Australia v India: Boxing Day Test, day one – live!

36th over: India 80-1 (Agarwal 52, Pujara 14) Lyon replaces Cummins at the southern end and the opener decides to immediately put the foot down, lifting over the top at mid-off and down to the boundary. He repeats the dose to finish, jumping down at Lyon before driving gloriously past the bowler and to the rope. That’s his half-century at the first time of asking in Test cricket, brought up with his sixth boundary. The Indian fans to my left are loving life, waving the national flag with pride.

35th over: India 72-1 (Agarwal 45, Pujara 14) The audiance are willing Hazlewood to the wicket, who gets a chance at Pujara having bowled at Agarwal since lunch. The battle of patience between the two begins as you would expect with neither competitor giving an inch.

34th over: India 71-1 (Agarwal 44, Pujara 14) There’s some blood pumping in that over, Cummins banging it in short at Agarwal, who is up to the task of getting out of the way. When the fuller ball arrived he steered past point with lovely timing for three. The crowd, watching the action again, give the slow, building clap for the final delivery and Pujara responds by driving superbly through extra cover for four. They’re his first runs since the interval, acquired magnificently on the up.

“Seasons’ greetings and good calling to you,” emails Ian Swan. Thank you, my best to you and yours. “I must take issue (and exception) to any suggestion that Smith could ever captain the nation again. He has shown a spectacular failure of leadership, and on that basis has disqualified himself for ever.”

In short, I think he will get the gig because I can’t work out who else it’ll be. And CA are clearly fine with it. I’ve expressed concern about the advice he is taking (and I’m not the only one, following the telephone advert he did last week), but that’s for another day.

33rd over: India 64-1 (Agarwal 41, Pujara 10) Every time Virat Kohli’s face is shown on the screen, the next man in, the Indian fans go wild. For the Australians’ part, they are already into a full-scale Mexican Wave with the MCC even getting involved. In the middle, Agarwal finds the gap at cover after picking out Marsh a couple of times, coming back for two. He gets another later in the over glancing Hazlewood to fine leg.

32nd over: India 61-1 (Agarwal 38, Pujara 10) A quiet start to the session, this a third maiden on the trot with Pujara finding all the time he needs to keep Cummins honest.

Steve Smith has also sat down for an interview with Fox Sports, coming out tonight. Bancroft’s chat at lunch is the main talking point surrounding this Test Match right now. What did you make of his comments that, in short, he did what he did to fit in? Simon Katich says on SEN that he gets how that happened.

Ian Forth has emailed me his take, which is less sympathetic. “Was it not horrifying to hear Cameron Bancroft ‘didn’t know any better’ than to rub sandpaper on the ball. You’d think that in all those years of elite training one of his coaches might have spared five seconds to say, ‘Also, guys, never cheat.’”

31st over: India 61-1 (Agarwal 38, Pujara 10) Back to back maidens, Hazlewood locating Agarwal’s outside edge early in the over but landing well short of strife. As we’ve documented, the pitch isn’t giving a lot but the big NSW quick is really bending his back here, his deliveries arriving in Paine’s gloves at a most acceptable height.

Speaking of that era in my previous post, I dug out some photos at my parents’ place yesterday of me wearing my first set of pads and gloves. Aussie gold, loud and proud.

30th over: India 61-1 (Agarwal 38, Pujara 10) Cummins, Australia’s best in the opening stanza, races away from the Great Southern Stand. It’s a stand that has so many memories for me, all the way back to the first international played there in December 1991, a one-dayer between the West Indies and Australia. Malcolm Marshall took four wickets but what I remember it for most is the food fight at the dinner break, which (as a seven year old!) I participated in after an orange hit me in the face. Happy memories. Nobody gets whacked in the face during this set, Pujara leaving then defending in his safe and meditative way.

29th over: India 61-1 (Agarwal 38, Pujara 10) Shoooooot! The first ball after the break is a half-volley asking for the treatment so Agarwal strokes it beautifully to the cover rope, much to the enjoyment of the big Indian crowd in attendance. It doesn’t take Hazlewood long to find his range, cutting the new opener in half then nearly hitting his helmet and/or glove to finish with a much quicker bumper.

