Mark Waugh identifies the pivotal moment in the first Test as “Australians are guilty of” after India’s crushing victory

At the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on Saturday, India defeated Australia by innings and 132 runs in the first Test of the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The visitors were bowled out for 91 runs and were all out inside one session, which is also their lowest Test cricket total against India. The hosts were in commanding form. Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed a five-wicket haul to conclude the Australian second innings, while Ravindra Jadeja claimed two wickets to add to his five-wicket haul from the first innings. Steve Smith remained undefeated on 25 runs off 51 deliveries as his colleagues were sent back to the pavilion.

As Jadeja and Axar Patel’s combination sucked the wind out of Australia’s sails during the close of Day 2, unable to add much to their stand on Day 3, Rohit Sharma and the company were early all out for 400, gaining a lead of 223 runs. However, Axar continued to exert pressure and formed a combination with Mohammed Shami, who scored 37 runs off of 47 deliveries. Axar, who scored 84 runs off 174 deliveries, was the last Indian wicket to be taken.

Former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh praised Axar and Shami’s batting performance on Star Sports while also emphasizing that the latter’s lost catch was “costly.” The Australian icon believed that Pat Cummins and company ought to have bowled more short pitches.

“The pitch was new, and it seemed to be spinning much more. Jadeja was ejected early on. Axar Patel and Mohammad Shami deserve praise for their excellent batting. Shami lost money because she dropped a catch. I believe Patel batted pretty well, in my opinion,” he remarked.

“Pat Cummins should have bowled a little bit more, in my opinion. They didn’t bowl enough short stuff, in my opinion. I think it’s worth taking a chance when the tail-enders start to work together and seem at ease on the crease. Although the surface seems to move slowly, you never know what you could find below. In the whole innings, I believe Australia only bowled two or three short balls. They need to have made a strong presentation and seen what happened, in my opinion. He said, “Perhaps the Australians are guilty of not trying hard enough and waiting for anything to happen, maybe an error by the Indian hitters.

Rohit Sharma became the first Indian skipper to score a century in all three international cricket forms during the first Test match. He scored 120 runs off 212 balls in the first innings.