Welcome to our live report from the first day of the Australia-India test in Melbourne. Join for updates, reviews and color. You can find our traditional billiard reviews here
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1.55 pm local time / 8.25am IST: Ponting does not consider Warner 100%
Gnasher can talk about cricket between his weather updates:
During his short innings, David Warner certainly didn’t seem so comfortable between counters. It has always been accepted that it will not be 100% suitable for this game, but during the accumulation it was not the beatings or runs that were the main cause for concern, but the way it would go on the field. On Channel Seven, Ricky Ponting suggested the booming shots that Warner played, the latter resulting in a slippery edge, could have indicated that he had problems.
“I think everyone knew he probably wouldn’t be 100% in the Test game,” Ponting said. “The only thing I hope is that he hasn’t changed it again, doing a little more there. It’s been quite a while since those free kicks started. Hopefully we can only say that’s how David Warner plays such a blow at the beginning of a test match “.
Local time 1.40pm / 8.10am IST: It’s a game of cats and mice
As soon as the players from India showed up for a warm-up, it started to rain again. It’s quite dark and gloomy at SCG, a bit windy and the covers intact again. Here it is from Pauls himself …
13.20 local time / 7.50am IST: Not playing yet
“The rain has stopped now and it is much stronger,” says our meteorologist Gnasher from the ground. “The basic staff and the fourth referee go out. And the covers come offReferees Paul Reiffel and Paul Wilson also take a look at the conditions, next inspection is at 13:30 local time (8am IST).
12.25 pm local time / 6.55am IST: Lunch taken
We still don’t have a respite from the rain, so let’s understand the situation of the debutant Will Pucovski during the lunch break (I still have a black coffee to stay awake). Debuting after a long history of concussion, he has already faced two bouncers in the first 35 minutes of play and will now feel a kind of responsibility to score after Warner’s early dismissal. Remember, it hasn’t been a great series for openers so far. I already saw him walking a little to the rapid illness, and after the first few overtaking a leg hole was preserved. He has to expect more short balls once the game resumes, and his state coach Chris Rogers looks back at Pucovski’s recent form and how he is preparing for short balls.
“When he and Sammy Harper first appeared as Victoria’s coach, they did a lot of work with tennis balls, getting very close with a tennis racket and shooting each other. Will has done a lot of things where he wants to stand up and roll the ball to the fine foot. You’ll see that shot from him pretty much, “Rogers told RSN Radio.” Then it came to matches and we played at SA from the start, and Wes Agar came in for the first change and went straight to the bouncers at Will. , and he avoided them quite a bit for the entire first session.
“Then, after lunch, he played one of these shots and from there he never looked back. They targeted him with the short ball for the entire game and then WA made it from the ninth and on. He would have faced a bunch of short balls and looked comfortable doing that and the way he stood up and played him, made it seem easy. So when it happened on the third day at Drummoyne, it was an awkward situation where there was probably nothing to gain that I was just caught in two minds, so hopefully he’ll learn from that. “
12pm local time / 6.30am IST: Still raining
I’m not going to say, “I told you so” about the rain, but it’s back and it’s “a reasonable rain again,” says Gnasher from the ground. I forgot to mention, the fourth / reserve referee today is Claire Polosak, the first official of the women’s match in a men’s test. She went out on the field some time ago with her umbrella and the other officials from the match.
11.40am local time / 6.10am IST: Playback will resume soon
The game is set to resume at 11.45 local time (6.15am IST), unless the rain arrives again until you read this. Fans seem to be having fun at SCG.
11.15am local time / 6.10am IST: Rain reaches SCG
The rain was forecast and here it is! It is mostly the field that is covered with the referees under the shadows after the players have left the field. Andrew McGlashan from the ground: “There is a line of showers coming from the south. Today was the day with the highest chance of interruptions. The forecast for the next four days is good.” Twelve minutes after the players disappeared, the rain stopped and the caps came off.
It will be interesting to see if this will add any swing as the game resumes. Meanwhile, there have been many debates on social media about the exclusion of Mayank Agarwal. Was it fair to let him out? Vote in the poll below:
11:00 local time / 5.30am IST: Siraj eliminates Warner for 5
A very interesting 18 minute stay for Warner. He was driving those fast people with visible discomfort in the groin area, eager to turn the strike and fall after being struck out twice by Siraj. The second ball of the fourth went after one that looks like the outside, and when Siraj threw it further and followed a fuller ball, Warner did not move his legs enough to move. he approached the ball as he followed her. , and cut at the first slip. Meanwhile, Pukovsky goes well outside while walking a little over the stumps and received a bouncer right in the first pass from Bumrah. No cradle in this field, even if there were some rains before the test, and today and tomorrow others are expected. Australia 18 for 1 after the first half hour. “It looks like a very good beat,” says Glenn McGrath in TV comments.
Local time 10.35am / 5.05am IST: Warner and Pucovski leave
Boy, will Australia be pleased with Warner’s return. It still doesn’t fit 100% after the groin injury, but given the nature of this series and what’s at stake, Australia decided to play it, in partnership with a debut. Tim Paine said at the launch that Warner’s “high energy” will strengthen their “confidence.” Let’s not forget, Australia has so far endured the slowest series of home scores of the century, just before the 2018-19 series, which did not include Warner either. Pucovsky, on the other hand, has been around the test set for almost a year now, has a history of strokes and led his way to Test XI with a lot of running in internal cricket. Here’s more about Pukovsky’s journey so far.
10.10 local time / 4.40am IST: two more series debuts
After Cameron Green at Adelaide, Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj at MCG, we have two more newcomers as expected: Will Pucovski and Navdeep Saini. Pucovski received the cap by Andrew McDonald and Saini by Jasprit Bumrah. Australia chose to beat, with David Warner replacing Travis Head, and Matthew Wade coming down to the middle order. For India, we already knew yesterday that Rohit Sharma will open with Mayank Agarwal given the ax and Saini is making his debut because Umesh Yadav flew back home.
Speaking of fast diseases, India’s rhythm drummer has Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj and Saini with a Combined test of 17 compared to Australia’s number 144, thanks to Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. This is something that Australia will be pleased to say that they did not have to change their attack from the first test.
10am local time / 4.30am IST: More reports on doubts about Fourth Test in Brisbane
And we have news coming in, even before the coin is returned. Here’s Andrew McGlashan preparing for the Brisbane test in Australia:
Cricket Australia will seek clarification from the BCCI after several suggestions emerged that India will not travel to Brisbane for the final test, but continues to insist they were not aware of concerns. And in a report, on Thursday morning, it was said that BCCI officially wrote to the CA to say that they do not want to go to Brisbane. However, ESPNcricinfo understands that the updated plans for the Gabba test, following the Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney, which led to border restrictions in Queensland, were approved by BCCI office leaders on December 29 and have not been received objections since then.
The CA has been largely handled by BCCI Secretary Jay Shah and it is understood he will seek further talks on Thursday.
Players are not limited to their rooms when staying at the Sydney and Brisbane team hotels – which have been fully booked by Cricket Australia – and can mingle in common areas. The only difference is that the restrictions in Sydney are CA protocols, while those in Brisbane are imposed by the Queensland government as the conditions for allowing exemptions.
9.55am local time / 4.25am IST: heating for throwing
Hello everyone and a warm welcome to the third Test of this interesting level 1-1 series. Another test, possibly another set of debuts (there is at least one confirmed from India), another tight race for WTC points and the ICC rankings (New Zealand are in the top now), another selection debate, another discussion about who will open you up much more. I’ll steal Tim Paine’s words and just say there’s “tension starting to boil beneath the surface.”
Vishal Dikshit is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo