There was no clear winner on the first day, but the man who stood tall once again for Australia was their skipper Steve Smith. Smith remained unbeaten on 72 and holding the innings together with Brad Haddin, as Australia finished the day on 259/5 in Melbourne.
Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav took two wickets apiece, while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took one wicket. Umesh, in particular, bowled with vengeance in the first session and that was the time when India crawled to the top.
Team India completely dominated the first ten minutes of play as both Aussie openers, David Warner and Chris Rogers, looked vulnerable. The pressure soon paid off, when Umesh dismissed Warner for a duck, but the visitors failed to maintain the momentum.
Shane Watson joined Rogers and played through the morning session, with hitting boundaries at ease. They put together a 115-run partnership and completed their respective fifties in the post-lunch session to give Australia the upper hand.
India, however, fought back in the second session when Rogers and Watson were dismissed in a space of one over. Shami got Rogers (57), while Ashwin trapped Watson (52) lbw in the very next over to put Australia on the back foot.
Smith, meanwhile, again played a captain’s knock and stitched a 69-run stand for the fourth wicket with Shaun Marsh. The partnership was broken by Shami, who dismissed Marsh (32), just when he started to look dangerous.
India got another breakthrough when Umesh got the wicket of Joe Burns to restrict Australia on 216/5. Burns, who was making his debut for Australia, failed to make his debut count and was dismissed cheaply.
Earlier, Australia elected to bat first on the Boxing Day with Burns and Ryan Harris coming into the team in place of Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Starc. For India, KL Rahul made debut and Shami drafted into the squad.
