Australia faces the possibility of being replaced by Matt Renshaw after being left ‘dizzy’ by a blow to the head. Meanwhile, selectors were as embattled as the batters.
An odd assortment of Australian cricketers scratched and scrambled their way to 263 on the first day of the Delhi Test, but Australia’s has a concern with David Warner who is possibly concussed after a blow to the head.
Warner is said to be dizzy and was unable to take the field.
RECAP DAY TWO OF THE SECOND TEST AS IT HAPPENED BELOW
“The medical staff will have to assess tomorrow, he is a little bit weary at the moment,” Usman Khawaja said after play.
“He got a knock to the arm and then the head, I think the head made him a little bit weary at the moment and couldn’t come out to field.
“The staff will have to figure out what happens from here.”
Warner did not have a concussion test on the field but will have to be replaced by Matthew Renshaw if he can’t carry on.
Australia’s score improvement on the 177 in Nagpur, now it is over to a bowling attack that features one seamer, Nathan Lyon and two young spinners with just one Test experience between them to see whether it is enough.
Matthew Kuhnemann, believe it or not, opened the bowling with his skipper. The slow left arm orthodox with 13 first class matches and 35 wickets under his belt had flown to India in the last week as cover for Mitchell Swepson. India survived the nine overs to finish 0-21.
David Warner did not take the field in the final session “not feeling 100 percent … after some heavy blows to the body and the head while batting”.
The opener was struck a nasty blow on the arm in the first hour but defied the pain to continue his innings.
Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb defied the disorder on the first day, both senior batsmen scoring solid half centuries, but neither able to convert.
Khawaja ran out of luck on 81 and Handscomb out of partners, returning to the pavilion on 72no.
Mohammed Shami took 4-60 and the two Ravis — Jadeja and Ashwin — six wickets between them
END OF CHANGES
The day dawned chaotic in Delhi for the team, the morning hectic for harried batsman who must have felt as if they were padded up and trapped in the torment of traffic outside the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.
Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green didn’t make it from the hotel to the team sheet. Scott Boland was lost between here and Nagpur. Matthew Renshaw with him.
Queensland left arm orthodox Mattthew Kuhnemann snuck through security for his debut.
Australia lost 3-94 in a first session that felt as if it was in fast forward and 3-205 as the second continued at pace. True to their word, the top order advanced at 3.5 an over, resigned it seemed to the fact they best have a good-ish time for it weren’t to be a long one.
Usman Khawaja’s half century will rank among the finer he has scored. To survive and prosper out there was an act of skill, bravery and some luck.
It took a brilliant catch to bring it to an end on 81, but the sight of the batsman on one knee, bent over his bat like a knight over his sword, told the story.
He needed to go on, he needed to prosper where others couldn’t. He almost got there.
A century here would have been worth double, the team needed him to on, but you could not fault him for what he’d achieved, surviving all this brilliant Indian side could throw at him for 140 minutes and 125 balls.
Khawaja put on 50 with David Warner (15), 41 with Marnus Labuschagne (18) and 59 with Handscomb.
The Victorian captain, recalled to the team for this series, hadn’t gone past 50 in Bangladesh back in 2017. He batted with simple intelligence and flair making the most of conditions as the ball softened and conditions eased.
The first two hours were frantic and fascinating. And somewhat foretold — although not without surprises.
The ball swung alarmingly in the early morning air, it rose steeply from the seamers and it spun significantly for the spinners. There was absolutely no relief, no place to hide.
The game rarely paused. Steve Smith made a duck, a resurrected Travis Head just 12, Khawaja was the only member of the top five to pass 18.
SELECTION SHOCKS
Australia named an extraordinary XI, the selectors embattled as the batters.
Rocked by the news that Starc and Green are still not fit, they brought in Matthew Kuhnemann, the left arm orthodox from Queensland to make his debut in place of Scott Boland.
Matthew Renshaw was replaced by Travis Head, apparently because the left-hander brings even more spin to the side.
Pat Cummins is the only seam bowler in the XI.
They did that in Bangladesh in 2017, but had Hilton Cartwright to bowl some seam. Here that task may fall on Marnus Labuschagne, if anyone.
The changes were so significant that the camp saw it necessary to wheel out selector Tony Dodemaide to explain them before play.
The Australian top order did all they could to hold back this mesmerising Indian attack but it wasn’t enough.
If Shami and Siraj don’t get you, Ashwin and Jadeja will.
Ashwin is now the second bowler, behind Anil Kumble, to take 100 wickets in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
David Warner battled bravely under fire. Some will say his 15 was a failure, but surviving 44 balls out there and making it to drinks was the equivalent of making it to tea in Australia.
