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Oh well. Murphy, Lyon, Smith and Head, both spin away from the bat. He made runs and took wickets in the previous series, did Head,  selectors do dodgy decisions.

Murphys wicket the only bright spot of the day. A very promising start. Unfortunately none of the other bowlers looked threatening. Fair dinkum I don't know why the Indians go to so much trouble doctoring their pitches. Just produce a standard garden variety Indian turner and Jadeja and Co would still run through our batting line up.

Early days...well day one only, but the signs don't look healthy for Aust. Fantastic opportunity for the team to dig deep and show some grit, which they haven't needed to do v SA and the WI.

Agree some of the selections were a tad  mind boggling, obviously injury related for some, but right now Agar would offer more then what Renshaw has done so far with that golden duck, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. 

Likely result is that, Kohli will find his long lost test form, Pujara will bat forever and Aust will get done by an innings and more.....but be great to see Murphy get a 5 for on debut and Aust roll India for less then 250. One can only hope I guess and totally agree with mikeh re those Indian pitches, why bother cultivating one patch of it, it's a given Aust struggle on any pitch that provides side ways movement.....been that way for many a decade.

What’s Jadeja up to?  Legal or “iffy”??

How come Border and Hughes and Yallop could bat in India? It was our second eleven but we lost just two of the six tests. Yallop, in particular, played spin well. In 1982, a young Greg Ritchie, playing in his first series, made a century againt Qadir. We have no right to complain about the pitch given that our batsmen are getting out playing so-called 'reverse sweep shots' in test matches

Very true AR I have lost count of the ridiculous shots we have got out to in not only India but SL, Bangladesh, UAE etc over the last 20 years or so.
At the end of the day most of our batsmen are hopeless at playing quality spin bowling especially in their conditions.
Some exceptions have been Martyn, Hayden, Clarke, Smith, Border, Jones, Hughes etc but the vast majority are clueless!

The question has to be asked I reckon.
Why would a team mate have the ointment for a sore finger on the palm of his hand!!!!!
Why rub it on the seam of the ball?
Questions, questions, questions.
I wonder if those that have slammed our three will now see that all teams ball tamper.
And how could Travis Head be left out of the team!!! Has been batting very well and uses his feet well.
Surely a better option then either Renshaw or Handscomb.Is it the left handers cure?
I remember the time, early in his career when Langer was left out of an Ashes  tour because there were too many left handers playing if he was included in the squad.

anchorman wrote:

The question has to be asked I reckon.
Why would a team mate have the ointment for a sore finger on the palm of his hand!!!!!
Why rub it on the seam of the ball?
Questions, questions, questions.
I wonder if those that have slammed our three will now see that all teams ball tamper.
And how could Travis Head be left out of the team!!! Has been batting very well and uses his feet well.
Surely a better option then either Renshaw or Handscomb.Is it the left handers cure?
I remember the time, early in his career when Langer was left out of an Ashes  tour because there were too many left handers playing if he was included in the squad.

I don't think that sanctimonious element will change because of Jadeja. There has always been plenty of evidence of ball tampering over the years. Anyways it was always to help the quicks get some reverse swing with the old ball. Not sure if India and Jadeja needed that sort of help against the hapless Aussies yesterday.  
 

I agree with your first statement..
Some still hold the tall poppy syndrome.
I see though where the ICC have seen fit not to call it out. Have the BCCI got in their ear already?

anchorman wrote:

I agree with your first statement..
Some still hold the tall poppy syndrome.
I see though where the ICC have seen fit not to call it out. Have the BCCI got in their ear already?

Maybe they have. They managed to get the Little Masters suspension reversed when he was caught fiddling with the seam of the ball during a test match. I don't think the ICC takes ball tampering that seriously anyway - certainly not as Cricket Australia and their 1 year bans!