The players are back on the field. Agarwal (34) and Pujara (10) are back for the visitors with Hazlewood starting off for Australia from the Cricket Club end. PLAY!

On the other network, Ricky Ponting on Seven is backing in Steve Smith to be the next Australian captain after Tim Paine has finished up. For my part, I can’t imagine any realistic scenario where he won’t be.

Here is the AAP write-up of the Bancroft interview.

“Dave [Warner] suggested to me to carry the action out on the ball given the situation we were in the game,” Bancroft said in an interview that will be aired during Fox Sports’ Boxing Day coverage.

“I didn’t know any better because I just wanted to fit in and feel valued really. As simple as that. The decision was based around my values, what I valued at the time and I valued fitting in … you hope that fitting in earns you respect and with that, I guess, there came a pretty big cost for the mistake.”

Cam Bancroft’s big comeback interview is currently on Fox Sports at lunch. I’m only catching bits and pieces but he’s sounding positive, healthy and impressive. “I’ve been able to do some amazing things over the last nine month,” he’s saying now. “I didn’t want this to be a box-ticking exercise… I was giving to something greater than myself.”

I’ll post up the social media clips as they show up on twitter.

28th over: India 57-1 (Agarwal 34, Pujara 10) Last over before lunch, and Marsh will send it down. Has a little moment of excitement with another nudge and miss. But Pujara is equal to him, and will now steam off towards the soup tureen.

27th over: India 57-1 (Agarwal 34, Pujara 10) Hazlewood will now partner Marsh. Gets a couple of lively deliveries away, then Pujara cuts him for three.

Bancroft speaks!

26th over: India 54-1 (Agarwal 34, Pujara 7) Very decent ball from Marsh, beats Pujara comprehensively with a bit of away-cut. Keeps him watchful until Pujara nudges a run square.

He’s just giving the fast bowlers a spell, Ravi, which is exactly his job. They’ll have a power of work to do today, by the looks.

25th over: India 53-1 (Agarwal 34, Pujara 6) Agarwal and Pujara hopping and swaying while Starc keeps peppering, but they don’t seem flustered. The bowling is dealt with, and it can’t continue for very long.

Let’s address the comment below.

I see these pop up quite a bit at the moment, and I don’t get it. What does this even mean? It doesn’t correlate to anything that’s actually happening. What specifically is missing from the way the Australian team is currently playing? What should be there that isn’t? What has any player done that would draw the adjective of ‘nice’? What difference would it make if the current manner or approach changed, and how could it possibly change the quality of the batting or bowling? To me the whole proposition is just meaningless.

24th over: India 52-1 (Agarwal 34, Pujara 5) Mitch Marsh continuing, a couple of singles worked, and a massive appeal from the bowler after Agarwal smashes an inside edge into his pads.

Trivia:

That’s more an Andrew Samson stats job than one for me. But I’d guess he’s opened the bowling quite a few times in Asia, at least. And maybe at the MCG in the second innings of the Ashes Test of 2013?

23rd over: India 50-1 (Agarwal 33, Pujara 4) Starc is back, Paine looking to force something with pace. The bowler attacks the body, but both batsmen are able to hop up and fend a ball around the corner for a single. Pujara’s would have been straight to leg slip had there been one. Short leg remains under the lid. Two slips, gully and third man for CP. Interesting they’ve got that run-saving option. The first score milestone comes up.

22nd over: India 48-1 (Agarwal 32, Pujara 3) Marsh gets a bit of pep! Lifts one from the surface and slams Agarwal in the digits. The Pooje then gets off the mark with a back-cut for three.

21st over: India 44-1 (Agarwal 31, Pujara 0) Cummins, steaming in, having just taken a wicket, but Pujara does Pujara things. Defends, leaves, defends, leaves.

