Australia began the day on 9-232, leading the hosts by a paltry 40 runs, but Nathan Lyon was soon knocked over, edging Ravindra Jadeja, leaving Moises Henriques on 81 not out after a gallant 66 run last wicket stand.
Henriques was the shining light for Australia with his unbeaten 148-ball knock following his 68 in the first innings.
India’s batsman made short work of the 50 they required for the convincing win, despite losing openers Murali Vijay (6) and Virender Sehwag (19).
Sachin Tendulkar (13no) smashed Australia’s sole spinner Lyon for two sixes from his first two balls, before Cheteshwar Pujara (8no) edged one between keeper Matthew Wade and Michael Clarke at first slip for the winning runs.
Aussie quick James Pattinson was by the pick of the tourist’s bowlers, taking half of the 12 wickets his side managed in the match in his first Test back from injury.
India showed the value of spin on their turning wickets, with offie Ravi Ashwin snagging match figures of 12-198, no doubt making Australia regret the bizarre decision to go with the one containing tweaker.
Bizarrely, had they chosen a spinning all-rounder instead of Henriques, the match could have been over much sooner.
But the major problem wasn’t bowling in the end. Instead, it was the limp top order giving the bowlers nothing to defend after Clarke won the toss and batted first. Only Clarke and Henriques looked the slightest bit comfortable in the subcontinent conditions.
The teams next meet in Hyderabad from Wednesday for the second of four Tests, and inevitable selection headaches will need to be sorted quickly.
“You can talk about selection as much as you like but the eleven players you select have got to perform better than we did in this Test,” captain Clarke, who scored a century in the first innings, said.
“All three facets of the game we need to improve.
“I’d like to see us score more runs in both first and second innings, especially as a top-five batting unit.
“We need to assess, we need to look at conditions again and work out what we think is the best XI.
“It’s not just about selection, it’s about how you perform.”
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