Mohammed Shami brutalised him with bouncers. Banging one into an arm that hanged limp by the openers side as he stood emotionless by the wicket, surrounded by medical staff.
It took him 21 deliveries to get off the mark and he had just got into gear when an Shami found the edge.
He had, at the very least, seen off the significant early swing, if not the critics who feel his time is up.
Khawaja has put in blue collar toil in the nets in this series and its paying off, after the first hour he expanded, hitting Ravi Ashwin over his head and reversing both sides to keep the score board ticking.
He and Marnus Labuschagne put on 36 in a four over spell after drinks in the knowledge that runs had to be scored early in this game.
Labuschagne eventually fell, as you must, to Ashwin after a proactive 18 from 25 deliveries. At 2-91 things didn’t look too bad, but they became worse soon after when Steve Smith was dismissed for a duck from just two deliveries.
The selections were as fascinating as the cricket.
Kuhnemann was flown in and leap frogged Ashton Agar who has failed to meet expectations and has acknowledged his lack of preparedness.
Selectors clearly deemed a left arm orthodox was essential, for they had the option of sticking with Scott Boland.
“Team selection here was driven by two factors: the conditions and the personnel available,” Dodemaide told reporters by the sight screen before the toss.
“The key thing is, Greeny didn’t quite make it. Starcy isn’t quite 100% as well and the other thing driving the key point between Renners and Heady was we thought we were short of fifth bowling support in Nagpur was something we lacked a bit of, so we feel as Heady even though he’s an off-spinner that goes the same way that he’s a more robust option for a fifth as a chop out as required.
It’s a bit unusual going the three spin and one quick.”
It was essential to win the toss for this wicket looks as if it will become as un navigable as a minefield in no time at all.
It’s claiming victims already.
10:08PM WARNER INJURY SCARE
David Warner is off the field and will not return to the field on day one after the brutal innings in which he copped head and body blows while batting.
It’s understood Warner was experiencing dizziness and his issues were related to a brutal delivery he copped to the helmet as opposed to a different blow to his elbow.
The opener only made 15, but played a brave innings where he copped savage blows to his elbow and helmet.
9.42PM AUSTRALIA ALL OUT FOR 263
Australia’s innings has finally finished at 263, with Peter Handscomb making a fine 72 not out.
India now has a tricky eight or nine over period to survive before stumps.
Australia will be hunting wickets with Pat Cummins as their sole fast bowler after a radical attack was picked.
It remains to be seen who will open the bowling with Cummins.
Mohammed Shami finished with four wickets for India in an excellent display.
9.36PM JADEJA NO BALLS ON LAST WICKET
Ravi Jadeja has blown the chance to end Australia’s innings after being nabbed for a front foot no ball.
Peter Handscomb should have been out for 67 and Australia on their way for 256, but earned a reprieve when the in-stadium blasted at Delhi.
Handscomb had smashed a ball straight to a fielder and India’s opening batsmen sprinted off the field to get ready for their innings, only to be called back by the umpires.
Jadeja is a freak of a player but his penchant for bowling front foot no balls has been his achilles heel.
9.02PM AUSSIES FACE FIGHT TO REACH 250
Pat Cummins posted his highest Test score since 2018, but Australia lost back-to-back wickets to be in danger of being bowled out on day one.
Cummins’ batted aggressively and well, but after being trapped lbw by Ravi Jadeja, Todd Murphy came and went just four balls later to what Mark Waugh described as a “naive” shot.
Murphy made the third duck of the Australian innings (after Steve Smith and Alex Carey) and the innings is in the balance at 8-233.
Australia is certainly in a much stronger first innings position than they were in Nagpur when bowled out for 178, thanks to Usman Khawaja (81) and a superb knock from Peter Hansdcomb (59 not out).
But India will still fancy their chances of taking an advantage in the Test if they can limit Australia to under 250.
8.52PM MURPHY BOWLED
Todd Murphy doesn’t trouble the scorers as he leaves a huge gap and Jadeja rips one through. Australia is 8-227 and Nathan Lyon joins Handscomb.
8.50PM CUMMINS LBW
Pat Cummins reviews, but it always looked out and DRS agrees. Ravi Jadeja fires a quicker ball in that smashes into the Australian captain’s pad and it was hitting middle stump halfway up. That partnership was worth a valuable 59 for Australia, of which Cummins made 33 from 59 balls.
7.45PM TEA – AUSTRALIA 6-199 (CUMMINS 23NO, HANDSCOMB 36NO)
Pat Cummins has thrown down the gauntlet to India with an inspired passage of batting before tea.
