The Indian bowlers, with a combined experience of 2 tests performed beyond expectations to restrict Australia on the opening day of the 4th test at Gabba.
Two bowlers from Tamil Nadu, Washington Sundar ad T Natarajan, were handed their test debuts, surely, another first in the annals of Indian cricket.
Shardul Thakur was playing just his second test match and Mayank Agarwal came in place of Hanuma Vihari.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first on the bouncy wicket.
The plan seemed to have backfired as both the the Aussie openers fell quickly.
David Warner fell to Mohammed Siraj in the first over and Marcus Harris was removed by Shardul Thakur.
The partnership between Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith was beginning to look dangerous when Sundar removed Smith.
However, Labuschagne went on to score a century – his fifth in Test cricket. Labuschagne’s 204-ball knock had nine boundaries.
T Natarajan was the pick of the bowlers and struck twice to remove Labuschagne and Wade.
At stumps, captain Tim Paine and Cameron Green were batting on 38 and 28 respectively.
4th Test scorecard: Australia innings on Day 1
| Batsmen | Dismissals | Runs | Balls | Fours | Sixes |
| David Warner | c Rohit b Siraj | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcus Harris | c Sundar b Shardul | 5 | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Marnus Labuschagne | c Pant b Natarajan | 108 | 204 | 9 | 0 |
| Steve Smith | c Rohit b Sundar | 36 | 77 | 5 | 0 |
| Mathew Wade | c Thakur b Natarajan | 45 | 87 | 6 | 0 |
| Cameron Green | not out | 28 | 70 | 3 | 0 |
| Tim Paine | not out | 38 | 62 | 5 | 0 |
| Total: 274-5 in 87 Overs | |||||
| Bowler | Overs | Maiden | Runs | Wickets | |
| Mohammed Siraj | 19 | 8 | 51 | 1 | |
| T Natarajan | 20 | 2 | 63 | 2 | |
| Shardul Thakur | 18 | 5 | 67 | 1 | |
| Navdeep Saini | 7.5 | 2 | 21 | 0 | |
| Washington Sundar | 22 | 4 | 69 | 1 | |
| Rohit Sharma | 0.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
