BENGALURU: Michael Gough looked like he forgot to take his morning coffee when he refused to raise a finger for what looked like a pretty straightforward decision.
Matt Henry had got one to pitch on leg-stump before seaming past Rohit Sharma's outside edge. The ball crashed into his back pad and Henry was off, celebrappealing past the batter. Gough, though, was unmoved.
Tom Latham sent it upstairs and Hawk-Eye returned an 'Umpire's Call' on height. The bowler had a slightly bemused look on his face.
Four hours later, nobody would have blamed the Indian dressing room if they wanted to collectively order something stronger and a lot colder than morning coffee. They were shot out for 46, the lowest ever by any team in Asia.
Their statement of intent after winning the toss - batting first in conditions more Christchurch than Chinnaswamy - had folded like a house of cards.
While Wednesday's low-lying clouds had disappeared, conditions were still heavy and the forecast was for more rain in the latter part of the day. But when Sharma called correctly, they had no hesitation in batting first on a 'cold, damp' surface.
Even in isolation, that had seemed like a strange decision. Watching the hosts' practice session before the toss, it seemed like they were more interested in bowling first (a lot of bowling and catching drills, openers not having a separate throwdown session and so on).
Tim Southee, whose meat and drink is making the ball hoop, started off by doing just that as he immediately started to challenge the edges of the Indian openers. Sharma, who returned single-digit scores thrice in four innings against Bangladesh, was living uncomfortably. He tried to adapt to the exaggerated seam movement by shimmying down a couple of times but the bat was never in the same postcode as the ball.
Trying to attack, he danced down to one hooping nip-backer. The still shiny red-ball went between bad and pad and disturbed the leg bail. The skipper stared at the pitch like he had just seen something out of place. In reality, it was basic Test match bowling in helpful conditions, Southee testing Sharma's technique with a wobble seam delivery.
What followed next brought out an audible gasp from the press box and loud cheers from around the Stadium. Virat Kohli, the unshakeable No. 4, was walking in at No. 3. He had only batted there twice before since the start of 2016 (at Gros Islet where he had made three and four).
In the absence of Shubman Gill, absent with a stiff neck, KL Rahul, who has played a lot of red-ball cricket in challenging, seaming conditions, would have been a more natural choice to counter the moving ball. Yet, Kohli was promoted, moved out of his comfort zone from No. 4.
Nine balls later, he was walking back after William O'Rourke got one to come back in a long way from short of a length. It took his glove and leg gully completed a diving catch. Tom Latham and the visiting support staff deserve praise for bringing O'Rourke on because his high release point was always going to pose a few problems.
If Kohli's promotion was a tactical gamble which backfired, what followed next was more in the vibes and prayers territory. Sarfaraz Khan is a lovely, free-flowing batter. He had also made an unbeaten 222 against Rest of India in the Irani Cup earlier this month. So, he was in-form, in itself an abstract term. The youngster, whose natural game is to counter-punch, tried to take on Matt Henry down the ground.
A nothing shot was safely held by a diving Devon Conway at mid-off. 10/3 in slightly chilly, nippy, overcast conditions and the mind went back to Gautam Gambhir's assertion that this team was capable of batting for two days. What was unfolding, though, was a fever dream as batters weren't capable of lasting more than two overs.
The procession was briefly halted by a drizzle and a modicum of a stand between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant. Once the former was dismissed post the restart, batters taking guard and walking back to the pavilion became the most common theme of the Indian innings.
From the time Jaiswal was removed till the end of the innings, the hosts aggregated 7/15 in 64 balls.
Matt Henry, the wrecker-in-chief in the 2019 World Cup semi-final in similar conditions at Manchester, aptly completed the formalities to complete a well deserved fif-er.
Over to the bowlers to salvage what looks like a dire position.
India's lowest innings totals
36 Australia Adelaide 2020
42 England Lord's 1974
46 New Zealand Bengaluru 2024
58 Australia Brisbane 1947
58 England Manchester 1952
India's lowest innings totals in India
46 New Zealand Bengaluru 2024
75 West Indies Delhi 1987
76 South Africa Ahmedabad 2008
83 England Chennai 1977
83 New Zealand Mohali 1999
Lowest innings totals in India
46 India Bengaluru 2024
62 New Zealand Mumbai 2021
75 India Delhi 1987