Australian great Matthew Hayden feared Australia might be “six out, all out” after the last recognised batsman Alex Carey went for a duck to leave the visitors 6-168.
But Cummins (23 not out off 30) joined Peter Handscomb (36 not out) and went into IPL mode.
Cummins blasted Ravi Ashwin for two massive sixes and put the pressure back on India, to lift Australia to 6-199 at the tea break.
The skipper followed up with two boundaries off Mohammed Siraj in the last over before tea to push the partnership with Handscomb up to 31, with Australia just a run away from 200.
Hayden said if Cummins and Handscomb can keep going after tea, Australia could swing the momentum of day one – and the Test – in their favour.
“Another 50 or 60, they’re right in the game Australia,” Hayden said in commentary on Fox Cricket.
Hayden said points were split in the second session thanks to the Handscomb and Cummins partnership helping elevate the scoring rate.
One of the issues Australia faced in the first Test was having such a lengthy tail, accentuated with no Mitchell Starc or Ashton Agar in the line-up.
Cummins has produced great batting moments in the past, but has been out of form for a while.
But with the series on the line, the captain stepped up and delivered.
Despite losing six wickets, Australia’s scoring rate has been impressive all day – with 90 odd posted in each of the first two sessions.
Handscomb has not reached 40 in Test cricket since September 2017 but is making the most of his return to Test cricket after several years in the wilderness.
Brought in as a sub-continental specialist – Handscomb has impressed in both Tests so far.
7.30PM THE MANY HATS OF PETER HANDSCOMB
It’s been a hat’s off performance from Peter Handscomb so far … literally.
The comeback Australian batsman has rocked a helmet, a baggy green and a white floppy during his impressive unbeaten innings of 32.
Handscomb has worked very hard to make his way back to the Australian side and is doing it in style.
Australian great Matthew Hayden put the pressure on Pat Cummins and the team’s long tail to stick with Handscomb.
“It’s been a case of six out, all out. It’s not good enough,” said Hayden.
Cummins’ has started positively and launched Ravi Ashwin out of the ground with a superb attacking six.
7.05PM RAHUL’S CATCH FOR THE AGES
Indian star KL Rahul has pulled off a one-handed screamer to get rid of Usman Khawaja in a “game changing” moment in Delhi.
Khawaja was playing one of the innings’ of his life, 82 not out and putting serious pressure back on the Indians in a 50-run partnership with Peter Handscomb.
But Khawaja middled a reverse sweep off Ravindra Jadeja and thought it was heading to the fence, only for Rahul to throw himself into the air and take the spectacular grab.
It left Australia 5-167 and changed the entire feel of the first day’s play.
“No way. That’s a game changer that one. That is a great catch by KL Rahul,” Mark Waugh said on commentary on Fox Cricket.
“Right out the middle, starting to tail away…that’s a beauty.
“That’s the sort of catch that can change the game.
“Khawaja has played beautifully and he will count himself very unlucky there.”
The misery for Australia was accentuated when the last of the recognised batsmen, Alex Carey was nicked off by Ravi Ashwin for a duck.Virat Kohli made no mistake with the first slip catch after dropping a couple in the first Test.
6.45PM KHAWAJA’S HIGHEST SCORE VS INDIA
Usman Khawaja has surpassed his highest ever score against India in a monumental batting display in the first Test.
Khawaja scored 72 against India in Perth back in 2018, but went past that mark with a lovely boundary off Axar Patel in the middle session.
The Queenslander has carried Australia on his shoulders on his way to 77 not out and has put the visitors in a position to build a solid first innings total that gives them a chance of fighting their way back into the series.
Khawaja missed out in the first Test, but the knock continues on from his giant performances in Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year.
The left-hander’s transformation against spin bowling since 2018 when he was recalled to the side against the Pakistan in the UAE has been incredible.
6.25PM HEAD’S MISSED CHANCE TO PROVE ASIAN CREDENTIALS
Travis Head has failed to send selectors the pointed message he would have desperately hoped, falling for 12 playing a loose shot outside off-stump.
Australia feared that Head’s skills would not be up to the challenge of extreme spin conditions in India, hence why they left him out of the first Test in Nagpur.
However, it was to the wily pace of Indian quick Mohammad Shami that ultimately claimed Head’s wicket.
Head will shake his head at the dismissal to an unnecessary shot to a wide ball, but you have to say it is the way he plays.
That swashbuckling style came off at home and helped spearhead Australia’s triumphant win over South Africa.
