“Even I can take fifer in that pitch”- Twitter fans react as Matthew Kuhnemann spins a web in Indore, leaves India’s batting order in tatters
As the pitch looks ideal for the spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel are expected to do the same with the tourists the way Kuhnemann and Lyon did to India.
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Matthew Kuhnemann
Australia tried different plans to tackle India, but nothing worked much except for their spinners. They knew, their pacers in Indian conditions won’t prove to be a great help. Hence first, they had gone for 22-year-old Todd Murphy, who made his debut, in the first Test in Nagpur, then went on to play three spinners for the first time in over 100 years in the Delhi Test.
Before the Delhi Test, the Aussies called for another uncapped player Matthew Kuhnemann, who was not even a part of the squad. All he could scalp were just two wickets in the first innings.
Now that the third match is shifted from Dharamshala to the Holkar Stadium in Indore, an extremely low bounce was witnessed which saw the Indian batting lineup fall like a pack of cards. Matthew Kuhnemann wreaked havoc first by dismissing India captain and opener Rohit Sharma, then sent Shubman Gill (who came in as a replacement for KL Rahul) into packing.
The 26-year-old Kuhnemann triggered the fall of wickets, and in a nick of time, India were reduced to 84/7 before lunch. Apart from Rohit and Gill, he sent Shreyas Iyer for a duck. Later, he would scalp two more wickets, of Ravichandran Ashwin and Umesh Yadav, to complete his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket. Not only Kuhnemann, but Nathan Lyon also ripped through India’s top order. He picked three wickets, while Todd Murphy got one, of Virat Kohli’s. Kohli became Murphy’s victim for the third time in this series.
Check how Twitter reacted to the fifer of Matthew Kuhnemann
Kuhnemann was called in as Australia’s other leg spinner because Mitchell Swepson had flown back to Australia for the birth of his first child. Before this India Test, he did not feature in many first-class matches as well. He played just 13 matches and scalped 35 wickets at 34.90.
As far as the match is concerned, India have registered a low total of 109/10. No batters could even cross the 30-run mark, with Virat Kohli scoring the highest for his team with 22 runs, followed by Gill’s 21.
As the pitch looks ideal for the spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel are expected to do the same with the tourists the way Kuhnemann and Lyon did to India. At the time of writing this article, Jadeja has already sent Travis Head back to the pavilion off lbw. Australia have so far scored 18/1 and are trailing behind 91 runs.
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Gouri Das
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