"No Way Back...": Ex England Captain Gives Verdict On Border-Gavaskar Trophy After India's Emphatic Win

India stamped their class on the Pat Cummins-led Australian team as they won by an innings and 132 runs inside three days of the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Ravichandran took a five wicket haul on the third day of the match, as Australia's second innings ended in one session. The hosts took a commanding first-innings lead of 223 in Nagpur, then skittled out Australia for 91 in an extended second session to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. Steve Smith was left to survey the ruins on 25 after Ashwin, who took five wickets in the innings and eight in the match, triggered a complete batting collapse inside a single session.

After the win, former England captain Michael Vaughan, gave a verdict on the series.  

"No surprise at all that the Aussies got hammered in those conditions .. Most teams get the same treatment against such a good team .. @ashwinravi99 & @imjadeja are as hard a combination to face as any in there own home conditions .. See no way back for the Aussies #INDvsAUS," Vaughan tweeted. 

No surprise at all that the Aussies got hammered in those conditions .. Most teams get the same treatment against such a good team .. @ashwinravi99 & @imjadeja are as hard a combination to face as any in there own home conditions .. See no way back for the Aussies #INDvsAUS

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 11, 2023

Ashwin rattled the opposition batting with his off-spin as he sent back Usman Khawaja (five), David Warner (10) and Matt Renshaw (two).

Jadeja, who grabbed five in the first innings, took two wickets including Marnus Labuschagne -- Australia's first-innings top-scorer with 49 -- trapped lbw for 17.

But Ashwin ruled the afternoon to run through the Australian batting, which fell flat on a pitch where India's tail -- including Axar Patel (84) and Mohammed Shami (37) -- scored handsomely in the first session. Shami bowled Nathan Lyon for the ninth wicket to extend the session and finished the job when he trapped Scott Boland lbw.

Debutant spinner Todd Murphy was the tourists' sole saving grace, adding two more wickets on Saturday morning to return figures of 7-124.

Topics mentioned in this article

Ravichandran Ashwin Mohammad Shami Rohit Sharma Pat Cummins India Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team India vs Australia, 2023 Cricket