Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer feels Mitchell Marsh’s dismissal was crucial for India’s victory over Australia in the 1st ODI match here on Wankhede. The comeback man Ravindra Jadeja took the important wicket of Marsh (81 runs) who was dominating India’s bowling on a challenging pitch.

Speaking to Espncricinfo, Wasim Jaffer recalled the important moment of the game when Jadeja dismissed Mitchell Marsh who was batting very well it changed the course of the match in favour of India and stressed if Marsh would have batted for some more overs the target would have been 270 to 300 runs which would have an uphill task for India.

“Jadeja dismissing Marsh at the right time was very crucial. The way Marsh was batting, it seemed like India could have been chasing anything near 275 or even 300,” Jaffer said.

Speaking about the match, winning the toss Hardik Pandya elected to bowl first on a wicket that favoured the bowlers. Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj caused damage to the Australian team by producing an exceptional performance picking up 3 wickets each to reduce Australia to 188 runs under 36 overs.

On chasing a total of 189 runs, India made a disastrous start following a fiery spell from Mitchell Starc picking up three important wickets including Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and Suryakumar Yadav. KL Rahul and the comeback of Ravindra Jadeja stitched an unbeaten stand of 108 runs to take India to victory in the 1st ODI against Australia.

I Was Impressed With Hardik’s Captaincy – Wasim Jaffer

Wasim Jaffer praised Mohammad Shami for his bowling in the middle overs picking up the important wickets of Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, and Marcus Stoinis. Mohammed Shami made life tough for the Australian batters with accurate line and length.

Jaffer also lauded Hardik Pandya for his debut ODI captaincy stint stating that he has been a proactive captain and his bowling changes were spot on.

“Yes, I think Shami getting those wickets in the middle overs was crucial. The way he picked the top-order wickets in the middle order was a big moment in the game. I was impressed with Hardik’s captaincy. His bowling changes were spot on.”

The second ODI is scheduled to be played on Sunday in Visakhapatnam. India will be looking to seal the series by winning the upcoming game. The hosts will be boosted by the return of their skipper Rohit Sharma for the game after he missed the series opener due to family commitments.