The Aussies may not blame the Ranchi pitch now. Captain Steve Smith who called the pitch "quite dark" a day before, scored a ton and remained unbeaten on 117 runs to take his side to a commendable 299/4 at the end of the play on day one of the third Test here on Thursday.
After struggling at 140/4, Smith stood rock solid with Glenn Maxwell (82) for a 159 runs partnership for the fifth wicket to keep the visitors in firm control at the end of the opening day of play.
Going with their presumption that the pitch may turn difficult to bat in later phases of the match Australia decided to bat after winning the toss in the morning. The batsmen though appeared cautious playing shots in the early phase of the play.
India drew the first blood when opener Matt Renshaw was caught at 44, edging a wide delivery of Umesh Yadav. Captain Virat Kohli made no mistake in taking the catch at the first slip. The score was 50/1.
Renshaw and David Warner reached a 50 runs partnership in less than 10 overs at the beginning of the match but Ravindra Jadeja got Warner in his first over when he was on 19.
Shaun Marsh was again caught at short leg by Cheteshwar Pujara giving Ravichandran Ashwin his first wicket of the match before lunch.
Peter Handscomb came out at number four spot and smashed a cover drive on the first ball for a boundary to show his intentions to stay longer with Smith. However, he could not survive a deadly yorker from Umesh Yadav and was given lBW when he was on 19.
India were going fine having taken four wickets for 140 runs when Kohli hurt his right shoulder trying to save a boundary and left the field in the 40th over. Kohli was grimacing in pain when he left the field and applied ice packs on the injured spot while resting in the pavilion. He was later taken to hospital for scans. Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane did the captain's job through the remainder of the day after Kohli left the field.
After Handcomb's dismissal, Smith continued to play a patient game and took his side to 194 for four before tea break. Maxwell too avoided taking any risks and played for ones and twos for quite some time before going for a boundary. Both Maxwell and Smith continued the steady game to keep the scorecard moving with some occasional boundaries although Maxwell could not stop himself from hitting a six to cross his half century. Smith took about an hour to reach his 19th Test hundred from the score of 85 and remained composed till the end of the day.
Through the day, Umesh Yadav was the best performer from the Indian side with the ball. He took two wickets at the cost of 63 runs in 19 overs. Ishant Sharma also fared well as he gave 46 runs in 15 overs with two maidens. Ashwin and Jadeja tried to test the pitch for turn but remained largely unhappy with the results. The ball did not turn as much as the hosts expected it to on day one. The Australians were also surprised with the pitch as it gave them ample opportunities to choose their shots.
Earlier in the 20th over, Kohli replaced Jadeja with Yadav in a bid to break the Renshaw-Smith partnership. However, after several experiments with the field positioning, he changed his mind and brought back Jadeja - a trick that actually worked in the hosts' favour as Renshaw was caught by Rahane. .
An appeal by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha amused the audience as he tried for the dismissal of Steve Smith, who was on 97. Smith tried a flick shot but missed the ball and it got trapped between Smith's legs. Saha virtually tried to pick out the ball but by then it had fallen. Saha picked the ball up after both of them tumbled on the ground. Audiences including the umpire had smiles on their faces as many called it an overenthusiastic appeal.
The Indian squad saw the return of Murali Vijay who replaced Abhinav Mukund, while Australia had Maxwell and Pat Cummins taking the place of the injured Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Marsh.