Melbourne: Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman praised stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane for his captaincy in the absence of Virat Kohli on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test here at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday.
The Indian bowlers once again stole the show as they folded Australia for 195 in the first essay. It was an all-round bowling performance that saw pacer Jasprit Bumrah picking four while debutant Mohammad Siraj got two wickets.
Ravichandran Ashwin was once again in his elements as he picked three wickets, including the all-important wicket of batting mainstay Steve Smith.
Laxman hailed India's "sensational" bowling performance and said the most important aspect of the visitors was that they didn't carry the baggage of the horrific collapse suffered in Adelaide.
"Excellent days play for India. Bowlers were once again sensational, both the debutants looked confident, Rahane captained the side really well but most importantly they didn't carry the baggage of the loss from Adelaide," Laxman tweeted.
At stumps, India's score read 36/1 with Gill batting on 28 and Cheteshwar Pujara giving him company on 7. The visitors' trail by 159 runs with nine wickets in the bag.For Australia, it was Mitchell Starc who picked the lone wicket to finish the day with figures of 1/14 from four overs. Pat Cummins bowled without luck to finish wicketless despite bowling four fiery overs.
But it was the Indian bowlers who once again showed why they are considered one of the best in the business at present. With Tim Paine winning the toss and batting first at the MCG, the hosts would have thought of putting on a decent score on the board. But led by Bumrah (4/56), the Indians made short work of the Australian batting as they finished their first essay on 195. (ANI)
