'Australians are guilty of...': Mark Waugh points out turning point of 1st Test after India’s thrashing win

India crushed Australia in the first Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, winning by an innings and 132 runs at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on Saturday. The hosts were in dominant form as the visitors were bowled out for 91 runs, and were all out within a session for a score which is also their second lowest Test cricket total against India. Steve Smith remained unbeaten on 25 runs off 51 deliveries as his teammates were sent back to the pavilion, with Ravichandran Ashwin taking a five-wicket haul to end the Australian second innings, while Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets, to follow up on his five-wicket haul from the first innings.

Rohit Sharma and Co. were earlier all out for 400, taking a lead of 223 runs as Jadeja and Axar Patel's partnership blew the wind out of Australia's sails towards the end of Day 2, failing to add much to their stand on Day 3. But Axar kept up the pressure and stitched together a partnership with Mohammed Shami, who registered 37 runs off 47 deliveries. Meanwhile, Axar was the last Indian wicket to fall, with a knock of 84 runs off 174 deliveries.

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Speaking on Star Sports, former Australia cricketer Mark Waugh lavished praise on Axar and Shami's batting display and also pointed out that a dropped catch of the latter proved to be 'costly'. The Aussie legend also felt that Pat Cummins and Co. should have bowled more short deliveries.

"The pitch was fresh, it looked like it was spinning a lot more. They got Jadeja out early on. You have got to give credit to Axar Patel and Mohammad Shami, they batted really well. There was a dropped catch for Shami, which was costly. I think from my point of view, Patel batted really well", he said.

"I would have liked to see Pat Cummins bowl a bit more. I don’t think they bowled enough short stuff. When the tail enders start to form a partnership and look comfortable on the crease, I believe it’s worth to roll the dice a little bit.

"I know the surface is slow but never know what you can get out of it. I think Australia only bowled two or three short balls in the entire innings. I think they should have hit the pitch hard and see what happens. Maybe the Australians are guilty of not trying enough and waiting for something to happen, a mistake by the Indian batters maybe", he further added.

The first Test match also saw Rohit Sharma slam a century in the first innings, clobbering 120 runs off 212 balls as he became the first Indian captain to hit a ton across all three formats in international cricket.