RCB pacers bright spot for India on a gloomy day in Sydney

Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith finally came together to put Australia in a position of strength at the end of day 1 of Sydney Test. It was the RCB duo of Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini who saved the day for India by bagging a wicket each.

Having opted to bat first, Australia lost David Warner early off Mohammed Siraj before rain arrived to prevent any further play before lunch. The rain continued to be relentless and the game could only begin at 3 PM local time, limiting the number of overs to 57 for the day. Scheduled close of play was extended by an hour to 6:30 PM local time

However, the rain did not impact the rhythm of the Aussie batters as debutant Will Pucovski brought his fifty followed by Marnus Labuschagne who remained unbeaten at the end of play.

Pucovski was given a reprieve twice by Rishabh Pant, once off the bowling of R Ashwin and again off Mohammed Siraj.

Navdeep Saini, playing his debut Test match removed Pucovski off a delivery that came in with the angle and struck him right in front to prevent further damage.

Steve Smith who has not had a successful series so far, replaced Pucovski in the middle. With a proactive approach, Smith used his feet quite often in his bid to unsettle R Ashwin. Australia also were a little more aggressive than they have been in the series.

On a track that has not offered much to the bowlers, Smith looks set for a big one. And with Labuschagne already batting on 67, India would hope for a spirited performance on day 2 to wrest the ground they seemed to have ceded on the opening day.