Australia finally produced the fightback that all cricket fans were waiting for. The visitors took the honours on the first day of the third Test against India as they took a decisive lead of 47 runs after bowling the hosts out for 109 at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.
Aussie batters managed to tackle the spin threat from Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel to reach 156 for 4 at stumps on Day 1.
Usman Khawaja led the way with the bat, scoring 60 while Marnus Labuschagne made 31 in their 96-run partnership which proved crucial on a pitch where all the other batters struggled.
After a disastrous show in the first-two Tests, Australia finally pulled up their socks and actually showed the hosts on how to play on a difficult Indore wicket as they applied themselves much better than their Indian counterparts.
Khawaja and Labuschagne compiled Australia's highest partnership of the series before Ravindra Jadeja got rid of both settled batters in the space of 9 overs.
The left-arm spinner took all four Aussie wickets to fall, including that of captain Steven Smith for 26.
Khawaja later explained how it was to bat on this pitch and his partnership with Labuschagne.
"I executed my plans, tried to score when I saw a scoring opportunity and respected the good ball.
"It is not rocket science, it was good to get a partnership with Marnus, felt like the start was the toughest time to bat with the new ball being inconsistent but it was nice to get the partnership. It is not an easy wicket out therem," Khawaja said.
Jadeja bowled 24 overs in which he picked a four-wicket haul for 63 runs and six maidens.
India struggle with the bat
Indian batters' struggle with spin was exposed once again as they got bowled out for 109 with left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann picking his maiden five-wicket haul in just his second Test for Australia.
Kuhnemann removed openers Rohit Sharma (12) and Shubman Gill (21) before sending back Ravindra Jadeja (4), Ravichandran Ashwin (3) and Umesh Yadav (17) to put Australia in the driver's seat.
Nathan Lyon backed him up with three wickets while Todd Murphy took one as Aussie spinner's shared 9 wickets between themselves.
Gill and Virat Kohli (22) were the only two Indians who scored over 20 runs while four others managed in double digits. Kohli was actually looking settled before Murphy trapped him leg before wicket.
Khawaja expects pitch to get worse
Batting seemed tougher in the first session in which India lost 7 wickets for 80-odd runs and Khawaja shared how it was in the morning.
"It is hard to say (if the pitch changed), it was spinning in the morning and spinning in the afternoon, it is a spin friendly wicket. We will know more tomorrow but I don't expect it to get any better," Khawaja said.
