The Indian squad brilliantly outwitted Australia to win the inaugural Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2023. On a spin-friendly surface, they limited the Pat Cummins-led side to 177 in the first innings and built a 223-run advantage. Ravichandran Ashwin totally weaved a web around the Australian batting unit in the second innings to enable India to win the match by innings and 132 runs.
India now leads the four-match Test series and is one step closer to the World Test Championship finals. But, the Indian squad still has a lot of work to do. Now, let’s go through the main talking points and who said what during the first Test in Nagpur.
Let’s take a look at what the captains had to say at the end of the match –
Winning Captain – Rohit Sharma (India)
Yeah, it was [a special hundred], considering a lot of things. Start of the series, very important where we stand in the championship table, important for us to start well. We know playing a series like this it’s important to start well. Happy I could put up a performance which could help the team. I was unfortunate I had to miss a few Test matches but happy to be back. Since I was appointed I played only two Tests, got Covid in England, missed three in South Africa, freak injury in Bangladesh. Things can happen when you play for a long time, but I’ve had injuries in the past so know how to come back from them. The last few years the kind of pitches we have in India who have to have a clear mindset and plan to get runs. Since I started opening I have tried to figure out…my methods. Have grown up a lot in Mumbai on surfaces which turn a lot. You need to use your feet, at the same time put pressure on the bowlers. You have to do something different, and that can be your way. You need to understand what you can do and not look at anyone else. [Moment of the game where you took charge] It was the first two overs from the seamers to be honest, 2 for 2 to start a game you are pretty much in the ascendency…the opposition is always under pressure because we know we have quality in the spin department but the seamers, not to forget, can be quite threatening on a surface like that. They know how to exploit those conditions. Glad all our batters could put up a show, get 400 and enough lead then the spinners came into the picture.
Losing Captain – Pat Cummins (Australia)
The game moves pretty quickly at times. You have to manage your tempos. Thought India played really well, their spinners are always going to be hard work when the wicket is spinning and thought Rohit showed his class. That first innings, the wicket spun but wasn’t unplayable. Would have loved another 100 or so runs and put a bit more pressure on their first innings. Obviously starting here is tough but three or four of our guys got in and started to look pretty comfortable in the first innings. Those guys who do get in have got to turn it into big scores. [Todd Murphy] He was fantastic on debut. He’s been very impressive. Bowled plenty overs.
