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India has launched a spirited comeback after its Adelaide Oval disaster to leave Australia reeling 65-3 at lunch on the first day of the Boxing Day test.
Starters Joe Burns and Matthew Wade, as well as star hitter Steve Smith, were fired after Australia captain Tim Paine won the toss and hit first.
MCG’s field has been infamously flat in recent years, but Indian bowlers brought out seam and spin in a lively first session.
Asanka Brendon Ratnayake / AP
Steve Smith went for a duck when India dominated Australia’s batters in the first session of the Boxing Day test.
Fast Indian Jasprit Bumrah (1-7) cleared Burns in the fourth over, before Ravi Ashwin (2-17) claimed Wade and Smith’s prized scalp.
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The stage was set for another Smith masterpiece when he entered the fold at 2-35, but the world’s No. 1 ranked hitter in testing was quickly sent packing.
Smith was caught in a leg slip on an Ashwin pitch without scoring, the 31-year-old’s first test duck since 2016.
Asanka Brendon Ratnayake / AP
Ravichandran Ashwin of India, right, took two wickets in the first session at MCG.
It wasn’t the only zero of the morning, with Burns’ 10-ball permanence again pressing him to hold his test spot.
Bumrah made Burns take a toll on retired goalkeeper Rishabh Pant – the Queenslander now averaging just 24.2 in their last nine test innings since making 97 against Pakistan in November 2019.
With star starter David Warner expected to be fit for the upcoming test, Burns, who hit 51 undefeated at the Adelaide Oval, needs another big score in the second inning to save his international career.
Robert Cianflone / Getty Images
Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill nearly collided, but the former took the catch to fire Australian starter Matthew Wade.
Makeshift starter Wade, who was hell-bent on attacking, went for a big shot too many and was caught by a Ravindra Jadeja dive into Ashwin’s bowling alley for 30.
Number 3 Marnus Labuschagne (26), who successfully challenged an LBW decision in the final before lunch, and Travis Head (4) are Australia’s hitters.
Australia took an unchanged XI in the second round of the Border-Gavaskar trophy after securing a landslide eight-wicket victory in the opening match where India collapsed for a record 36.
Quinn Rooney / Getty Images
Jasprit Bumrah took Joe Burns out for a duck.
India made four changes, led by the retirement of the explosive Pant, as they aim to level the series at a place where they won comfortably in 2018.
Uncapped Shubman Gill replaced Prithvi Shaw, while the all-rounder Jadeja was featured alongside rookie Mohammed Siraj.
A crowd of up to 30,000 is on the ground and fans are returning to MCG for the first time since the final of the Twenty20 Women’s World Cup in March.
