In a refreshing change of pace, only four wickets fell on day one of the Ahmedabad Test, with a majestic Usman Khawaja century guiding Australia towards the superior position at stumps on Thursday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first at Narendra Modi Stadium, Australia’s top order patiently crawled towards 4-255, with Khawaja bringing up his 14th Test century in the last over of the day.
The pitch was offering little assistance for India’s bowlers, who struggled to create opportunities once the ball had deteriorated, but seamer Mohammed Shami ensured it wasn’t all one-way traffic with two crucial wickets.
Khawaja, unbeaten on 104, will resume on day two alongside all-rounder Cameron Green, who is 49 not out at the other end.
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India v Australia – Day One highlights | 08:18
‘LONG JOURNEY’: KHAWAJA MASTERCLASS 10 YEARS IN THE MAKING
We’re running out of superlatives for Usman Khawaja at this point.
The Queenslander stole the spotlight from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on day one of the Ahmedabad Test, peeling off a patient 104 not out, the first century by an Australian in the series, that featured 15 elegant boundaries.
It’s the latest chapter of his stunning career revival, rounding out a ten-year redemption arc following the infamous homework-gate scandal of 2013.
“I don’t think I’ve ever smiled so much on getting a century,” Khawaja told reporters at stumps.
“I just never expected this to happen.”
After surviving a chaotic opening spell from India’s seamers on Thursday morning, Khawaja looked to bide his time in the middle, ensuring Australia posted a formidable first-innings total at Narendra Modi Stadium.
The left-hander cautiously blocked India’s world-class spin trio, with the leg glance proving his most productive stroke. He rarely attacked outside the off stump, the lone exception being overpitched deliveries.
Khawaja needed 146 deliveries to reach his fifty, passing the minor milestone late in the afternoon session. He was immovable at the crease, anchoring Australia’s innings as wickets fell sporadically at the other end.
“Runs have not been easy,” Indian legend Ravi Shastri said in commentary.
“He’s had to fight for every single.”
Khawaja picked up the tempo as India’s bowlers began to fatigue in the late afternoon, expertly nudging deliveries into the gaps and rotating the strike more frequently.
“I can’t really remember a false shot,” Waugh said at tea.
“He’s really set himself up for a big hundred, and that can really set Australia up to win this game.”
Khawaja reached triple figures with a powerful leg glance in the final over of the day, roaring with delight and pumping his fists before embracing teammate Cameron Green.
He survived 251 deliveries on day one, making it the longest innings of the series to date — he also leapfrogged Indian captain Rohit Sharma as the tour’s leading run-scorer.
“There was a lot of emotion in that,” Khawaja said at stumps.
“I’ve been to India two tours before this, and I carried the drinks for all eight Test matches. It was a long journey.
“To finally get a hundred in India, as an Australian, that’s what you want to do, it’s what you want to tick off, so it’s very special.”
Khawaja was branded a home-track bully earlier in his career, unfairly deemed incapable of facing spin away from the comforts of home soil. He averaged 14.62 in his first five Tests in Asia, but has averaged 74.60 in 11 matches since.
“I’ve been told my whole life I’ll never score a hundred in the subcontinent,” he explained to reporters.
“It was a self-fulfilling prophecy in its own way, because people started saying that, and perception is reality. Any time I got out to spin, people would say, ‘You can’t play spin,’ and then I probably started believing it myself.
“I didn’t get support from the people around me at the time. Didn’t really feel like the team really supported me, didn’t feel like the coaching staff and selectors supported me through that journey. It just made it so hard.
“I’m a better player of spin now, I have no doubt in my mind.”
Khawaja has been a marvel since his return to the Test side last year, scoring 1532 runs at 69.63 in 16 matches — nobody in world cricket has accumulated more runs since January 2022. Meanwhile, he currently boasts the highest batting average for an opener in Test history with 68.38.
Highest batting average for Test openers
68.38 — Usman Khawaja (AUS)
61.10 — Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG)
56.90 — Bruce Mitchell (RSA)
56.47 — Leonard Hutton (ENG)
56.37 — Jack Hobbs (ENG)
* Minimum 20 innings
INDIA ‘ALL OVER THE PLACE’ IN HORROR FIRST HOUR
Nothing went right for India in the first hour of the Ahmedabad Test.
Indian seamers Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav had no control over the SG ball in their opening spell, spraying the cherry all over the pitch. Several deliveries strayed onto the pads, while others flew past the wicketkeeper for four byes.
Shami imitated former England paceman Steve Harmison by bowling the first delivery of the match towards second slip, where Virat Kohli nonchalantly caught the ball.
“There was a lot of talk at the start of the Test match that they didn’t know which wicket they were playing on, and Shami thought it was the next one,” former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin laughed on Fox Cricket.
The Ahmedabad pitch wasn’t offering much bounce, and Indian wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat looked helpless as deliveries carried through to his ankles, leaking eight byes in the first hour.
The 29-year-old put down an absolute sitter in the sixth over, gifting Australian opener Travis Head an extra life on 7. The left-hander awkwardly prodded at a length delivery from Yadav outside off stump, with a healthy edge flying through to Bharat – but the gloveman bottled the chance as the ball slapped into his chest before landing safely on the turf.
Head rubbed salt into the wounds by smacking five boundaries off Yadav’s bowling before the drinks break, combining with Usman Khawaja for a 61-run opening partnership – the South Australian eventually fell victim to Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for 32.
One of the worst dropped catches ever! | 01:03
“I thought India wasted the new ball,” Haddin said.
“They were inconsistent, bowled on both sides of the wicket.”
