Todd Murphy

Veteran India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, who was in the commentary box when Virat Kohli was dismissed by Australia's debutant Todd Murphy, ...

India captain Rohit Sharma easily appeared to be the best batter in the display from both sides. Murphy, who has been mighty impressive on his debut so far, would consider himself lucky as the delivery he bowled to get the prized wicket of Kohli would not even come close to get anyone out let alone the former India captain on most other days. But he was out as soon as play resumed in the second session.

India were 229-6, just 52 ahead, when Rohit was bowled by Pat Cummins after tea but Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel then put on an unbroken stand of 81. Jadeja, ...

[Listen to Gangster: The Story of John Palmer](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0dwnrmm#xtor=CS8-1000-%5BIn_Article_Promo_Box%5D-%5BSport_Promo_In_Article%5D-%5BSport_Promo_In_Article_BBCiPlayer%5D-%5BPS_SOUNDS~~p0dwnrmm~P_GangsterTheStoryOfJohnPalmerEp1%5D) - The rise and fall of the jeweller-turned-criminal: Murphy caught and bowled KL Rahul on day one for his maiden Test wicket and took the first three to fall on the second day, including Virat Kohli taken down the leg side for 12.

Victorian spinner claims key wickets on day two in Nagpur but Jadeja stars with bat to leave hosts on 321-7, a lead of 144.

In his first Test since July after undergoing knee surgery, Jadeja backed up his 5-47 with the ball by building vital partnerships with Sharma and Patel and notched up the 18th half-century of his career. Murphy is the first Australian to bring up that milestone since Boland’s famous 6-7 against England at the MCG in 2021. His heroics meant all four of Australia’s bowlers in this match – the others are Pat Cummins, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon – have taken a five-wicket haul on Test debut.

A century to captain Rohit Sharma helps India establish a commanding 144-run lead at stumps on day two of the first Test, while Australian spinner Todd ...

The more you see that shot, the more you can see that's exactly what he wanted to do with it too. Not a bad ball, it came in and didn't get up much, there's a bit there for the leggy. Axar guides a beautifully placed cut to third man for a boundary. Is it going to be a big factor in Australia's second inning? Well what more could anyone want than that. Hang on, what, a bye? Nope, there was a thick edge on that. Another edge flies to Steve Smith and he bobbled it in the air, it hit him on the body as he fell, and then it hit the ground. Off Carey's glove and they run a single. Another disappointment. Another series of hope in India. By Simon Smale

India were 229-6, just 52 ahead, when Rohit was bowled by Pat Cummins after tea but Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel then put on an unbroken stand of 81. Jadeja, ...

[Listen to Gangster: The Story of John Palmer](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0dwnrmm#xtor=CS8-1000-%5BIn_Article_Promo_Box%5D-%5BSport_Promo_In_Article%5D-%5BSport_Promo_In_Article_BBCiPlayer%5D-%5BPS_SOUNDS~~p0dwnrmm~P_GangsterTheStoryOfJohnPalmerEp1%5D) - The rise and fall of the jeweller-turned-criminal: Murphy caught and bowled KL Rahul on day one for his maiden Test wicket and took the first three to fall on the second day, including Virat Kohli taken down the leg side for 12.

Murphy shelved the overspin typical of bowling in Australia and consistently bowled around 95kph with high side spin, and had five wickets to show for it.

Then, with Jadeja on 60, late in the day, he conjured a thick edge as Jadeja tried to cut the wrong length, but it was too thick for Carey to grasp and it rebounded off his gloves over Smith at slip. But on his first two days in Test cricket, he looked more like the master than the apprentice. It was going on to hit the middle of middle. From overs 38 to 45 they bowled eight overs, three maidens, and combined for 2 for 18 with Murphy removing Ashwin and Pujara, after Rohit and Ashwin had taken 40 runs off the first 13 overs of the morning against Lyon and Pat Cummins. There are shades of Graeme Swann in his action and there were shades of Swann 2012 in his bowling as he shelved the overspin that is required in Australia - the overspin that has made Lyon so successful in the toughest of offspinning climes at home - and consistently bowled up towards 95kph with high side spin. "We've had a lot of really good conversations over the years about what works in what conditions and we had a good chat the other day about over here and just trusting the skill set that I've got." "Having a little bit of success over there probably gave me the confidence I needed going back to Australia that I could mix it with first-class cricketers." Rahul chipped a drive back to him on the opening night, while Pujara played a rare sweep to a ball way outside leg and picked out short fine. His length was so good that even Rohit Sharma in the midst of a sublime match-defining century struggled to get down the track to him and never played back to him. It is a skill he had honed under Howard at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane on the purpose-made India-style red-clay pitches over many winters. Agar, a ten-year veteran of first-class cricket, landed just 50% of his 132 deliveries on a good length in his nervous He did get a touch fortuitous with his dismissals of Pujara and Kohli with arguably his worst two balls.

With a tired grin, Todd Murphy's father Jamie said: “It was worth all the effort. Just to see him make his debut was great, and to see him pick the wickets ...

