Cricket: fight in India devastated by injuries on first day of final test against Australia

Thangarasu Natarajan came to Australia last November as a net pitcher for Team India, never expecting to have a chance to make a test debut in Australia.

He celebrated his rise from reserve bowler to the most elite level in cricket by taking a key pair of wickets to put Australia back at 274-5 on the opening day of the fourth decisive round of the series at Gabba on Friday.

The 29-year-old left-hander played his first one-day international and his first Twenty20 international in December and completed the full set of formats when given a test debut. He was something of a last man standing after a series of bowler injuries culminated in the expulsion of spearhead Jasprit Bumrah from the Brisbane game ahead of Friday’s coin toss.

With an ODI and three T20 internationals of experience, Natarajan went straight into action, sharing the new ball with Mohammed Siraj, who was leading a bowling attack that had 10 test matches combined, after the Australians won the toss and decided to hit.

India had Australia in early trouble at 17-2 before Marnus Labuschagne rallied from innings, posting his fifth test century and sharing 70 partnerships with Steve Smith (36) and 113 with Matthew Wade (45) to lead to the hosts to 200-3 and about to speed up the scoring. That’s when Natarajan struck twice, quickly, to slow the momentum.

Wade and Labuschange misjudged their length and high-edged shot attempts. Wade was caught in the middle at Natarajan and Labuschagne’s 13th, after surviving catches at 37-48, he was finally out for 108 after facing 204 deliveries when he skied one to goalie Rishabh Pant on 14 from the rookie pitcher.

Natarajan finished the day 2-63 from 20 overs.

Australian off-roader Cameron Green was undefeated with 28 and captain Tim Paine was not offside.

The Gabba is a place where Australia has not lost a cricket test since 1988. But for the second consecutive day of test cricket, India’s injury-ridden and gaunt lineup worried Australia.

The Indians overcame the final full day in Test 3 in Sydney on Monday, losing just three wickets, to salvage a tie and keep the series level at 1-1 before the final game.

One squad has already lost injured veteran bowlers Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami and Captain Virat Kohli, who returned to India for the birth of his first child, had his depth even more tested when Bumrah (abdominal muscles), Ravichandran Ashwin (back), Ravindra Jadeja (thumb) and Hanuma Vihari (hamstring) were ruled out for the Brisbane match.

Enter Natarajan and the all-rounder Washington Sundar for your first few tests and Shardul Thakur and Mayank Agarwal retirements. India only needs to tie at Gabba to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy, and they have a relatively strong batting lineup.

But inexperienced bowlers proved they are here to win.

Siraj led the attack in just his third test appearance and produced a breakthrough in the first over when he had David Warner (one) well caught by Rohit Sharma on the second slip.

Thakur fired Marcus Harris (five) in the ninth over to make it 17-2, his first testing ground; he only threw 1.4 overs in his only previous test after sustaining an injury.

Sundar also picked up his first wicket, achieving it before conceding a run, when he had former Australia captain Smith caught in the short half wicket with his first ball in the post-lunch session after his morning spell contained three maiden overs. .

Australia could have been in more trouble, but substitute captain Ajinkya Rahane dropped a routine gully opportunity for Labuschagne when the hosts were 93-3.

Another cause of that missed opportunity was a groin strain for bowler Navdeep Saini, which kept him out of attack for the rest of the day.

Here’s how the first day unfolded: