Hosts India lead the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia by 2-0 after having registered resounding victories in the first two Tests of the series.
But, the visitors currently hold the upper hand in the third Test match of the series as they have established a 67-run lead after having bundled out India for a paltry 109 runs on Day 1.
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There was a whole lot on offer in the Madhya Pradesh pitch as spinners gave the batsmen troubled times at the crease. Australian spinner Matthew Kuhnemann made the most of the situation as he picked up a five-wicket haul to restrict India to a low score before Australia could build innings.
However, a lot of pundits and fans alike have been rather critical of the spinner-friendly pitch. And one among them was former Australian player Mark Waugh.
“It was mayhem. The pitch was not up to test standard, I think that’s a fair thing to say," Waugh told Fox Sports.
“Balls going through the top (layer) in the first 20 minutes of a test match, that’s not good enough."
Kuhnemann got rid of the patient Cheteshwar Pujar with a delivery that turned square after pitching outside the line of the stumps, before going on to clip the batsman’s off stump.
Australia’s other spinners, Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy, also picked up three wickets and one wicket respectively on Wednesday.
Going in to bat, Australia provided resistance to the Indian bowling unit after the early dismissal of opener Travis Head, as Usman Khwaja’s brilliantly made 60 runs got Australia out of the red.
Waugh felt that Australia have managed to learn something from their struggles in the first two Tests, during which they succumbed to the tricky host spinners.
“They’ve played very straight, they’ve hardly played a sweep shot. Good, smart batting, they’ve probably learnt some lessons from those first two Test matches," Waugh added.
Ravindra Jadeja was once again in the middle of the action as the four Australian wickets that fell on Day 1 of the 3rd Test, all fell prey to the sharp all-rounder, who has already managed to put in commanding performances on his return to Test cricket, following his freak injury a while ago.
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