Ravichandran Ashwin put on a spin clinic as India thrashed Australia by an innings and 132 runs inside three days to win the first Test in Nagpur.

The hosts started the day with a lead of 144, not realising that would have been more than enough already, but added a further 79 as they were eventually all out for 400, in front by 223.

Victory for India was never in doubt, with the only debate around how soon the contest would be over.

Ashwin (5-37) then tore through the Australian top order with some unstoppable spin bowling, with the tourists skittled in their second innings for just 91.

After Saturday's action began, Ravindra Jadeja reached 70 before being bowled by Todd Murphy, while Axar Patel was finally sent back for 84 by Pat Cummins as India built a healthy lead.

Mohammed Shami added 37 from 47 balls before India set about trying to keep Australia from matching their efforts with the bat, and Ashwin set the tone as he got rid of Usman Khawaja for just five.

Jadeja trapped Marnus Labuschagne (17) lbw, while David Warner – who only scored two from his first 37 balls – hit back-to-back fours before also being dismissed via lbw by Ashwin for 10.

It was the start of an lbw bonanza for Ashwin, who repeated the trick to dismiss Matt Renshaw (2), Peter Handscomb (6) and Alex Carey (10) to claim five-for inside his first 10 overs bowled.

Not to miss out on the fun, Jadeja found the edge of Cummins to send the Australia captain back to the pavilion for just a single run, before Axar forced Murphy (2) to slice to Rohit Sharma for a simple catch.

Shami tidied things up, bowling Nathan Lyon (8) before trapping Scott Boland (0) lbw as India celebrated a surprisingly easy victory, leaving a partner-less Steve Smith not out on 25.

Ashwin stars again

It felt at times like Ashwin had a personal vendetta against any and all Australian legs that came along, spinning the ball into them with such regularity you were left wondering if you were watching another replay.

Having now taken 320 wickets on Indian soil, he has leapfrogged Shane Warne (319 wickets) to become the outright fifth leading wicket-taker in Test cricket in his home country.

Removal of Head decapitates Australian batting

The second innings capitulation was the second-lowest total from Australia against India in Test history (after 83 in Melbourne, 1981).

It will lead to questions again around the decision to leave out Travis Head despite his 525 runs at an average of 87.5 in his previous five Test matches, with his replacement, Renshaw, managing a total of two runs from his two innings.

Ollie Pope is not thinking about captaining England after Stuart Broad suggested he could be a future Test skipper.

Pope has graduated to a regular presence within Ben Stokes' side over the past year, with the rich form to back up his place.

A haul of 138 runs across December's three-game series with Pakistan further underlined his presence under Brendon McCullum.

Pope captained England against a New Zealand XI in their tour warm-up earlier this week, leading Broad to praise his abilities as a potential successor.

"I think Pope is a great leader in the group, actually," Broad said. "He's grown so much in the last year, the way he operates, the confidence and responsibility he's been given.

"He speaks really well in the group, he's got a great cricket mind. There's no doubt you can see him as a future England captain."

The 25-year-old is keeping a lid on any such notions, though.

"I don't necessarily see that," he told reporters. "I'm going to keep developing my cricket brain. If that opportunity came up in the future, I'll make sure I can learn as much as possible before then.

"But at the same time, I realise I've got a big job at number three to keep doing. If I can keep impressing there who knows what the future holds.

"I'll keep learning and developing as an all-round cricketer as much as I can. If that happens [and I become England captain], great. If not, that's okay."

Rohit Sharma completed a century for India on day two of the first Test against Australia – but that was just the start of the suffering for the tourists in Nagpur.

It proved to be a grim day for Australia, despite Todd Murphy, a 22-year-old Victoria off-spinner, taking five wickets on debut.

India racked up 321-7 by the close, leading by 144 after Australia were dismissed for 177 on day one at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.

Ravindra Jadeja followed up his five-wicket haul by leading a lower-order assault on Friday, sharing in an ongoing eighth-wicket stand of 81 with Axar Patel, both men making fifties. Jadeja reached 66 not out, with Axar 52no.

Rohit had lost opening partner KL Rahul just before the close on Thursday, so he returned in the morning looking for others to provide support, and it proved to be in limited supply.

Ravichandran Ashwin fell for 23, given out lbw after a review from Australia, and Cheteshwar Pujara (7), Virat Kohli (12) and Suryakumar Yadav (8) all went cheaply as India struggled to cope with the Australian spinners. Nathan Lyon coaxed out Suryakumar with a teasing delivery the batter went after but missed, the ball clattering into off stump.

