Harbhajan Singh expected KL Rahul to play with more positive intent as the Indian opener got out cheaply on Day 1 of the Nagpur Test

The Border Gavaskar Trophy went underway as the first day of the first Test saw India bundled out the visitors for a paltry 177 as Marnus Labuschagne scored the highest for Australia as fell one short of his half century. Overall the star of the day was Ravindra Jadeja who picked up another five wicket haul.

In their response Rohit Sharma was off the blocks quickly as he played his shots and took the attack to the opposition bowlers, mainly Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon. He was aggressive with his approach and scored runs in every opportunity. Whereas his opening partner KL Rahul was more watchful and played a more defensive brand of cricket. Unfortunately for him he got out to debutant Todd Murphy in the last over of the day.

Reviewing the play from Day 1, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh felt that KL Rahul could have also followed his skipper and played positively rather than going in on a shell. He feels that if the opportunity comes Rahul will score big in the second innings.

“KL Rahul would be disappointed as he was taking more time. I believe if he could have kept an attacking approach then he could have scored more. I hope in the second innings if he gets the chance to bat, he will score some runs for his own confidence,” Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.

The former off-spinner feels that it is a great opportunity for ROhit Sharma to make it big and score a big hundred whereas he sees India scoring 300 plus runs in the first innings, putting the pressure on the visitors.

“I am hoping that India scores 300-350 on this pitch,” he added. “Captain Rohit Sharma started a great innings (and) is not out with more than 50 runs. If he plays the entire first session then there will be expectations for a century,” he added.

The Visitors were more concerned about the spin on this nagpur wicket but it was the duo of Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami who broke havoc in the Australian dugout as Siraj picked up Usman Khawaja on his first delivery. Shami also followed suit as he cleaned up David Warner’s off-stump in the following over.

While later Jadeja spun his web and picked up a fine five wicket haul and dismissed the visitors for 177. Harbhajan feels that if India score near 350, he does not feel that Australia will be able to cross 200 in the second innings as well. He feels that the pitch will get better for spinners and it won’t be easy for them to handle the three Indian spinners.

“If India scores anywhere near 350 then I doubt Australia will be able to score more than 200 in the second innings. The more you bowl on this pitch, the more it will spin. If it spins then Australia will surrender against India’s three spinners,” Harbhajan concluded.

It will be interesting to see if Rohit Sharma manages to get to his century and how much runs India pile on. It will also be a very crucial day for the visitors especially for the likes of Lyon and Murphy.