There have been very few occasions when players from a foreign team have been comfortable batting against Indian team in India. Such was the first day of the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This happened for the first time in the current series, when Australia could have a half-century partnership for the first wicket. Travis Head (32) and Usman Khawaja added 61 runs for the first wicket. This was only the fourth time in the last five years, when an opponent shared a partnership of 50 or more runs for the first wicket against India at home.
In the absence of opener Warner and Cummins, Steve Smith, who was carrying the responsibility of captaincy, batted like a pure test. Khawaja scored 104* off 251 balls while Smith scored 38 off 135 balls. Both batted well and took the bad balls across the boundary line. At stumps, Green was on 49 with Khawaja at the crease. Khawaja’s century is the first by an Australian batsman in the current series. This is the first time since 2017, when an Australian player scored a century in India. Then Steve Smith had scored a hundred.