There was plenty of action on the field on the first day of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Nagpur with players taking centrestage in the middle and commentators throwing verbal volleys at each other off the field.
Former Australia cricketer Mark Waugh got into verbal banters with Dinesh Karthik and Ravi Shastri even as India continued to dominate the proceedings at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium.
Waugh was reminded off his 4-0 series prediction during the 2020-21 BGT series in Australia after India were bowled out for 36 in the Adelaide Test.
Mark Waugh vs Ravi Shastri
Shastri was quick to bring up that topic as he was the Indian head coach at the time. "I remember one prediction from Mark, India will lose 4-0 when we got all out for 36."
Waugh quickly shot back with, "I am not the only one who predicted that (smile)".
India eventually went on to stage one of the greatest comebacks in sporting history to stun Australia in the remainder of the series and win it 2-1.
Mark Waugh vs Dinesh Karthik
Waugh then got into an argument with wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik on the topic of the Nagpur pitch, which hogged all the limelight before the Test match.
Australia struggled big time in their first innings, scoring just 177 runs in 24 overs as they failed the trial by spin that India dished out.
Ravindra Jadeja bagged five wickets while Ravichandran Ashwin took three as Australia crumbled under pressure.
DK feels 'India will bat only once', Waugh responds
Looking at Australia's performance with the bat, Karthik said "I do feel India will bat only once in the Test match."
Mark Waugh: “We'll see about that DK, we'll see about that.”
Dinesh Karthik: “Mark my words Mark.”
Mark Waugh: “What time is it. It's five past three. I'll write that in my diary. He could be right. It's not going to be easy, it's not going to be a stroll in the park.”
Dinesh Karthik: “But at the same time, it's not as tough as the Aussie batters made it out to be either.”
Mark Waugh: “All I'm saying is never judge a pitch until two sides have bat. Lets see how things unfold."
