get dismissed.
It was the 10th over of the day and Australia had raced to 50. Warner smacked a full-toss straight back to Ravindra Jadeja. When it is not your time, you attract weirdness like a magnet.
Renshaw falls to habit, finally: Matt Renshaw looked in sublime touch at the other end. Not often do you see Warner being overshadowed by someone. However, unlike in Bengaluru, where he was playing and missing and edging past the slip cordon, Renshaw was disciplined and happy to let go.
The delivery Renshaw got out to was one of the widest balls he has faced from the seamers today. #IndvAus pic.twitter.com/Utvysiqs0D
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) March 16, 2017
Unfortunately, he decided to poke at the widest of the deliveries that he had faced. Perhaps a ‘brain-fade’ moment. This time Kohli did not drop one at first slip. Umesh Yadav struck big in his second spell. Renshaw departed for 44, but not before he became the youngest Australian Test cricketer (20 years 253 days) to the 500-run mark.
Kohli’s injury: India suffered a major setback in the second session when Kohli injured his shoulder while trying to pull off a Brendon McCullum-like stop. He did save a run for his side but had to spend rest of the day in the dressing room recuperating. There were ice-packs, stretches but the Indian captain did not take the field for the rest of the day.
Ajinkya Rahane took over the on-field reins but was not inspiring enough. What is worse from the Indian perspective is Kohli will be undergoing scans on his right shoulder.
[read-also]586137[/read-also]
Handscomb walks back sheepishly: Umesh was getting the ball to reverse. Smith and Peter Handscomb were at the crease. We were forced to revisit the memories from Bengaluru. A ball swing back sharply and hit Handscomb’s boot. The umpire ruled it out.
Handscomb walked back, refusing to take his eyes off the ground, in all probability avoiding eye-contact with Smith and the dressing-room. Perhaps the DRS controversy at Bengaluru was still playing on his mind.
There was no Kohli to give him a send-off.
The Big Show: It took Australia 2 Tests, one defeat and an injury to Mitchell Marsh to realise the worth of Glenn Maxwell. Of course, Maxwell will be elated though that he batted at a number above his state captain Matthew Wade.
Remember Maxwell’s comment on his batting position for Victoria that saw him being benched for the entire Chappell-Hadlee Trophy three months back?
There was more drama with Maxwell’s arrival. Immediately, India employed his good old foe Ashwin. However, Maxwell triumphed on his occasion to end the day on 82 — his first Test fifty. Australia were 140 for 4 when he walked out to bat, and he played a massive role in bailing the side out.
Let us not forget that Maxwell was dropped from Victoria at the start of the season. Having been dropped from the state side to performing on one of the most difficult tours, Maxwell deserves applause from every quarter.
This is was the first instance in Maxwell’s international career spanning 106 innings where he played over 100 balls in an innings. Come to think of it!
The recently appointed Kings XI Punjab skipper is 18 short of a well-deserved ton.
When fortune favoured the brave: Maxwell’s stay though was not error-free. In the 82nd over, India appealed for a bat-pad catch off Jadeja. However, they were not sure enough and did not go for the review. Later, replays suggested that the ball had kissed the glove on its way to the slip fielder.
The ROFL moment: Wriddhiman Saha took his penchant for pouching unthinkable catches to the next level. Smith was batting on 97 when he got an inside edge and ball took a shelter between Smith’s pads. Saha followed the red cherry and attempted to pull the ball from between Smith’s legs, and in process both landed on the floor. Saha still focussed on the ball and plucking it, continued to appeal. While umpire Ian Gould was in splits, others found it funny too but not Smith.
Okay, the dirty minds can stop there.
You can watch the video and break for a laughter.
The Smith hundred, finally: Smith entered into the 90s in the 69th over of the day. At that point Maxwell was batting on 34. It took Smith another 14 overs to get to three figures. By then Maxwell was batting on 73.
Instead of applying more pressure, Rahane had Murali Vijay bowling his part-time off-spin. Smith slammed one straight to the fence to bring up his 19th Test hundred. Earlier in the day, he became the second-fastest (in terms of Tests) to the 5,000 Test-run mark.
The fifth-wicket stand of unbeaten 159 between Smith and Maxwell has put Australia in the driver’s seat.
Written by 
