Day One: On equal terms
Debutant Natarajan leads the second-string Indian charge, as Australia manage 274 for five, courtesy Labuschagne's ton
It was a fairytale sort on the first day of the 4th Test match between India and Australia, at Gaba, and it was Thangarasu Natarajan with his twin strikes, on debut headlining a commendable effort from an inexperienced Indian bowling attack, which reduced Australia to 274 for 5 despite a stylish hundred from Marnus Labuschagne on the opening day of the final Test here.
The Indian attack, with a collective experience of three Tests and 10 balls and 11 wickets in its kitty, was pitted against a batting line-up with 59 hundreds.
After 87 overs, the two Tamil Nadu rookies Natarajan (20-263-2) and Washington Sundar (2-4-63-1) could hold their heads high for a lion-hearted effort on a good batting pitch in the absence of the injured Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah.
If tall off-spinner Washington set up a nice little trap to get rid of Steve Smith (36 off 77 balls), Natarajan forced centurion Labuschagne (108 off 204 balls) and Matthew Wade (47 off 85 balls) to miscue their pull-shots after a 113-run stand which threatened to put India in a spot.
At stumps, Tim Paine (38) and Cameron Green (28) had added 61 runs for the sixth wicket and the visitors would need a few quick wickets to keep the first innings total within a manageable range.
The distance between Palayampatti, a non-descript village in Tamil Nadu's Salem, to Australia's modern city Brisbane is 9035 km on a google map.
But add the hardships of a daily wager mother trying to put food on table, being called for suspect action early in his career, not being privileged enough to get a paternity leave (his daughter is already three months old), it's a million miles emotionally that Team India's favourite Nattu has traversed.
Getting Labuschagne, who was on a rampage, with a short delivery ensured that Australia didn't finish the day with a score close to 350.
For someone, who was supposed to be a net bowler, India's Test Cap No 300, did well enough on the first day despite not exactly being natural. He also knows that he doesn't have the express pace to trouble batsmen (his average speed is 130 plus).
He bowled full during his first two spells and made the length shorter when the ball got old and that's how he induced Wade and Labuschagne to go for those pull shots.
Nobody would have blamed a Natarajan or a Shardul or leader of the attack Mohammed Siraj (19-8-51-1), all of whom toiled manfully throughout their multiple spells in a battle of unequals.
The inexperience was palpable as Thakur (18-5-67-1) bowled a lot of full pitched deliveries which Labuschagne pounced on in the second and third sessions during an innings that had nine boundaries.
If all the injuries weren't enough, Navdeep Saini (7.5 overs) now seems to be in trouble as he has sustained a groin niggle moments after his skipper Ajinkya Rahane dropped a dolly at gully when Labuschagne was on 37.
By far, Australia's most consistent batsman in the series, Labuschagne batted in two gears during the day.
Washington had bowled three maiden overs prior to lunch and the fidgety Smith, who is always looking to get a move on, fell for the leg trap that was set for him.
Rohit stationed himself at short mid-wicket for a whip that Smith plays on the onside.