AUS vs IND, 2020-21: 3rd Test, Day 1 – A rare failure at home for Warner, Debutant gets another debutant and more stats

Rain interruptions made a mark on the opening day of the Sydney Test as only 55 overs of play was possible. Australia, electing to bat first, lost David Warner for just 5 runs in the bowling of Mohammed Siraj. But Will Pucovski made most of the chances given by Rishabh Pant and scored 62 on his debut. His innings came to an end after a century stand with Marnus Labuschagne (67*) as he was trapped in front by another debutant Navdeep Saini. Labuschagne went to stumps along with Steve Smith (31*) with Australia making 166/2.

Here are all the statistical highlights from the rain-marred opening day’s play in the Sydney Test match:

Decent debut for Pucovski:

3 – Will Pucovski is only the 3rd Australian to score a fifty as an opener in maiden innings on Test debut in the last 27 years. Ed Cowan scored 68 in the 2011 Melbourne Test against India while Aaron Finch made 62 during the 2018 Dubai Test against Pakistan.

22y 240d – At the age of 22 years and 240 days, Will Pucovski became the youngest debutant to face the first ball of a Test match on Australian soil in the last 42 years. Overall, Pucovski is the 3rd youngest debutant to face the first ball of a Test match and also the 5th youngest Australian to do so.

A rare failure at home for Warner:

5 – David Warner’s score of 5 was his first single-digit score in Test cricket across his last 25 innings at home. The last instance of Warner registering a single-digit score in a home Test innings was in the 2016 Hobart Test against South Africa where he made only 1 run in Australia’s first innings.

Debutant gets another debutant:

1 – Navdeep Saini became first Indian to claim his maiden wicket in Test cricket by dismissing opposition’s debutant who had got to a fifty. Saini, overall, is the 5th Indian debutant in Test cricket to pick the opposition’s debutant as the maiden wicket. The last of the previous four such instances came when Zaheer Khan dismissed Bangladesh’s Mehrab Hossain in the 2000 Dhaka Test.

A rare century stand for Australia:

100 – The partnership of 100 runs between Will Pucovski and Marnus Labuschagne is the first century stand for Australia in their last five Test matches against India. Their last 100-run stand in a Test match against India came during the 2018 Perth Test when Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch put on 112 for the first wicket.

Labuschagne @ 6000 runs:

6018* – Marnus Labuschagne completed 6000 runs in Test cricket when he went past his individual score of 49 on the first day’s play.

Rohit’s first under Rahane:

1 – The Sydney Test is the first instance of Ajinkya Rahane leading a team involving Rohit Sharma in his professional career. Till date, the duo has featured in 170 professional matches together for the same team including 95 International matches. [62 FC, 76 List A, 32 T20s]

Either of the two players was the captain only once in those 170 games when Rohit led Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2011-12 game against Saurashtra. The SCG Test is also the first Test match for Rohit Sharma where Virat Kohli is not part of the playing XI.