20th over: India 44-1 (Agarwal 31, Pujara 0) Mitchell Marsh on to bowl. Was there a bit of booing there? May have been, the Victorian captain was dropped for the West Australian captain. But unfortunate if that was the case.

I’m getting some news reports saying that Cameron Bancroft has named David Warner as the person who got him to sandpaper the ball in Cape Town. Which is redundant of course, because we already knew that from the charge sheet back in March. What Bancroft has done is give an interview to one of the TV broadcasters in which he’s explained his thought process about trying to fit in.

Anyway, I already literally wrote the book on this, so you can read the full detail of the story in Steve Smith’s Men for your post-Christmas perusal. It’s not bad. Links for Australia and elsewhere in the world.

19th over: India 40-1 (Agarwal 27, Pujara 0) Cheteshwar Pujara walks out. He might make four million on this surface.

Aggression has done it! Cummins has coaxed a wicket from what has already looked a lifeless pitch. After 66 balls the strokeless vigil ends. He’s been the only bowler who has created a sense of anger this morning, and now he comes good on that promise. Again it was poorly played by Vihari. The ball pitched very short, so the batsman looked to duck under it, but didn’t get low enough. Then the ball came through relatively low, again just below shoulder height had Vihari been standing. But he was already in a crouch, uncontrolled, not low enough to evade it, and so he threw his gloves at the ball to protect himself. The fend lobs away high into the cordon and Finch waits beneath it like a dog watching a kitten up a tree.

18th over: India 38-0 (Vihari 6, Agarwal 27) Lyon whirls through another over for a single…

17th over: India 37-0 (Vihari 5, Agarwal 27) Vihari really is battling for runs this morning. He’s not bad defensively, but maybe he’s so determined to do his dour opening job that the prospect of scoring hasn’t occurred to him. He finally scraps a single here thanks to an overthrow, but that’s all from Cummins’s over.

16th over: India 36-0 (Vihari 4, Agarwal 27) Agarwal’s loving this Test debut as the pitch looks flatter by the ball. He clouts another cover drive for four. But hello… the replays are showing that earlier in the over, Lyon had Vihari leg before wicket. Australia appeals but didn’t review after a defensive push missed the ball. Did they think there was an edge? Or was it was just that he’d come a long way down the track? Either way, three reds on HawkEye, but no review called for…

15th over: India 31-0 (Vihari 3, Agarwal 23) Whack! Cummins again, playing the brute this morning. Another short ball, this time it’s Agarwal playing it poorly. It’s not like Cummins is trying to hit anyone, but the batsmen aren’t watching the ball. Agarwal wears this one on the shoulder, and it bounces over his helmet off his body. He uses his bat for the rest of the over. And that’s drinks.

14th over: India 31-0 (Vihari 3, Agarwal 23) Another maiden for Hanuma Vihari. He’s faced 49 balls for his three, and he’s on for a beautiful example of the Cowan Ton genre.

Elite honesty.

13th over: India 31-0 (Vihari 3, Agarwal 23) Pat Cummins has his first over, and immediately hits Vihari in the head. That was a short ball that didn’t really get up, only coming through about collarbone height. Vihari had started ducking but couldn’t get down fast enough, and ducked into it in the end. Wasn’t watching the ball when it hit him. It ricochets 20 metres away through square leg for a leg bye, and umpire Ian Gould comes and lays a hand on the batsman’s shoulder to check on his health. The team doctor gives him the OK. There wasn’t enough pace in the pitch to get that bouncer up where it should have been.

12th over: India 29-0 (Vihari 3, Agarwal 22) Lyon now, and Agarwal taps a single into the covers and ducks through. “Is he limping yet?” asks Matthew Doherty, in a nod to Gordon Greenidge, who tended to smash attacks when he only had one leg to stand on. Agarwal is not quite at that level of dominance yet, with one decent boundary and a streaky flash through gully.

11th over: India 28-0 (Vihari 3, Agarwal 21) Vihari is like a kid playing with his Christmas Lego set: block, block, block. Gets a couple of accidental runs off a safe inside edge, with Hazlewood continuing.