Stability at the other end finally arrived in the shape of Jadeja, who helped to put on 61 for the sixth wicket before Rohit fell for 120, perishing to the new ball, Australia captain Pat Cummins uprooting his off stump moments after Steve Smith dropped the century-maker at slip.

That left India on 229-6 and Jadeja went on to reach a gritty half-century, while Murphy completed his five-wicket haul by having Srikar Bharat (8) pinned lbw, again getting the decision on review.

Axar's arrival helped India take the game away from Australia though, and when slip fielder Smith dropped Jadeja from the penultimate delivery of the day, frustration was etched across the face of every tourist.

Rohit's Australia breakthrough

In his eighth Test against Australia, Rohit made it to three figures for the first time. He previously had five 40-plus scores, but his highest score was the 63no he managed at Melbourne in the 2018 Boxing Day Test. This was his ninth Test century in all, and his first since making 127 against England at The Oval in September 2021.

It made Rohit, at the age of 35 years and 286 days, just the second India opener to score a Test century against Australia after turning 35, with Sunil Gavaskar the first to manage the feat.

Jadeja doubles up

This marks the sixth Test where Jadeja has taken five wickets in an innings and hit a half-century. Back in action after recovering from knee surgery, he is continuing where he left off with the bat against England last July, having hit a century at Edgbaston, albeit in a losing cause on that occasion.

Mohammad Rizwan asked to be dropped for Pakistan's two-match Test series against New Zealand as he felt he "didn't deserve to play" on his form.

The wicket-keeper-batter was a surprise omission from the hosts' squad for their pair of games over the new year period with the Black Caps.

Rizwan was replaced by former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, who returned to the red-ball fold for the first time since 2019, and was named player of the series with 335 runs.

Reflecting on his absence, the 30-year-old has disclosed that it was at his own instigation he was left out, as he felt his performances had not been up to the level required.

"You can ask the head coach Saqlain Mushtaq what I told him after the end of the England Test series," Rizwan told Cricket Pakistan in an interview.

"I personally thought that since I wasn't able to perform, I didn't deserve to play in the next series."

Following a score of 104 not out against Australia in March last year, Rizwan failed to make a half-century in his following six Test appearances.

When that run culminated with a rough series against England shortly before Christmas, he acknowledged he was not matching his own standards, and was delighted to see his replacement flourish.

"I was happy to see Sarfaraz perform because that is what I wanted," he added.

"Sarfaraz has been performing in domestic cricket and deserves his chance now.

"I asked for his inclusion. Whoever performs best for Pakistan deserves to play. Some players said that every player goes through this phase, and you can't sit on the bench based on few failures.

"But I went to the coach and captain myself and told them that you can drop me because I haven't performed.

"Two players are witnesses to this conversation."

Brendon McCullum is "in awe" of the "pretty insane" talent in the England Test side as they prepare to face New Zealand.

England have been totally transformed under head coach McCullum and new captain Ben Stokes, winning nine of their 10 Tests with an aggressive brand of cricket.

They will attempt to continue riding on the crest of a wave in McCullum's homeland in a two-match series that starts in Mount Maunganui next Thursday.

The tourists warmed up for the opener against the Black Caps with a draw against a New Zealand XI, Harry Brook top scoring with a rapid 97 as they racked up 465 all out before Olly Stone took 3-54 as their opponents were all out for 310.

McCullum, such an explosive batter in his illustrious career, feels fortunate to be working with such a gifted group of players.

"The shots and some of the skills they possess is pretty insane," said the former New Zealand captain. 

"From a coaching point of view, it's pretty exciting to watch the talent some of these guys have got.

"We sit back in awe at times of how good these guys can be. Hopefully we're able to see them continue to develop."

This year England will also attempt to wrestle the urn back off Australia in the Ashes on home soil and McCullum sees no limit to what they can achieve under inspirational all-rounder Stokes.

He added: "With the skipper in charge, I'm not sure what's possible because he's a guy who writes his own scripts and achieves some pretty special things.

"I know the plans he has for this team are quite lofty.

"He'll try to do what he can to drag the boys along for the ride."

The weather could have big impact on the first Test against the Black Caps at Seddon Park, with Cyclone Gabrielle forecast to hit early next week.

Ravindra Jadeja marked his comeback with a five-wicket haul as Australia were bowled out cheaply by India on day one of the Test series at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium.

Much of the talk ahead of the match in Nagpur was over the condition of the pitch and Jadeja took centre stage with the ball, where the tourists collapsed to 177 all out after Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat.

Jadeja, playing his first international since August after undergoing knee surgery, took 5-47 and Ravichandran Ashwin (3-42) reached the 450 Test-wicket milestone in fewer matches than any other India bowler as Australia folded from 84-2.

