Will go to Melbourne with confidence: Rohit
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma hailed the resilience of the lower-order batters after his team managed to salvage a crucial draw in the rain-hit third Test against Australia here on Wednesday, saying the side it has given the side renewed confidence for the remaining series.
With the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy now tied 1-1, Rohit believes the team’s morale will be high during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
“I mean, we will take that. Obviously to have interruptions like that wasn’t great, but going to Melbourne at 1-1 pretty much gives us that confidence to go out there and pull things towards us,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
“The situation we were in just after lunch (on Day 4), needed someone to stand up and take us through, we knew with the weather, we knew it wasn’t going to be a full game.”
Opener KL Rahul once again shone, top-scoring with 84 before Ravindra Jadeja (77) put up a lower-order resistance. Then the last duo of Akash Deep (31) and Jasprit Bumrah (10 not out) put on a gritty 47-run partnership to help India avoid follow-on before they were all out for 260 in reply to Australia’s big first innings score of 445.
“Credit to (Ravindra) Jadeja, the way he played and (KL) Rahul, the way he played was magnificent at the top of the order, the fight that Akash Deep and Bumrah (gave) was great to watch, we have seen them work so hard at the nets (on their batting).”
Despite the challenges posed by intermittent rain and lightning on the final day, India’s bowlers held their own in the second innings.
Bumrah was particularly brilliant, taking 3/18, while Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj chipped in with two wickets each.
Australia’s bold approach in the second innings saw them declare at 89/7, setting India a target of 275 in 54 overs, but bad light and rain ensured no further play was possible after the early stages of the chase.
“Coming to the bowling, Bumrah was outstanding, Akash Deep is a feisty cricketer, always wants to be involved in the game, very new to international cricket, he has worked hard at the nets, still new to international cricket, but he has put in the hard yards...
“There are people in the group to put their hand across and help him going forward. As he showed with the bat, these are the sort of characters we needed in the team,” Rohit added.
Cummins rues not leading 2-1
Australia captain Pat Cummins lamented the impact of rain on the game’s outcome.
“Would be better to be 2-1, lot of rain, nothing we can do about it. We set a huge total and felt like we were right ahead of the game throughout,” said Cummins.
Australia also suffered a heartbreak with pacer Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the entire series with a calf strain.
“Poor Josh, one of those things, few rain breaks probably helped, Starc and I were able to push through.
“Day 5 here can be up and down, there wasn’t much cricket played on it, felt challenging when the ball was new and hard.”
Cummins also highlighted the positives that his team could take from the match.
“(Steve) Smith and Head’s innings’ were fantastic, Alex Carey too... (Nathan) Lyon looked really good, Starc got wickets, just about ticked off every box.”
On the Boxing Day Test, Cummins said: “That will be amazing, one of those things here in Australia that you wake up and can’t wait for.”