Former Australian batter Mark Waugh continued: “India with the ball were just slightly off, a bit inconsistent in the first hour … they just couldn’t quite get their control.
“They just didn’t make Australia play enough, they were all over the place. The keeper was struggling to lay glove on it most of the deliveries. A really shoddy start by the new-ball bowlers.”
AGGRESSIVE HEAD PANNED AFTER ‘SOFT DISMISSAL’
Travis Head was the hero for Australia in Indore, plundering an unbeaten 49 in the fourth innings to ensure the visitors chased the awkward 76-run target.
The South Australian’s counterattacking aggression has become his trademark in the Test arena, boasting a strike rate of 83.80 since the start of the 2021/22 Ashes series.
However, Head’s attacking mindset backfired in Ahmedabad on Thursday, with the left-hander throwing his wicket away after another explosive start.
After slapping seven boundaries in the first hour of play, Head fell victim to Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for 32 moments after the drinks break at Narendra Modi Stadium.
The left-hander charged down the wicket and attempted to heave the off-spinner back over his head, but the bat spun in his hand, chipping a regulation catch towards Ravindra Jadeja at mid-on.
Speaking on Fox Cricket during the lunch break, Haddin argued that Head “should have made them pay” after being gifted an early reprieve, dropped by Indian wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat on 7.
“These are the moments you have to capitalise on in the subcontinent. That is a really soft dismissal for someone who can turn the game,” Haddin said on Fox Cricket.
“He didn’t have to go over the top. You can still look to be aggressive and come down the wicket, hit the ball hard along the ground.
“He just made the wrong decision.”
Waugh continued: “It’s just a bit impatient. I know he’s a shot-maker, but you don’t need to play that, especially the way the wicket’s playing.
“He’ll be very disappointed to play a shot like that when he didn’t have to.”
Speaking to foxsports.com.au ahead of the tour, Head vowed to abandon the defensive mentality that plagued him in the subcontinent last year.
“In one-day cricket, I’ve had good success in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. You split the series up and my white-ball was really good, so maybe being a little bit more positive in red-ball cricket,” Head said.
“Being slightly more positive makes my defence a lot better.
“I was probably not quite as aggressive as I would have liked to be against spin in those series away … other than that, I think I worked really hard and had a sound game plan.”
‘LOTTERY’: DAMNING STATS EXPOSE PITCH FARCE
India’s obsession with creating raging turners for Test cricket has created an unfair contest between bat and ball — and these numbers prove it.
For various reasons, the BCCI has commanded that curators produce dry wickets that favour spin in Test matches, but produce batting paradises in the Indian Premier League.
The trend has gradually worsened over the past decade, and the situation has become farcical — during last week’s Test in Indore, where India was bowled out for 109 within three hours on day one, with nine wickets falling to spin.
The pitch was branded “poor” by the ICC, with the state organisation shifting blame firmly on the BCCI.
During the 2008 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India, the average batting score was 38.64, with nine hundreds and 27 fifties across the series.
However, this year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been a completely different story — batters have averaged 21.40 across the four Tests, with only nine scores above fifty.
The fact that Steve Smith and Virat Kohli, the two greatest batters of the past decade, haven’t reached fifty in the series should raise alarm bells.
Batting average of Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in India
2008 — 38.64
2010 — 34.02
2013 — 31.17
2017 — 25.78
2023 — 21.40
“I think it’s a problem. Virat Kohli, he hasn’t scored a hundred in three years … what we are seeing is a lot of luck comes into your play,” Haddin said on Fox Cricket.
“Now what we want to see is Steve Smith hundreds, we want to see Kohli. We want to see the skill of the batsmen.
“At the moment we’re not seeing the true skill. It’s more about luck because the surfaces are too one-sided between bat and ball.”
Waugh continued: “Teams are getting bowled out for 200 … a Test match batting should be looking at around 350. That’s the scoreline a good batting side will get in a Test match.
“At the moment it’s a lottery. These wickets are way too much in favour of the spinners in India in particular.”
There was plenty of pitch drama ahead of the Ahmedabad Test, with multiple wickets in contention less than 48 hours before the first ball. Smith confessed he couldn’t remember a Test where he didn’t know what deck he’d be playing on a couple of days before the match.
“This is not on,” Waugh said.
“In Australia, I think the groundsman and curators are told months in advance, so they set up the pitch for the camera, the sightscreen, the spectators. But in India, it’s different.
“Something needs to be done about this.”
‘Not on!’ – Waugh SLAMS pitch mystery | 01:53
ALBO ‘UPSET THE RHYTHM OF THE GAME’
Anthony Albanese’s attendance at Narendra Modi Stadium certainly caused a stir on Thursday morning, but did the pre-match ceremony impede the players’ preparation ahead of the fourth Tests?
Day one of the Ahmedabad Test was overshadowed by a political rally, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart the centre of attention before play.
The 132,000-seat venue, named after the Indian Prime Minister, was draped with billboards featuring the two leaders, who participated in a brief opening ceremony before the toss.
Neither team was permitted to warm up on the ground during the political event, forced onto the training nets where a comically large print of Albanese’s head watched on in the background.
Later, the toss was delayed by a few minutes as the Prime Ministers completed their lap of honour in an open-topped vehicle.
Speaking on Fox Cricket, former Australian all-rounder Brendon Julian suggested the political theatrics may have disrupted the players’ routine ahead of the morning session.
“There’s so much stuff that had to be done before this Test match … they weren’t allowed to warm up out in the middle, they were rushed out the back,” Julian said.
“I think that can upset the rhythm of the game.”
After being showered with praise and applause all morning, Modi and Albanese left the stadium less than 40 minutes into the morning session to attend to other commitments.