Krejza hails Dravid scalp

Jason Krejza

Jason Krejza is mobbed by his Australia team-mates

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Australia's Jason Krejza revealed claiming the scalp of Rahul Dravid has so far been the stand-out moment of his stunning Test debut against India.

An eight-wicket haul by the off-spinner enabled Australia to battle their way back into the fourth Test in Nagpur, with Krejza's efforts seeing the hosts slump from 311 for five at the start of the day to 441 all out.

Krejza dismissed Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman yesterday before picking off Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in quick succession just after lunch on day two.

He then dismissed Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra and Ishant Sharma as India's tail faltered, but he revealed it was his maiden Test wicket that will live longest in the memory.

"The first wicket definitely was my most memorable and getting Rahul Dravid was great," Krejza said. "I had worked it out in my mind and it came out as I had planned."

The New South Wales player was overlooked for the first three Tests of the series after struggling in a warm-up match at the start of the tour.

However, the lack of a quality specialist spinner had seen Australia fall to a 1-0 deficit in the series, and Krejza was handed his first Test cap for the final game of the series.

Krejza added that the dismissal of Ganguly - his fifth wicket of the match - was key, coming as it did in the same over that he had sent Dhoni back to the pavilion and also ushering in India's ineffective tailenders.

"Ganguly's wicket was crucial," the 25-year-old said. "His wicket was a good one for me. There isn't much help bowling against left-handers and to get him we had to change our field a bit.

"I gave myself more protection so that I could attack and got him."

Krejza's eight wickets were expensive - coming at a cost of 215 runs - but he was nevertheless delighted with his overall performance.

"It was important for us to get those wickets," he said. "I was just trying to keep my emotions under control. It's a bit of a blur still.

"It's incredible to achieve a feat like that against the best players of spin in the world."

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