10th over: India 26-0 (Vihari 1, Agarwal 21) And with Lyon continuing, Agarwal is happy to chill out, take a look at him and see what’s what. This new Indian opening partnership is looking solid. Mind you, KL Rahul and Murali Vijay might feel a bit hard done by at missing this pitch after playing in Perth. How often have both openers been dropped by a Test side? Send me some examples.

9th over: India 26-0 (Vihari 1, Agarwal 21) Hazlewood has swung around to the Members End after starting with the Great Southern Stand at his back. That may be why Lyon was introduced… but the off-spinner is going to continue after Hazlewood’s maiden to Vihari.

8th over: India 26-0 (Vihari 1, Agarwal 21) Hear that roar of the crowd? Hear that deep bass boom of a mass of humanity? They’re cheering for Nathan Lyon. The New South Welshman who moved to Canberra and then played for South Australia is well loved in Victoria. The MCG was where the whole crowd was supposed to shout a tribute to him a couple of years ago, only for him to ruin it by taking a wicket on the designated delivery. See the video below.

Vihari finally gets off the mark with a dashed single to mid-on, then Agarwal drives the last ball through cover for four. Very positive.

7th over: India 21-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 17) Nearly a screamer! Mitchell Marsh launches in the gully but can’t quite reel in the catch. Got airborne. He took one like that off Brendon McCullum in Christchurch a couple of years ago, only for the batsman to be reprieved by a no-ball. McCullum was on 37 and went on to the fastest Test hundred of all time.

This time Starc bowls wide, and Agarwal doesn’t exactly throw the bat but places it in the ball’s path, trying to force it square, a totally impulsive shot. It flew away with no control, but a flying Marsh couldn’t close the gap. Starc immediately loses his radar and bowls four byes down the leg side, as he did several times in Adelaide.

6th over: India 13-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 13) That’s a maiden from Hazlewood, but not because Vihari was defending this time. Three times he found the middle of the bat looking to score. Once he found square leg and twice Pat Cummins at mid-on.

5th over: India 13-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 13) Interesting little battle shaping up. Starc produces a snorter mid-over, whispering past Agarwal’s nose as the short ball climbed unpleasantly. Around that, though, the batsman collects three braces just by dropping the ball into gaps with a defensive blade. Easily working this spread field even as Vihari is yet to score, and yet to attempt to score. Wasn’t there a Test where Justin Langer made 50 before Matthew Hayden had scored more than a run? We’re on track.

4th over: India 7-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 7) Agarwal drives another three, this time through midwicket. He has all the runs so far. Hazlewood beats Vihari’s edge in the first such instance for the day.

My desk editor, Pádraig Collins, is filling me in on his festive activities, and has nominated this as as the greatest Christmas song of all time. Probably could find plenty of supporters.

His choice for the second-greatest may not meet such broad agreement.

Your votes?

3rd over: India 4-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 4) Agarwal stays busy, glancing a single from Starc. Vihari blocks the rest. Nothing notable from this surface for the bowlers yet. Hmmmmm.

2nd over: India 3-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 3) Interesting field for Hazlewood. Three slips, gully, point. Massive gap to mid-off. Then a mid-on and a short leg, so no one saving runs in the principal gaps either side of the wicket. Long leg down on the fence for the glance in traditional fashion. Agarwal on debut gets what looked to me like a leading edge through the big gap at cover to open his innings with three runs.

1st over: India 0-0 (Vihari 0, Agarwal 0) Mitchell Starc starts with the ball. Hanuma Vihari will face him, after being promoted from No6. He averages nearly 60 in first-class cricket, Vihari, so he’s a proper player. And he’s showing it with some solid defensive shots as Starc is on the money from ball one, right around off stump. It’s a maiden, greeted with warm applause by the crowd that’s starting to swell. Probably something over 40,000 in already I’d say, and they’d be expecting to top 70,000 by the end of the day.