Still, Mark Waugh noted the only way Head can improve in these conditions is to play in them and Head looked better against the spin than he did in Sri Lanka last year.
Selectors earlier explained their decision to backflip on Head and pick him ahead of Matthew Renshaw.
“…The other thing driving the key point between Renners and Heady was really we thought we were short of fifth bowling support in Nagpur … so we feel Heady, even though he’s an off-spinner that goes the same way, that he’s a more robust option for a fifth (bowler) as a chop out as required,” Selector Tony Dodemaide said.
“Renners is really stiff. There’s no slight on him. He’s very much a valued player in our team planning moving forward. He was quite stiff, particularly in the first innings there. So he hasn’t been dropped for those performances.”
6.05PM HEAD CAUGHT
KL Rahul holds onto a sharp chance in the slips and Travis Head has to go for 12.
From 1-91, Australia has lost 3-17 and India is on top.
5.45PM CAN HEAD SEND SELECTORS A MESSAGE?
Travis Head’s record on the subcontinent cost him a spot in the first Test team but he has a big opportunity now to send a message.
Head and Usman Khawaja have the job of ressurecting Australia’s innings after Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were out just before lunch.
Head has already faced more balls than Matt Renshaw did in the first Test.
“This is a completely different kettle of fish here,” says Mark Waugh, referring to Head’s dominance of the Aussie summer.
4.55PM KHAWAJA REVIEWS SUCCESSFULLY
Wow! That’s a huge reprieve. India thought it had Usman Khawaja lbw too but Ravi Jadeja’s ball landed just outside leg stump.
“India have fought back and levelled it right on the lunch break,” says Mark Waugh in commentary.
4.51PM SMITH GONE TOO!
Disaster for Australia as Ashwin lands a double blow.
He goes around the wicket, gets one to go straight when Steve Smith plays for turn and he’s out for a duck.
Travis Head now gets his chance with Australia 3-91.
4.50PM DANGER MAN FALLS WITH LUNCH IN SIGHT
Indian risks its second review of the morning on Marnus Labuschagne and it pays off.
Ravi Ashwin gets a ball to turn sharply from outside off stump and it’s just in line with off stump when it strikes the Australian No.3.
Australia is 2-91.
That was absolutely plumb and you’ve got to wonder how it was given not out live.
4.35PM MANKAD WARNING
There has been the first hint of a Mankad in the Test tour of India.
Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin held the ball in the seventh over when Marnus Labuschagne had ventured half a metre out of his crease.
Ashwin spun on his heel after not going through with his delivery and walked back to his mark – not acknowledging Labuschagne or motioning towards the stumps.
However, it was clearly a silent warning and the first hint that a Mankad could occur in this series.
Ashwin has performed Mankad dismissals in the past and has probably been its loudest advocate as a legitimate dismissal.
He caused controversy during the IPL in 2019 when he used the dismissal to remove Jos Buttler.
4.15PM WARNER GONE!
The around-the-wicket plan works against David Warner again.
Shami gets a delivery to angle back at the Aussie opener who edges behind to wicketkeeper KS Bharat.
Australia’s opening pair put on 50, with Warner out for 15 from 44 balls.
“You get the feeling even during this innings that the way he watches the ball normally is not the same,” Ravi Shastri says on SEN.
3.55PM INDIAN BOWLERS WORKING WARNER OVER
David Warner is having to put his body on the line as he faces a baptism of fire from India’s bowlers.
Warner was struck under the elbow early in the first session, causing a delay in play, and has also been hit on the helmet.
Usman Khawaja has done most of the early scoring as Warner digs in and tries to defy his nemesis Ravichandran Ashwin.
3.35PM PITCH ‘COULD EXPLODE’ BY DAY THREE
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden fears the Delhi pitch could “explode” by the third day of the second Test.
Hayden said the pitch was akin to a day two or three wicket already and significant cracks at either end would make life difficult for batsmen.
Media were banned from getting too close to the wicket before the Test to take photos after the Nagpur pitch caused days of controversy.
“When you go down this track it does look like a second (or) third day wicket,” Hayden said.
“Particularly right there, that’s on about a five or six-metre length that (crack).
“Then it tends to go a nice cover of grass through that middle phase…as we get to the back end, again shaved down.
“Muddy conditions and big plates. You just hope that it doesn’t get too hit otherwise I think this wicket could explode on day three.
“Dusty, dry and it’s going to turn.”
3.05PM WARNER GETS DRS REPRIEVE
David Warner survives after being given out lbw — and boy did he need that.