India were 77-1 at stumps in reply as part of a great start to their quest to lift the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Rohit Sharma unbeaten on 56 as both sides bid to secure a place in the World Test Championship final at The Oval in June.

Australia were reduced to 2-2 with Mohammed Siraj trapping Usman Khawaja leg before wicket with an outswinger before Mohammed Shami sent David Warner's off stump flying.

Marnus Labuschagne (49) and Steve Smith (37) put on 82 for the third wicket, but Jadeja had the number three stumped and was on a hat-trick after getting Matt Renshaw lbw early in the afternoon session.

Spinning all-rounder Jadeja struck a huge blow by bowling Smith through the gate, but Peter Handscomb – preferred to Travis Head – and Alex Carey briefly steadied the ship with a stand of 53.

Ashwin then came to the fore to join the 450 club, cleaning up Carey (36) and sending Cummins on his way before Jadeja got rid of debutant Todd Murphy without scoring and Handscomb (31).

Tweaker Ashwin saw the back of Scott Boland to end Australia's innings in the 64th over, and although Murphy had KL Rahul caught and bowled late in the day, Rohit was still there at stumps along with nightwatchman Ashwin.

Jadeja has his day in the sun

As he prepared to make his comeback this week, Jadeja said he "hadn't felt the sun for about five months" during his recovery.

Australia felt the heat as the left-armer shone on day one of the four-match series, claiming his 11th five-wicket Test haul.

This was his fourth five-wicket Test haul against Australia, the most he has claimed against any nation. Since the 34-year-old's debut in December 2012, only Stuart Broad (six) and Ashwin (five) have picked up more against Australia.

Ashwin second-fastest to 450

It was another day to remember for Ashwin, who took his tally of wickets in the longest format to 450 in his 89th match.

That beat the previous India record held by Anil Kumble, who reached that incredible tally in 93 contests. Only Muttiah Muralitharan got to the landmark in fewer matches, the Sri Lanka spinner achieving the feat in his 80th Test.

Gudakesh Motie took four wickets and Roston Chase two as the West Indies pushed for victory but Zimbabwe held on for a draw in the first Test in Bulawayo on Wednesday.

Chasing an improbable 272 for victory, Zimbabwe closed on 134-6, still 138 runs away but with only four second-innings wickets remaining.

West Indies had resumed on 21-0 with the West Indies Captain Kriagg Brathwaite on 11 and Tagenarine Chanderpaul on 10. The pair would add only another 11 runs before Brad Evans broke the partnership bowling Chanderpaul for 15.

Brathwaite was trapped lbw by Wellington Masakadza for 25 which brought Reifer and Blackwood together. Together they mounted a stand of 107 that was broken when Masakadza held onto a return catch off his own bowling to dismiss Reifer for 58.

He picked up his fourth wicket of the match when he had Blackwood caught behind for 57 to end with figures of 3-71.

Evans picked up his second wicket when he had Roston Chase caught behind for 14 after which Kyle Mayers and Joshua Da Silva added another 23 runs before the declaration came.

Mayers remained unbeaten on 17 and Da Silva, nine.

Evans took 2-41.

Zimbabwe lost an early wicket when Motie got Tanunurwa Makoni for nine with the score at 14 but Innocent Kaia and Chamu Chibhabha resisted sternly taking the score to 61 when Kaia got out caught by Brathwaite off Motie’s bowling for 24.

Chase dismissed Chibhabha for 31 with the score at 83 and shortly after Motie claimed Craig Irvine for 17 with no addition to the score as Zimbabwe slipped to 83-4.

Zimbabwe now required another rescue act from first innings century maker Gary Ballance. However, Ballance had made only 18 when Chase had him caught behind to have Zimbabwe in trouble at 119-5. It was soon 120-6 when Motie trapped Brad Evans for a duck.

However, Tafadzwa Tsiga, resisted the West Indies surge for 83 balls to remain 24 not out at the end while Wellington Masakadza, faced 36 balls without scoring as time ran out for the West Indies.

For his unbeaten 207, Chanderpaul was named Player of the Match.

Pat Cummins is backing his Australia team to rise to the challenge of playing India on a potentially troublesome Nagpur pitch in the first Test.

The surface has been the subject of much debate ahead of this week's opener at VCA Stadium.

Images of the pitch appear to show bare patches that could cause left-handed batsmen some concern against India's spin bowling.

For Australia, that represents an issue, with several of their key batters – including openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey – left-handed.

Captain Cummins, preparing to name his team ahead of Thursday's first day, acknowledged the turning pitch would be "a factor".