He made KS Bharat push forward with the pad in front of the bat to nail him in front of the wicket. With Todd, they were forced to play on the front-foot, stretch out to the pitch of the ball and block. The scalps of Cheteshwar Pujara and [Virat Kohli](https://indianexpress.com/about/virat-kohli/) owed to the batsmen’s indiscretion or rather clumsiness, but perhaps it could have been him laying a ruse too. His methods were unfashionable but profitable on the surface, and kept Australia in the game until the unbroken eighth wicket stand of 81 runs between Then in the morning, he made one turn back into the pads of Ravi Ashwin, a master off-spinner himself, after locking him down with those that slid away with the angle. The legendary spinner had to wait for nine Tests for his first five-wicket haul in India. He leaked just 10 fours in the entire game, not a single six was struck off him, which reflects his unwavering discipline, his ability to pound one area of the pitch consistently and relentlessly. “Observing everything and competing in the nets and bowling to the Sri Lankans, I took a lot of confidence out of that and reflected and went back, trusted myself a bit more, and thought ‘what I’ve got can be good enough’ and believe in that” he says. For much of his teenage years, he fancied himself as a batsman, his old man too was a hard-hitting batsman who played alongside Shane Warne for a couple of years at the St Kilda Club, who bowled medium pace. Just in time for the Test, Jamie and Co, scrambled to Nagpur, sorting out visa, tickets and booking a hotel. The next evening the family were on the flight to Todd’s city of destiny. He queried about him with the local coach, who, according to australia.com.au, told him that “he’s a batter that bowls a bit of medium pace, he’s just stuffing around”.

The spinner picks up five debut wickets in India's first innings in Nagpur, including KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli.

You would think that in this situation he would feel under pressure by the batsmen, but that hasn’t been the case at all.” His consistency was underlined by the way that he would occasionally switch over the wicket for a delivery or two and land them without problem. Later in the day his overspinning deliveries started to kick from the surface. Those revolutions created the dip that coaxed a return catch from Rahul, and the drift across right-handers from the line around the wicket that he bowled for much of the day. If the ball landed on the leather it would skid on, if it hit the seam it might grip and turn. There has been the intensity of the revolutions on it, his gather and release reminiscent of Graeme Swann’s and allowing similar amounts of work on the ball.

Todd Murphy could only laugh and shake his head at his father comparing him to Shane Warne - but Australia's newest cricket sensation can boast better ...

On Friday, the 22-year-old dismissed India superstar [Virat Kohli](/sport/virat-kohli/index.html) en-route to a five-wicket haul during the first Test in Nagpur. Warney in action during his Test debut during the 3rd test match between Australia and India played at the Sydney Cricket Ground January 3, 1992 Murphy is congratulated by team mates after his five-wicket haul on debut to keep Australia in the match against India

New Australian spin sensation Todd Murphy was left red faced thanks to a proud father moment following his day two heroics. Daanyal Saeed, James McKern and ...

It comes after a “hectic” couple of days for the Murphy family trying to travel to Nagpur to watch his debut. The Australian’s Peter Lalor, on commentary, said that the family had even left their suitcases at the airport in the mad dash to Nagpur, and were all sharing clothes out of the one bag. With uncle Troy, cousin Riley, brother Joel, partner Bec and father Jamie in tow, the Murphy clan left the NSW border town of Moama at 2am to get on a flight to Nagpur in time from Melbourne via Sydney and Bangalore. Warner has been immovable opening the batting for over a decade, whilst Khawaja averages 72.48 opening the batting and 75.05 since his return to the Test side in 2022. With the deification of a new hero in Australian cricket come comparisons galore, and none are bigger than being compared to the late, great Shane Warne. Jamie Murphy played with Warne at St Kilda Cricket Club in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including a premiership with the blonde-haired legend in 1991-92, shortly after Warne had made his Test debut, also against India. With Australia heading into the third day’s play in Nagpur under significant pressure and trailing massively on first innings, Australia’s batting unit needs to produce something special to keep the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy alive. The third day of the first test is underway, with Pat Cummins taking the ball around the wicket to Axar Patel. Murphy now has 6-83 on Test debut, the 13th-best figures by an Australian in the history of the game. Turning sharply out of the footmarks and keeping low, Shami was completely beaten in the flight and poked at the ball meekly, beaten on the inside. Todd Murphy provided the only spark for the Aussies as he became the 35th Australian to take a five-wicket haul on debut. It has been a bleak opening two days for the Aussies with India in complete control after a dominant day at the crease.

Murphy mania officially arrives as cult hero dazzles in 'lion's den' with seven-wicket haul on debut.

Murphy also became the first Aussie to take seven wickets in a Test since his spinning compatriot Lyon achieved the feat in 2017, It was the latest feat for the spectacle-wearing debutant who astonishingly has just seven first-class matches to his name for Victoria and was a part of the Australian A tour to Sri Lanka last year. The initial decision to include Murphy represented somewhat of a gamble from Australian selectors given it was the first time since 1988 that two off-spinners for a Test. Murphy’s seven-wicket haul also made him only the sixth Aussie to accomplish the feat in their Test debut. The 22-year-old now counts himself with the fourth best bowling figures by an Australian who made their debut overseas, with Bob Massie’s 8/53 and 8/84 in 1972 as well as Jason Krejza’s 8/215 in 2008 ahead of him. Todd Murphy has etched himself in Australian cricket folklore after taking figures of 7/124 in his Test debut against India as the hosts were bowled out for 400 in Nagpur.