Mohammad Shami gets a ball to tail back from around the wicket (Warner’s achilles heel in case you haven’t heard) and he’s given out lbw.
But Warner always looked confident in his review and DRS shows he hit the ball onto his pad.
2.33PM AUSTRALIA’S BOLD SELECTION CALLS PAYS OFF
Australia has won a crucial toss in Delhi after picking a death or glory team for the second Test.
David Warner will get the chance to prove his critics wrong straight off the bat after Pat Cummins elected to bat first for the must-win clash.
Cummins is the sole seam bowler in a radical Australian side featuring three spinners, including debutant Matthew Kuhnemann – a left-arm spinner.
Ex-greats Allan Border and Brett Lee praised selectors for admitting they got it wrong by dumping Travis Head for the first Test, after he was immediately recalled for the second Test in place of Matthew Renshaw.
Head may also have a chance on day one to show why it was a mistake to leave him out of the series opener, with Border describing his recall as an admission from selectors that they’d got it wrong first up.
“That’s basically what they’re saying. Apparently his net form hasn’t looked that good. But I know a lot of players that wouldn’t have played a Test match on net form,” Border said on Fox Cricket.
“He deserves the opportunity. Well, he gets it now. Fingers crossed it works for him. He’s a very good player and I think he’s improved. You’re allowed to improve and I think he has.”
Lee said winning the toss had given Australia a good start.
“The first win of the day. Now they’ve got to convert that into some runs. if they can get some big first innings runs they’re a chance,” Lee said on Fox.
Border said Kuhnemann was a good addition.
“He’s a great lad. Great work ethic. Bowls to Marnus Labuschagne hours and hours on end,” Border said, after Labuschagne presented Kuhnemann with his baggy green cap.
“He won’t let us down. He’ll bowl nice and steady. As long as he doesn’t try and do too much. He’ll get those natural variations himself.”
Indian captain Rohit Sharma lamented not winning the toss on a dry deck in Delhi.
“Batting first would have been ideal,” Rohit said.
“But the kind of application we showed in the last game put the toss factor away.
“We pride ourselves even though we lost the toss we came back well. And that’s what will be required here again. Don’t worry about the toss.”
12PM: Can King Kohli snap three-year form slump?
– Robert Craddock
There’s more to this Test than Australia’s mysterious selections … like Virat Kohli trying to snap a three-year form slump in the shadows of the Virat Kohli Pavilion.
If ever there is a ground on which Kohli will fancy his chances of turning his form around it’s surely the one on which he grew up on, the Arun Jaitley Stadium formerly the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in his home city Delhi.
Kohli feels so much at home when he returns to Delhi that he resisted the chance to catch the team bus to training this week but drove himself through streets he knew so well and broke the internet with a post over how “nostalgic’’ it was.
Kohli has been a fascinating case study in recent years with his Test average falling from just under 55 to its current mark of 48.69.
That’s quite a slide.
In seven of his last eight Test series Kohli has averaged less than 29. His last Test century was 11 series and three years ago against Bangladesh. That is some drought for a man who once scored 10 Test tons in three years.
Kohli had a four-year period in Tests between 2016-20 when he averaged 65 in Tests and over 40 against every team he played against.
He brought an electric crackle to the crease and so impressive was the package that Steve Waugh once said to his son Austin “if you want to look at just one batsman to learn from look at Kohli.’’
His tough run started at the start of the Covid era in 2020 but it’s almost too convenient to say Covid life corrupted the fluency of his play.
The absolute peak of his career was his dam-busting 2017 which featured five Test tons, 1322 runs at an average of 75 and a blistering strike rate of 76.
But his strike rate has slowed down with a lack of success. Over the last four years his strike rates have been 40, 44, 39 and 46. From a batsman who used to roar along at 60-70 runs per 100 balls a few years before, these numbers represent a significant change of gear.
The world’s most confident batsmen has been lacking confidence.
No-one really knows why Kohli’s Test numbers faded. Did he drain too much from himself while shining in all three formats? Did the captaincy drain him? Is he not as hungry as he was?
Kohli is so treasured in his home city that he has had a pavilion named after him while he is still playing, a rare honour.
The crowd will give him a rapturous welcome when he bats on his home turf. Whether that vibe that reignites the Kohli of old is the big question.
Originally published as India v Australia: David Warner left dizzy after blow to the head as Aussies make 263 in first innings
Well played to Bangladesh too, gave India proper scare! 
solid partnership. Shreyas was particularly impressive in this series against fine spin bowling. Key win. Home Series v Australia will be a tough assignment. Still feel batting has to step up
but Shreyas Iyer remains unbeaten on 