India vs Australia Day 1 Highlights: A Day Full of Drama and Disappointments

In the fifth and final test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, India got all out at just 185 runs, while Australia was at 9/1 by the end of the day.

At the start of the day, India won the toss and elected to bat first. The first twist came when, instead of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah came for the toss as Rohit had opted out of the test match. India made two changes to its playing XI. Shubhman Gill replaced Rohit Sharma, while Prasidh Krishna was added as a replacement for Akashdeep, who got injured in the last test match

India's Batting 

The team suffered early blows, with both openers dismissed by 17 runs. After Jaiswal's dismissal, Kohli came, and on the very first bowl, he faced a golden duck horror but survived it after the third umpire’s decision. After that, Kohli and Gill tried to form a partnership for the next 17 overs, but just before lunch, spinner Nathan Lyon struck and dismissed Gill in the slips. India scored 57 runs while losing three wickets in the first session. 

In the second session, Kohli also got out at a score of just 17 runs, and this dismissal was no different from the earlier ones in the series, with the same outside-the-off-stump setup. After Kohli's dismissal, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja formed a 48-run partnership, and both batted till the Tea. 

In the last session, India lost six wickets. The batters dismissed like a house of cards; Pant and Reddy got out in the same over. In the last over, Bumrah hit some boundaries and took the score beyond 150. India got all out at 185 when Pat Cummins dismissed him after 22 of 17 balls.

Drama Continues

Two significant events occurred on the first day of the Sydney Test match. The first occurred when Kohli played his first ball, and the second occurred during the last ball of the day. 

Kohli Survived Golden Duck Danger

It happened after the early wickets of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Kohli came to bat, Scott Boland bowled outside the off-stump, and the ball took the edge from Kohli's bat, went towards Steven Smith, he tried to catch and placed his fingers under the ball, and pushed it upwards. Marnus Labuschagne finished the catch, but the on-field umpire went to the third umpire for the decision. The third Umpire found that the ball touched the grass and gave the decision not out. Smith wasn't happy with the decision as he was sure his hand was under the bowl.

Just missed a beat there! 🥶

ICYMI, #ViratKohli was dropped by #SteveSmith on the very first ball he faced!#AUSvINDOnStar 👉 5th Test, Day 1 LIVE NOW! | #ToughestRivalry #BorderGavaskarTrophy pic.twitter.com/iLhCzXCYST

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 3, 2025

Tense Moments Before the Last Ball

When Australia came to bat in the evening, only three overs were left; after the 2.5 overs, it was looking like Australia had accomplished its mission, but as Bumrah got ready to bowl, Khwaja signalled that twice he was not ready, young Konstas on the non-striker's end also turned back and told him to wait, things get heated and Bumrah asked Konstas “What's the problem?” The umpire interrupted in between and asked Konstas and Bumrah to go back. What happened after that brings everyone's attention and showed the gravity of this series. Bumrah bowled a beautiful delivery, which Khwaja couldn't play properly and gave a catch in the slips. Rahul took it, and the celebration after that was very aggressive, with Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna locking the eyes with Kostas and giving a reply with their eyes.