scores, live blog, Indore pitch, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, video

Australia heads into the second day of the third Test against India in a commanding position, but it is the state of the pitch that remains the biggest talking point.

India won the toss and chose to bat first on a dry Indore surface which immediately showed signs it was not up to Test standard.

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A stunning five wickets fell in the first hour as Australia’s spinners extracted large turn and variable bounce.

Queenslander Matthew Kuhnemann (5-16) was the chief destroyer as Australia routed India for 109.

The tourists, having seen first-hand the dangers inherent in the pitch, adopted a more cautious approach than the hosts in reply.

It paid off as a watchful Usman Khawaja largely abandoned the sweep shot that plagued Australia in the second Test to post a critical 60 to see his side close at 4-156 with a lead of 47.

It could prove decisive in a match that may struggle to reach a third day.

Former Test batter Mark Waugh joked about the quality of the pitch on Fox Cricket: “Not pretty, it needs a bit of Botox, doesn’t it, this pitch.

“It’s very dry through the middle.”

Veteran cricket writer Robert Crash Craddock said India’s pitch ploy backfired

“Doctoring a Test wicket is a delicate business,” he wrote in the Courier Mail.

“The Indore deck did not look like an accident. Much like the other two decks in the series it was green in the middle and dryer than desert sands at both ends – and cracking like a car window with a stone through it.

“If India lose the Test by overcooking the deck then they will deserve no sympathy. If they win it they deserve limited praise.”

Australian legend Matthew Hayden was scathing in his assessment.

“This is why I’ve got a problem with these conditions. There’s no way in the world that a spin bowler should come on in the sixth over,” he said during Fox Cricket’s coverage.

“4.8 degrees, that’s massive turn. That’s the sort of turn you’d expect day three. You’ve got to give batters a chance… Day one, day two should be about batting.”

“It shouldn’t be a spin bowler’s paradise necessarily, it shouldn’t be keeping low and turning a mile on day one,” he added.

Fellow Aussie Test great Ian Chappell said host teams dictating pitch conditions was a bad look for the game.

“Should players and administrators be telling the curators how to prepare the pitch and what sort of pitch they want? It is the greatest bit of rubbish I have ever heard,” Chappell told ESPNCricinfo.

“The pitch should be left to the curator. The curator produces what he thinks is a good pitch, and then you as players get on and play on it.

“Once you have got the administrators and cricketers telling people what they think should the pitch be, then you are asking for trouble.”

Chappell, however, said India deserved plenty of the blame for their paltry first innings score.

“It is certainly the worst of the three pitches we have seen, but it definitely wasn’t a 109-run pitch,” he said.

“India were bowled out for 109, but that was an unfair showing on the pitch. You needed a bit of luck and the Australians probably had the luck going for them.”

TEAM NEWS

Australia stuck with three strike spinners for the third Test, with Scott Boland missing out on a recall in Indore.

Cameron Green and Starc have returned from injury for David Warner and Pat Cummins, accompanying Lyon, Todd Murphy and Kuhnemann in the attack.

India also made two changes to its starting XI, with Shubman Gill and Umesh Yadav replacing KL Rahul and Mohammad Shami.

Australia XI