India finished on top, having skittled Australia for 195 on Day 1 of the Boxing-Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday, courtesy Jasprit Bumrah's four-for. At stumps, India is 361, trailing the host by 159 runs.
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Winning the toss, Australian skipper, Tim Paine, elected to bat first, as the host moved in without prolific opener, David Warner. As for India, young opener Shubman Gill and seamer Mohammed Siraj made their debut, while Ajinkya Rahane leads the side on Virat Kohli's absence.
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The Australian openers were off to a shaky start, with Joe Burns again falling for cheap, as he was dismissed for an unfortunate duck by pacer Jasprit Bumrah, after being caught behind by Rishabh Pant, at the score of 10. Meanwhile, 25 runs later, it was fellow opener Matthew Wade, who fell for 30 to Ashwin, after being caught by Ravindra Jadeja.
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In came Steve Smith to bat, but his rough patch continued, as he fells for an unfavourable duck again, to Ashwin, at the score of 38, following a catch from Cheteshwar Pujara. The pair of Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head stood tall, despite the former surviving an lbw scare in the final over before lunch, as the Aussies are 653.
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Resuming its innings post lunch, both the batsmen were going good, as they contributed to an 86-run stand for the fourth wicket. However, Head fell to Bumrah for 38, after a leading edge carried to Rahane in the slips, at the score of 124.
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Just 10 runs later, Labushagne fell short of his half-century by just a couple of runs. Debutant Siraj claimed his maiden international wicket, after the batsmen played it to Shubman Gill at the short fine leg, while Australia were 1356 at tea break.
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Resuming after tea, it was at the score of 155 when Cameron Green fell for mere 12 to Siraj, who bowled him up, while Paine followed him the very next over, for 13, at the same score, off Ashwin, after being caught in the leg-slip, by Hanuma Vihari. There were hardly any partnerships thereon.
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The incoming batsmen, Mitchell Starc (7) and Nathan Lyon (20) fell to Bumrah, while the final man to fall was Pat Cummins, who was dismissed for mere nine to Jadeja. Among the Indian bowlers, Bumrah finished with the best figures of 456, while Ashwin claimed 325.
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It was a consolidated performance form the Indian bowlers, as all contributed by scalping wickets, barring Umesh. Furthermore, it was Australia's third-lowest Test total against India since 2010.
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As India came out to bat, it was off to a shaky start, having lost opener Mayank Agarwal for an unfortunate duck in the very first over, with nothing on the board, as seamer Mitchell Starc trapped him leg-before. Nonetheless, it was the unbeaten pair of the fellow opener and debutant Shubman Gill (28) and Cheteshwar Pujara (7), who saw it until the stumps, as India is 361 at stumps, trailing by 179.Brief scores: Australia 195 (Labushagne 48; Bumrah 456, Ashwin 335) leads India 361 (Gill 28; Starc 114) by 159 runs.
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