Right-hander Peter Handscomb would appear to be one man likely to benefit, while spin bowler Todd Murphy is set to debut.

But Cummins is also looking forward to seeing how Australia "problem-solve", with Warner, Khawaja, Head and Carey all in good form in a series win against South Africa last time out.

"I think it looks a little bit dry for the left-handers," he said.

"And knowing how much traffic will probably go through there from the right-arm bowlers [from over the wicket], there potentially might be a fair bit of rough out there. That's something you've just got to embrace.

"It's going to be fun. It's going to be challenging at times, but our batters relish the chance to problem-solve on their feet and I think quite a few of them will get that chance this week."

India have a right-hand dominant batting line-up, but captain Rohit Sharma was understandably keen not to focus on the state of the wicket.

"I just feel that you've got to focus on the cricket that's going to be played for the next five days and not worry too much about the pitch," he said.

"The last series that we played here, a lot was spoken about the pitches and all that.

"I think all 22 cricketers who are going to play are all quality cricketers, so not to worry too much about what the pitch is going to be like, how much is it turning, how much is it seaming and all those kind of things.

"You've got to just come out and play good cricket and win the game, as simple as that."

Happy hunting ground

This will be India's seventh men's Test at VCA Stadium, and they have won four of the previous six, losing just once.

It will be the second meeting between India and Australia at this venue, with the tourists beaten by 172 runs back in November 2008.

Australia's bogey team

Based on recent results, India may not need help from the pitch to beat Cummins' side. Australia have lost only one of their past 10 Tests, but that was against India in January 2021.

India have won six of their past eight Test series against Australia, including the past three in a row. They have lost only one of the last 15 Tests between the teams.

In a match seemingly headed for a draw, Raymon Reifer and Jermaine Blackwood each scored 50s as the West Indies declared their second innings on 203-5 on Wednesday’s final day of the first Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo.

The World Test Championship final will take place at The Oval between June 7 and 11, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed.

There will also be a reserve day on June 12 if necessary as the top two Test sides do battle to see who will lift the mace as world Test champions.

Those two teams are yet to be finalised, although Australia currently top the rankings while India, who they meet in a four-Test series starting on February 9, are second.

Sri Lanka and South Africa sit third and fourth respectively, with the latter set to take on reigning champions New Zealand in a two-Test series in February.

England are in hot pursuit in fifth after winning eight of their past nine Test matches, while West Indies also have a slim chance of making the final.

New Zealand's hopes of retaining the title they claimed by beating India by eight wickets in Southampton in 2021 are already over, having won just two Test matches since that famous victory.

Record-breaking Zimbabwe debutant Gary Ballance frustrated West Indies by becoming only the second batter to score a Test century for two countries on Tuesday.

The former England left-hander struck 137 not out on day four of the first Test at Queens Sports Club, where Zimbabwe declared on 379-9 and the Windies closed on 21-0 – leading by 89 runs.

Ballance made four hundreds for England in 23 matches in the longest format, the last of which came against West Indies in April 2015.

The 33-year-old signed a two-year contact with Zimbabwe Cricket last December, having been granted a release from his Yorkshire contract after a challenging period in which he endured struggles with his mental health.

Zimbabwe-born Ballance last year admitted to using racist and offensive language towards his Yorkshire team-mate Azeem Rafiq.

Rafiq said he had accepted an apology from Ballance, who was suspended for an indefinite period from England selection.

He played three white-ball matches for his country of birth last month and now has the highest score by a Zimbabwe Test debutant, beating the previous record of 121 set by Dave Houghton – the team's current coach.

Kepler Wessels is the only other player to have made hundreds for more than one country in the longest format, reaching three figures for South Africa and Australia.

Jack Leach feels he belongs in England's Test team as he returns to New Zealand for the first time since he was seriously ill on the 2019 tour.

The bowler, who suffers from Crohn's disease, contracted sepsis four years ago after a bout of food poisoning, and subsequently struggled to hold down a red-ball place.

But back at full fitness, Leach was the third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket in 2022 with 46, behind only Australia's Nathan Lyon and South Africa's Kagiso Rabada.

Ahead of England's two-match series later this month, Leach acknowledged he had fears about returning to New Zealand, but that he feels secure now in his place with Ben Stokes' side, which has helped hugely.

"I was on a drip and had antibiotics in the other arm [last time I was here]," said Leach, who reached 100 Test wickets in Pakistan at the end of the year.

"It slowly got worse and worse. I was really struggling for a bit. It wasn't great, but that's all in the past now. I'm having too much fun to get ill now.

"It can be stress-related, so maybe being a little bit more relaxed is actually helping that side of my health as well. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

"I always felt like cricket was an individual sport within a team, but this feels like such a team.

