India on road to redemption as Australia skittled for 195 in Melbourne
Form of Jasprit, Ashwin and Siraj with the ball will give India confidence
India took their first steps in the right direction on the road to redemption as they dismissed Australia for 195 on the first day of the second Test on Saturday in Melbourne. The tourists are desperate to restore pride after being skittled for 36 during their embarrassing thrashing in the first Test in Adelaide.
There is still a long way to go — as India know too well, having thrown away a commanding position in the first Test — but the form of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj with the ball will give them much needed confidence.
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India delivered an all-round bowling performance, led by premier fast bowler Bumrah, as they bundled out Australia for in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with figures of 4/56 in 16 overs. Ace off-spinnner Ashwin was next in line as he picked three wickets - including the Steve Smith, and scalped three wickets - conceding just 35 runs in 24 overs.
Debutant Siraj also picked two wickets giving away 40 runs in the 15 overs he bowled while Ravindra Jadeja picked the remaining one wicket of the Australian innings.
For Australia, Marnus Labuschagne was the highest scorer with 48, followed by Travis Head (38) and Matthew Wade (30).
At stumps, India were 36-1, having lost Mayank Agarwal for a duck before Shubman Gill (28*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (7*) steadied the ship.