Images from Day 1 of the third Test played between India and Australia at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Wednesday
Indian batters' longstanding struggles against spin were thoroughly exposed before Australia applied themselves on a rank turner to take control of the third Test on a frantic opening day of the match, in Indore, on Wednesday.
Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemman (5/16) picked up his maiden five-wicket haul as Australia skittled India out for a paltry 109 shortly after lunch on day one. Virat Kohli top-scored for India with 22 off 52 balls.
Trailing 0-2 in the series, Australia came out with a strong resolve and purpose to end the day at 156 for four, taking a 47-run lead.
Ravindra Jadeja (4/63) took all four wickets for India including that of stand-in captain Steve Smith (26 off 38) before close of play.
Usman Khawaja (60 off 147) was the standout performer for Australia as he tackled the skill-full Jadeja and R Ashwin with a straight bat and soft hands.
Marnus Labuschagne (31 off 91 balls), who was bowled off a no ball early in his innings, rode on his luck to share a 96-run stand with Khawaja, the highest partnership of the series for the visitors.
Though the usually accurate Indian spinners were not relentless with their lines and lengths, Khawaja and Labuschagne rectified the "sweeping" mistakes they made in Delhi by playing straight and trusting their defense.
When India were batting, the pitch seemed unplayable but Khawaja and Co. showed the way to the home team.
Khawaja's gritty knock also had a couple of drives on the off-side. He was also not shy of playing the reverse sweep but mostly played straight.
The southpaw hardly put a foot wrong in his crafty knock but when he did, he had to pay for it. In the 43rd over of the innings, Khawaja went for the sweep from around the off-stump off Jadeja and ended up giving a catch at deep midwicket.
Like Nagpur and Delhi, the game is set for another three-day finish and a 100-run lead on this surface will be worth gold.
India were also guilty of bowling four no-balls.
Earlier, India's aggressive approach on a track offering vicious turn backfired as Australia reduced the hosts to 84 for seven after a rather eventful opening session.
Like the last two Tests, the pitch was expected to offer plenty of turn but the ball turning square in the first hour of play and the odd one keeping low came as a slight surprise.
Matthew Hayden on air called the the black soil surface at the Holkar Stadium a day-three pitch and it sure behaved like one.
Three batters including skipper Rohit Sharma (12), Ravindra Jadeja (4) and Shreyas Iyer (0) perished while trying to attack.
Virat Kohli (22 off 52) looked assured in the middle before being trapped lbw by Todd Murphy towards the end of the session.
Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann and veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon took took three wickets each.
Winning the toss for the first time in the series, India expectedly decided to bat first. Shubman Gill replaced an out-of-form K L Rahul in the playing eleven while Umesh Yadav was brought in for the rested Mohammad Shami.
Rahul has been struggling for runs and finally Gill, who is in terrific form of late, got a chance.
Having regained match fitness, both Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green made Australia's playing eleven.
Starc's first over to Rohit was among the highlights of the session. Before the spinners ran through the Indian batting, Starc got the ball to swing giving the India skipper a tough time.
Rohit got a faint outside edge on the very first ball he faced but Australia did not take a review. Three balls later, Starc got the ball to swing back in and it flicked Rohit's pads. Ball tracking showed the ball would have hit the off stump but Australia decided against taking DRS again.
Gill faced Green from the other end and began his innings with an elegant cover drive.
Spin was introduced in the sixth over and Kuhnemman got the ball to turn sharply. In the last ball of the over, Rohit stepped out to play across the line and got beaten in the flight and Alex Carey made a clean stumping.
Kuhnemann had Gill caught at first slip with the opener getting a thick outside edge while offering a forward defence.
Cheteshwar Pujara's stay lasted only four balls as Lyon got one to turn massively from wide off stump that crashed into the middle stump. The ball kept a tad low as well and Pujara was found wanting on the back foot.
Jadeja's fall made it 44 four.
After surviving a close DRS call, the southpaw went for the attack against Lyon and was caught at short extra cover.
Kuhnemann got this third wicket of the morning when Iyer played an attempted cut on to his stumps and within first hour of play, India had lost half their side.
Kohli and K S Bharat shared 26 runs for the sixth wicket and looked confident in the middle. However both departed towards the end of the session to end a rather forgettable sessions for the hosts.
Kohli was adjudged leg before off Murphy while trying to flick one that pitched on the off-stump and turned to hit the middle.
Bharat, who slog swept Murphy for a six, was out lbw to Lyon while offering a long defensive stride.
