India vs Australia 1st Test: Prithvi Shaw falls for a second-ball duck, Mitchell Starc gives India first jolt

Having won the toss, India skipper Virat Kohli opted to bat first against the hosts in the opening game of the four-match Test series. Captain Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri showed faith in the Mumbai cricketer and gave him precedence over the likes of KL Rahul and Shubman Gill.

India vs Australia, 1st Test, Day 1: Live blog

The right-handed batsman took the strike for India against senior Australia pacer Mitchell Starc. The left-arm pacer bowled an away going delivery from the batsman but Shaw followed the ball and missed the line completely. The ball got an inside edge and rattled Shaw’s stumps and the Aussie camp broke into celebration. Shaw couldn’t even open his account and silently made his descent towards the pavilion.

It was the third instance in two series when an Indian opener was dismissed without opening his account Test cricket. Earlier KL Rahul and Murali Vijay were dismissed for a nought during the Perth Test in 2018. Interestingly, all three of them have been clean bowled by Starc.

Prior to them, former India opener Virender Sehwag had a faster duck when he was dismissed on a first-ball duck against the Australians in 2003.

Fans started criticising Shaw for his poor show in the match but there were also those who defended the youngster.

Last three ducks by an Indian opener in Tests:-
Prithvi Shaw at Adelaide, today
KL Rahul at Perth, 2018
Murali Vijay at Perth, 2018

Each of them were clean bowled by Mitchell Starc.#AUSvIND

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) December 17, 2020

Stark reality! https://t.co/Ey0AA2FciS

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) December 17, 2020

Sir, I understand your frustration but the guy averaged 55 in Test cricket before this innings. Let’s be kind to each other. ???? https://t.co/4DOk49M19T

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 17, 2020

Earlier in the day, India skipper Kohli – who is playing the lone Test in the series – won the toss and opted to bat against the Tim Paine-led side.

The Kohli-led side is playing its second pink-ball Test and first longest format game under lights in overseas conditions. The visitors played two tour matches against Australia A and acquired a reasonable knowledge of the conditions so far.

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