Australia faced brutal trolls after their massive defeat to India in the opening Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Nagpur on Saturday.
The social media mockery of the Pat Cummins-led side came after many Australian cricket experts, including the legendary wicketkeeper batter Ian Healy accused the Indian curators of preparing “unfair” pitches that turn sharply from day 1, benefiting the home team.
The Australian media claimed a “doctored” pitch was prepared at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur by the Indian groundsmen to help Rohit Sharma and his colleagues to win the match against the Kangaroos.
However, with India registering a comprehensive victory over the Australians in the city of oranges, the supporters of the Rohit Sharma-led team took to Twitter to blast Pat Cummins and his men for making excuses even before the commencement of the match.
According to the Australian & Pakistani Media…Nagpur Pitch Was Like that :-….🙂🤠#INDvsAUS #BGT2023 pic.twitter.com/PNFfjELKi7
— Sayed Ibrahim Husain (@iamSayedibrahim) February 11, 2023
This is how #Australia caught in the pitch 😂😅#AUSvsIND #INDvsAUS #Ashwin pic.twitter.com/GQVQRxTPc7
— 𝘼𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙙 (@Gabbafied) February 11, 2023
Australia team be like #INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/famJ8k8Woh
— Anoop 🇮🇳 (@ianooop) February 11, 2023
#BGT2023 Ashwin anna – Sir jadeja pic.twitter.com/u2zPEbVuKN
— S A W A N (@Theboysthing) February 11, 2023
— Gagan🇮🇳 (@1no_aalsi_) February 11, 2023
#BGT2023
Ashwin and jadeja to aussie pic.twitter.com/lkE07Oe0co— S A W A N (@Theboysthing) February 11, 2023
From start to finish, the Indians dominated the clash, with Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, and Ravichandran Ashwin starring in their win by an innings and 132 runs.
After Australia won the toss and opted to bat first, nothing went right for them. Making a spectacular comeback to action after a five-month injury-induced layoff, Jadeja picked a five-wicket haul to bowl out the visitors for 177.
In reply, India made 400 runs in their first innings, courtesy of Rohit Sharma's splendid ninth Test hundred and scores 70 and 84 from Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. With this, Team India took a mammoth 223-run lead over Australia, and the Kangaroos needed to put in at least 224 runs in their second essay to ensure the hosts batted again.
But Ravichandran Ashwin had other ideas as he ran through the Australian top order, sending five of their batters back into the pavilion to accomplish his 32nd fifer in Tests.
With it, he went past Australian legend Shane Warne and his former national colleague Harbhajan Singh’s tally of five-wicket hauls in Test cricket.
Ravichandran Ashwin was lethal on a Day 3 pitch that aided sharp turn and offered indifferent bounce. He was the one who started the collapse of the Australian batting line-up, dismissing their opener Usman Khawaja in his first over.
Afterward, Ravichandran Ashwin picked up the wickets of David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, and Alex Carrey to leave Australia tottering at 6/64.
By sending the above-mentioned Australian batters back to the pavilion, Ravichandran Ashwin picked up his 31st fifer in Tests, taking him past Shane Warne and Harbhajan Singh in that list.
Among active cricketers, Ravichandran Ashwin has the second-most five-wicket hauls after England's James Anderson, who sits on top of the charts with 32.
Speaking about the highest number of fifers at home, it was Ravichandran Ashwin's 25th on Indian soil, putting him on an even keel with Anil Kumble.
The Tamil Nadu spinner, however, is behind the Sri Lankan greats Muthiah Muralidaran and Rangana Herath, who have 45 and 26 five-wicket hauls, respectively, at home.
The fifer against Australia at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium also took the Indian tweaker's tally of scalps in home conditions to 320. With this, he went past another Shane Warne milestone, as his count of wickets at home now stands above the late Australian spinner.
Ravichandran Ashwin's 97 wickets have come against Australia, making him the bowler with the second most wickets in contests against the Kangaroos. With 111 dismissals against the Australians, Anil Kumble occupies the top spot in this segment. Ashwin took over Harbhajan Singh and Nathan Lyon, who have grabbed 95 wickets each.
Meanwhile, Australian legend Mark Waugh said India's lower order won the match for them.
Mark Waugh was referring to Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel's knocks of 70 and 84, respectively, that helped India to a big total, which eventually proved too daunting for Australia.
“The pitch was fresh, it looked like it was spinning a lot more. They got Jadeja out early on. You have got to give credit to Axar Patel and Mohammad Shami, they batted really well. There was a dropped catch for Shami, which was costly. I think from my point of view, Patel batted really well,” Mark Waugh told Star Sports.
“I would have liked to see Pat Cummins bowl a bit more. I don’t think they bowled enough short stuff. When the tail enders start to form a partnership and look comfortable on the crease, I believe it’s worth to roll the dice a little bit,” he added.
“I know the surface is slow but never know what you can get out of it. I think Australia only bowled two or three short balls in the entire innings. I think they should have hit the pitch hard and see what happens. Maybe the Australians are guilty of not trying enough and waiting for something to happen, a mistake by the Indian batters maybe,” Mark Waugh concluded.
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