The starry return of a prodigal son, ‘Hitman’ setting the record straight, ‘Rockstar’ Jadeja’s heroics, and the magician Ash’s Test legacy taking a step up are the primary narratives to talk about from India’s dominance over Australia in the first Test at Nagpur.

In a nutshell, the entire Test was a brisk walk in the park for India as they triumphed by an innings and 132 runs, their third biggest win over the Aussies!

Jadeja announces Test return

‘I’ll be back’ - the words of Ravindra Jadeja after his knee surgery in September 2022. And boy, he returned doing what he does best. The star all-rounder claimed five wickets in the first innings, scored 70 runs and then 2/34 in the second innings to finish as the Player of the Match.

Ro hits another milestone knock

Records follow Rohit Sharma, or the Hitman smashes records. In this case, our skipper did the latter. Opening the batting, Rohit slammed his ninth Test hundred and became the only India captain to have a century in each format. A class apart.

Todd Murphy, the diamond in the rough

If Australia had 99 problems in the Nagpur Test, then Todd Murphy certainly was not one of them. The 22-year-old bowled like none other as he registered figures of 7/124 while facing the heavy-hitting Indian batters. In doing so, he became the youngest Aussie spinner to take a fifer on his Test debut.

Ravi Ashwin, a man made for Test cricket

Ravichandran Ashwin’s love affair with Test cricket got a new chapter as he claimed a 25th Test fifer on Indian soil in the second innings, going level with Anil Kumble. While ChatGPT wouldn’t have known this, the wicket of Alex Carey meant Ashwin now has 100 LBW wickets in Tests.

He might have had to wait for 10 overs to claim his first scalp on Day 1, but the spin master ended Day 3 as the champion bowler with his spell of 5/37. His act in Australia being bundled out for 91 set India’s dominant win and got them one step closer in the World Test Championship final race.

Brief Scores

India 400 (Rohit Sharma 120, Axar Patel 84, Todd Murphy 7/124) beat Australia 177 (Marnus Labuschagne 49, Ravindra Jadeja 5/47) and 91 (Steve Smith 25*, Ravichandran Ashwin 5/37) by an innings and 132 runs