Veteran spinner Ravichandran proved his worth in gold yet again to pick up his 31st five-wicket haul on Day 3 as India beat Australia by an innings and 132 runs in the first test match here at the VCA stadium in Nagpur.
After trailing by 223 runs on a spin-friendly wicket, Australia could only manage a meagre 91 runs in the 2nd innings. With left handers being easy meat on a day 3 wicket, Ashwin displayed his masterclass to run through a top-order who visibly looked like fighting the demons in their head while batting.
Apart from Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami took 2 wickets each to end the proceedings. Axar Patel also managed to get a wicket apart from a splendid batting effort earlier in the day.
At start of day 3, the Indian lower-order batters continued to plunder runs as the hosts raised 400 before getting all out on the stroke of lunch on the third day of the first Test against Australia. Axar Patel made 84 while Mohammed Shami slammed 37 as India took a massive 223-run lead in the first innings here on Saturday.
Resuming at the overnight score of 321/7, the Indians added 79 runs to their total in just overs on the third morning with Axar Patel and Mohammed Shami raising 52 runs for the ninth wicket after Patel and Ravindra Jadeja had capitalised on the platform provided by skipper Rohit Sharma on the second day with a magnificent century.
Patel was the last man to get out, as a Pat Cummins delivery sneaked in and clipped the off stump and bail fell off. Patel played a vital innings for India, scoring 84 runs during a 174-ball stay at the wicket during which he struck 10 boundaries and one six. He was cautious to start and went for the runs after Jadeja got out, showing the visitors' how to build innings on this wicket.