'I thought it was...' - Michael Vaughan reacts after Virat Kohli survives controversial call

Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli survived a close call in the very first ball that he faced. Scott Boland induced an edge off Kohli’s bat that Steve Smith caught and relayed it to a teammate. After the catch was completed, Australia celebrated as the on field umpires sought the help of the TV umpires. It was deemed that the ball had touched the ground and Kohli got a huge reprieve. 

After the decision came to light, former England skipper Michael Vaughan wrote on Twitter “I thought that was out…’’. Many fans weren’t convinced with the decision as the call divided the opinion of fans. Team India went down to lunch at 57/3 having lost Shubman Gill in the last ball before the interval. 

I thought that was OUT ..

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) January 3, 2025

Earlier in the day, Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and chose to bat first. India made two changes with Shubman Gill coming in for Rohit Sharma. Fast bowler Akash Deep missed the game due to injury and he was replaced by Prasidh Krishna who was playing his first game of the tour. 

Australia pegs back India with three crucial wickets

KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal came out to bat and added 11 runs for the first wicket. Mitchell Starc got things going when he had Rahul caught by Sam Konstas for four runs off 14 balls. Yashasvi Jaiswal was the next to go when he edged behind to give Scott Boland his first wicket as Alex Carey took an easy catch. Jaiswal was out for 10 after facing 26 balls with one boundary to his name. 

Shubman Gill batted for 64 balls for his 20 runs as he was caught by Steve Smith off Nathan Lyon. Virat Kohli was batting on 12 with Rishabh Pant set to join him post the lunch interval for the second session of play. Team India will be looking to post a decent score on the board considering the pitch will get helpful for batters in the next few days. 

Debutant Beau Webster bowled four overs for 2 runs with 2 maidens. Mitchell Starc who was supposedly suffering from injury bowled with pace and fire to trouble the Indian batters. Skipper Pat Cummins was his usual self having bowled 7 overs for 16 runs which included a maiden.