“Happy Christmas!” emails Andrew Benton, who’s already on the 2019 Nice List. “My cat puked up yesterday and it looked like a really top quality pitch (!) More to the point, will Steve Smith be coming over for the Ashes?”

You just try and stop him, Andrew. (It’s not like Australia has a middle order at the moment.)

Interesting yaaaaaaarn, as the local terminology goes, from our colleague Michael Ramsay for AAP.

Virat Kohli reckons the secret to success on Australian soil is all above the shoulders.

…

“It’s hardly anything technical,” Kohli said on the eve of the Boxing Day Test when asked about his success in Australian conditions.

“If you’re convinced in your mind that you can do it, your body starts reacting accordingly. It’s all about getting into that frame of mind, as a team, as individuals when we prepare our own skill sets.

“I feel it’s 80 per cent mental and 20 per cent technical when you go to any country away from your conditions to play.

…

Either way, Kohli said it was important for visiting batsmen to steel themselves for conditions similar to the fierce pace and bounce produced in Perth.

“As a batsman, if at any stage you’re hesitating or scared of the bounce, then you’re definitely going to get hit,” he said.

“It’s something you sit in your room and work on. It’s not something you can just arrive and feel on that particular day.

“To get into that frame of mind where you feel like you’re ready enough to get runs anywhere … that takes a constant effort on a daily basis.”

Ok then. It’s all in your head. That sounds a bit woo-woo to me, like maybe practice with your body would help as well. But I’m not the best batsman in the world. (Untested claim.)

Please stand for the ceremonial singing of that song off the Qantas ad, with the kids standing on the Opera House or whatever it is they do.

India
Mayank Agarwal
Hanuma Vihari
Cheteshwar Pujara
Virat Kohli *
Ajinkya Rahane
Rohit Sharma
Rishabh Pant +
Ravindra Jadeja
Mohammed Shami
Ishant Sharma
Jasprit Bumrah

Australia
Marcus Harris
Aaron Finch
Usman Khawaja
Shaun Marsh
Travis Head
Mitchell Marsh
Tim Paine +*
Pat Cummins
Mitchell Starc
Nathan Lyon
Josh Hazlewood

Virat Kohli calls correctly and has no hesitation. I guess you play the percentages and don’t bat last, especially when day one is sunny and clear. But this pitch… it looks hideous, I’ll tell you that. The one last year where Alistair Cook made his double hundred was just a brown featureless slab of rolled mud. This time they’ve tried to leave grass on it, so there’s rolled mud with weird patches of green mange. It looks like a twenty-yard slab of solidified cat sick. It looks lumpy and blotchy and confused. Maybe it will play beautifully, I have no idea. But we’re just going on the aesthetics at this stage.

This from Daniel Andrews, in the context of the Test taking place among the Indian Summer Festival, which is surrounding the ground all through Yarra Park. Lots of stages and stalls and music and tucker.

“This is an important way to celebrate that Melbourne and Victoria has the biggest Indian community across the nation: more than 220,000 people of Indian heritage and that number keeps on growing. There’s great diversity within the Indian community in terms of faith and different regions, but one thing that unites all Indian Australians is of course their love of cricket… Great weather, fantastic venue, and we’ve been delighted to put on this festival that sees thousands of families come through and celebrate Indian food, music, film, dance, a great way to immerse yourself in the Indian cultural experience. We can’t imagine a modern Victoria without the contribution that the Indian community makes.”

Reports on that shortly. Now then. It is an absolutely perfect day here in Melbourne. We get about 20 of these a year, I reckon, spread across autumn and spring: where the sky is cloudless blue, the breeze is mild and cool, then sun is warm but not yet hot, and everything seems gentle and thriving and full of life. Those 20 days are the ones that make us stick around for the other 345, where it’s either an oven or a fridge. The perfect days are a memory dissolution agent, making all thoughts of other kinds of days disappear.

Good day to start a Test.

I’m just trotting downstairs at the MCG to hear Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts do a press conference with Victorian state Premier Daniel Andrews. Forgive me if I faint from excitement and take a while to be revived.