Having lost the toss, and having taken the wicket of Travis head in the 1st session, India then had a wicketless second session, the first in the series, under the hottest midday sun that had support personnel chugging down the boundary line to ice weary bowling shoulders. During times like this, ambitions might start to fade and the future seems fuzzy, unreachable, or mirage-like. India’s bowlers saved them. Rohit promptly called Ashwin after Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith scored 21 runs in the opening eight overs. Lets discuss India vs Australia 4th test review in this blog.
At the start of the last session, Smith played on to Jadeja and Shami bowled Peter Handscomb’s off-stump with his great length. India may have been ahead at 170/4. India grabbed the second new ball for the first time in the series with Australia in 201. Cameron Green’s counterattacks caught Umesh and Shami off guard after 14 overs of bowling on an unforgiving day. Australia gained 37 runs in the first four overs with the new ball, regaining the lead.
It was a questionable loosening of the grip, but the two periods of profligacy that bookended the day’s play and the fact that Usman Khawaja needed six hours and 246 balls to get to a century on a pitch where the ball barely missed the middle of his bat only served to highlight India’s outstanding bowlers’ ability to keep the team in the game even in conditions stacked against them.
Day 2
After Usman Khawaja’s 180 put India out for most of the first two days, R Ashwin led India’s bowling comeback with his 32nd five-wicket haul. Cameron Green and Khawaja added 208 for the fifth wicket before Ashwin limited Australia to 480.
An unflappable duo allowed Australia to threaten that throughout much of Day 2. Even though India tried to keep things tight on a flat field, Green, who began on 49, was fluent. He scored a first Test century by taking 18 boundaries as India made length mistakes.
Khawaja became the first foreign batsman in 13 years to bat 400 balls in an innings in India despite the other end’s mistakes. After Lunch, Axar Patel bowled him LBW on 180 with a flick.
Day 3
Shubman Gill’s second Test century guided India’s strong third-day reply to Australia’s 480 in Ahmedabad. The opener had fifty-plus stands with Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli, who scored his maiden fifty in 16 innings. Australia struggled to score on a surface that remained true for the third day, but Gill was LBW to Nathan Lyon. Gill and Kohli played the attritional game superbly and seized every boundary chance till then.
Starc, bowling from round the wicket for reverse swing, was hammered for boundaries on both sides as Gill alternated cover drives and short-arm jabs before settling in for a lengthy innings. After his departure, Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja continued the innings. And Kohli scored his 29th Test fifty to help India reach the 300-run barrier before Stumps.
Day 4
Virat Kohli scored his 28th Test century and gave India a 91-run first innings lead over Australia in Ahmedabad. Kohli scored a century off 241 balls and served as the pivot point of the Indian batting effort. When India looked to extend their advantage, Kohli was dismissed after running out of partners who were closing in on a double century. He holed out to deep midwicket. But, before that, Kohli was at his determined best, batting through virtually all of the day and directing India through a number of partnerships that ultimately resulted in fifty or more runs for India’s top six batsmen.
Day 5
Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head helped Australia draw the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test match on the last day. India won their 16th straight home series 2-1. India started the day well when R Ashwin bowled Matthew Kuhnemann LBW with an undercutter. This began a period when all three of India’s spinners had some pitch purchase. Head and Labuschagne swiftly overcame several plays and misses. Both hitters took advantage of lofting Ashwin to score runs.
Head scored his maiden Test fifty of the series. And seemed ready to double it until Axar Patel bowled him through the gate when driving off the rough. Labuschagne also scored his first fifty of the series and stayed undefeated till Tea. In his last innings in India, Steve Smith was dropped on duck by KS Bharat. He remained undefeated as Australia declared in the final hour, ending a hard-fought series.