"It's something I feel very lucky to have experienced because it's a lot more enjoyable.

"It's been probably the most important thing for me, that backing and feeling like I belong.

"I'm just trying to enjoy it as much as I can and do as much as I can for the team."

Cameron Green looks set to miss Australia's first Test against India, with vice-captain Steve Smith suggesting it will be unlikely the all-rounder features in Nagpur.

Green suffered a fractured finger during the Boxing Day Test with South Africa in December, and has not played a first-class match since then.

He sustained a further knock to the injury while in a training camp ahead of Thursday's opening match, casting further doubt on his participation.

Now, Smith has indicated it will be a long shot for Green to feature at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, with the tourists reluctant to rush him back into the fray.

"I don't think he is [going to play]," he said. "I don't think he has even faced fast bowlers. So I dare say he won't be playing.

"Who knows [though]? I'm not entirely sure. We'll wait and see. But it's unlikely, I think."

Having eschewed a warm-up game ahead of the four-match series, Australia will be heading into their clash in Nagpur with only a few days on Indian surfaces under their belt.

Smith is reluctant to speculate how the pitch will affect his side's selections when it comes to their bowling attack, adding: "It's pretty dry.

"There's a section that's quite dry. Other than that, I can't really get a good gauge on it. I don't think there will be a heap of bounce in the wicket.

"I think for the seamers, it will be quite skiddy and maybe [have] a bit of up-and-down movement as the game goes on. The cracks felt quite loose. We'll wait and see when we get out there."

Steve Smith believes a series triumph in India would represent a bigger achievement for Australia than winning the Ashes.

Australia begin a four-match tour of India in Nagpur on Thursday, as they bid to win three successive men's Test series for the first time since doing so between November 2015 and February 2016.

The tourists are under no illusions as to the size of the task awaiting them in India, with their hosts only losing one of their last 15 Tests on home soil against Australia (W11 D3).

Having helped Australia to a crushing 4-0 series win over old rivals England in the last Ashes series in 2021-22, Smith believes a successful tour of India would beat that achievement.

"I think if we could win in India, that'd be bigger than an Ashes series," Smith told cricket.com.au.

"It's a difficult place to win a Test match, let alone a series, so if we were able to topple that mountain, it would be huge."

Team-mate David Warner echoed Smith's thoughts, saying: "Being a part of that last Ashes was fantastic, but to go to India and beat India is the toughest challenge in Test cricket for us.

"I'm really looking forward to the tour, it's always a hard graft and one thing I'm looking forward to is applying myself against the best spinners in the world."

While India have claimed victory in six of their last eight red-ball series against Australia, the tourists enter Thursday's first contest in excellent form, topping the world Test rankings and boasting a collective batting average of 46 since the start of 2022, the best of any team in that time.

Captain Pat Cummins also believes a series win in India would rank among the team's finest achievements, adding: "Winning a series in India is like an away Ashes series, but even more rare.

"I think that really is a career highlight, an era-defining series, if you can win one over there. So that's our opportunity and we can't wait.

Usman Khawaja "went Usain Bolt" to make his flight to India after a series of hold-ups delayed the batsman's departure from Australia ahead of this week's first Test.

Khawaja was forced to remain in Brisbane after not receiving a visa in time to make his scheduled flight last week, before two delayed flights further frustrated his bid to reach India. 

The batter was eventually forced to race through Delhi Airport to make the final leg of his journey to Bangalore, where he met up with his Australia team-mates ahead of the four-Test tour.

"I went Usain Bolt trying to make my connection," Khawaja told cricket.com.au. "I somehow got on that flight – the last flight of the whole night – and got here. 

"From the time I left Melbourne to here it was 24 hours. That's just life, you just have to deal with it. It's no biggie, I'm here now and ready to go."

While the delay meant Khawaja only managed a single training session before Australia departed for Nagpur ahead of the first Test starting on Thursday, he does not believe it will have an impact when the series gets under way.

He also shrugged off David Warner's claim of being "exhausted" ahead of the tour, saying: "Trying to get on seven different flights to get to India, then get here – we're all tired, we're all fatigued.

"That's just part and parcel of being a cricketer. Once you're on the field, it's just game on. It's the same with Davey.

"I've scored runs a lot of times when I have been tired and fatigued, you just have to find a way sometimes. I'm sure Davey will find a way."

India have only lost one of their last 15 men's Tests at home to Australia, while their current run of three successive series triumphs against the Aussies is the longest in their history.

However, Australia have only lost one of their last 10 Test series (W7 D2), and they could rack up three consecutive series wins for the first time since February 2016.