On Friday, December 6, Australia and India began the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT 2024–25) at the Adelaide Oval. After winning the toss, the visitors entered the game to bat first. Along with Shubman Gill and Ravichandran Ashwin, India’s captain Rohit Sharma returned for the Pink-ball Test.
With Mitchell Starc dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal for a golden duck on the opening ball of the match, the hosts got off to a fast start.
Jaiswal Yashasvi (0 off 1). Gill and KL Rahul then joined forces to carry on the innings. The crowd was energised by the two right-handers’ outstanding shots. Before Starc returned to the attack and hit the well-established Rahul for 37, the two stitched a 69-run partnership.
Virat Kohli, the star batsman who was coming off a tonne in the Perth Test, was caught off guard by the odd bounce and was sent packing after adding seven to the total. As a result, he was unable to spend much time on the crease. However, Gill was unable to make a significant impact and had to stop his 31-run effort after being caught plumb in from the wicket. The batsman hit five boundaries during his innings.
After a quick knock of three, skipper Rohit Sharma, who entered at number five, returned to the changing room, continuing his slow play. Rishabh Pant, meanwhile, only managed to score 21 runs, indicating that he too had a bad day at the bat.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, who is only one Test veteran, then played a fantastic performance to push the scoreboard beyond 100. He blasted three boundaries and three sixes in a rapid 42-run knock. With Pat Cummins and Scott Boland taking two wickets apiece and Starc taking six, India was ultimately bowled for 180.
Indian bowlers got off to a strong start, particularly Jasprit Bumrah, who removed Usman Khawaja (13 off 35). Although Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne played their shots carefully and took no chances, the bowlers did maintain the pressure.
Both batters returned the team to the game with well-executed shots. Australia was behind by 94 runs at 86/1 at the close of the day’s play, with McSweeney and Labuschagne batting on 38 and 20. The day’s high point was Starc’s six-fer, as Australia hoped to build on its momentum and achieve a significant first-inning total on Day 2.
Meanwhile, here’s how the fans reacted to Day 1 of AUS vs IND Second Test:
A long batting line up on Day 2 Smith Travis Head Marsh trail under 100 this could get tough for India need to take those chances catches win games India need early wickets if they want to stay in this test match Travis head the danger but believe in jassi bhai #INDvsAUS
— Taha (@TahaSarwar25) December 6, 2024
I know Rohit could not bring the , winning vipes in the team#INDvsAUS
— New man (@Newman18081999) December 6, 2024
#INDvsAUS Poor first day for Ind. Solidly squandering the advantage of winning the toss and batting first. Gill, Rahul, Reddy were decent. That session of play before lunch ruined things for Ind. Need a Perth type bowling performance tomorrow morning to get back in the game.
— Nikunj Dixit (@srt1205) December 6, 2024
India is surely going to lose the 2nd test match because of the worst batting in 1st innings especially @ybj_19 @ImRo45 @imVkohli #INDvsAUS
— Abhishek (@AKCCPR12) December 6, 2024
Indian batters lost patience or I should say, KL Rahul got out, and the others fell like a pack of cards. Starc was looking amazing today as he bowled some amazing deliveries to get his fifer. The Australian batters look comfortable at the end of Day-1!#INDvsAUS #AUSvsIND
— Anubhav Kumar (@_Anubhav_Kumar) December 6, 2024
Mitchell Strac To Rohit Sharma #INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/H0P885qOEh
— Rajasthani Dada Ji (@Rajasthani_Dada) December 6, 2024
Nitish Kumar Reddy batting 🤤🥵#INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/rOm4OlGlkD
— Raja Babu (@GaurangBhardwa1) December 6, 2024
How good was Bumrah’s captaincy.🥹#KLRahul | #INDvsAUS | #AUSvsIND pic.twitter.com/OunJ3c44lr
— Kunal Yadav (@Kunal_KLR) December 6, 2024
Still coming too slow, young Jaiswal? 👀👀👀
Starc has his revenge! #IndvsAus pic.twitter.com/XLDGAqH0IB
— Broken Cricket Dreams Cricket Blog (@cricket_broken) December 6, 2024