Watch : Dravid’s thunderous roar overshadows Rohit, Kohli celebrations after Siraj removes Khawaja in India’s dream start
While Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s reactions to the early wicket summed up what the early wicket meant for India, it was head coach Rahul Dravid’s expressions from the change room that took the cake.
Mohammed Siraj took just one ball to make his presence felt in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 as he gave India a stunning start against Australia in the series opener at Nagpur. After Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat the VCA Stadium, Siraj, bowling the second over of the day, sent back Usman Khawaja for 1, getting the Australia opener out LBW. After the on-field umpire nodded his head against the appeal, captain Rohit Sharma opted for a smart DRS, giving Siraj and India an early breakthrough.
Bowling over the wicket, Siraj rapped Khawaja on the pads, who missed playing a flick. Even though it was touch and go and the original decision was not out, Rohit felt there was more to it than what had met the eye… and he couldn’t have been more spot on in his assessment. The reply showed the ball pitch in line, impact in line and would have gone on to hit leg-stump. As soon as the red light went off, the Indian team became a jubilant bunch. The reactions of Rohit, Virat Kohli and Siraj were priceless as Khawaja hung his head down.
But while Kohli and Rohit’s reactions summed up what the early wicket meant for India, it was Rahul Dravid’s expressions from the change room that took the cake. The camera panned towards the head coach, who showed his excitement by breaking into a thunderous roar, easily outdoing that of Kohli and Rohit’s rush of exhilaration.
It was against Australia back in December of 2021 when Siraj had made his Test debut finishing the series with 13 wickets including a five-wicket-haul in the famous Gabba Test in Brisbane while leading the bowing attack. And fittingly enough, he was the one to draw first blood here. Debutant wicketkeeper KS Bharat too had a role to play in the dismissal as his clarity was a big factor in convincing Rohit to go for the review.
Three players across both camps made their debuts. For India, Suryakumar Yadav and Bharat are playing their maiden Tests, while Todd Murphy representing Australia for the first time in his career, bagged the Baggy Green. “We are going to bat. Looks like a pretty even wicket towards the middle. 2017 was a big series. Can’t wait to get this started. We have had good preparation. We feel we are really well placed. Two changes Todd Murphy in. Peter Handscomb in for Travis Head,” Cummins said after winning the toss.
Amid all the noise surrounding their Playing XI, India opted for KL Rahul as their opener leaving no room for Shubman Gill. “There will be help for spinners. We got to wait and see how much it does. Yesterday when we started training, we did see some seam movement for the pacers up front. We have had a good prep for the last 5-6 days. We trained on the aspects in store. This is a big one. We know the importance of the series but we also understand it’s about winning one session at a time. It’s a long series,” Rohit said.
Source : hindustantimes
