IND vs AUS: Stand-in captain Steven Smith-led Australia lured hosts India into the spin trap as the visitors thrashed Rohit Sharma & Co by nine wickets in two days and a season in the India vs Australia third Test at Indore Won. By virtue of this victory, Australia qualified for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). In the last two years, Australia have so far defeated Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India in one Test each. India will have to win the fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be held in Ahmedabad to make it to the final of the WTC. India lost the Indore Test but still lead 2-1 in the four-match IND vs AUS Test series.
Meanwhile, former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar, one of the most respected voices in the cricket fraternity, feels Ravindra Jadeja’s no-ball in the second session of Day 1 gave another life to Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne vs Aus was the ‘turning point’. Third test match. Labuschagne was batting on zero when a Jadeja stunner rattled his stumps but the all-rounder edged past the crease, resulting in a no-ball.
“If you look back, you would say that probably cost India the match because after that they (Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja) shared a 96-run stand when India were bowled out for 109. So I think That was probably the turning point. The no ball cost India the match,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
“The batsmen didn’t really do justice to their talent. If you look at the Indian wickets, you will find that the Indian batsmen get themselves out, playing a few shots and anticipating what the pitch is going to do,” Gavaskar was added.
“If you see there is a lack of confidence because in the first two games, they didn’t score runs, apart from Rohit Sharma, who scored a good century in Nagpur. When you lack runs, there is just a little bit of instability. ” His batting and you could tell he had a feel for the balls.
“They didn’t get down the pitch as much as they should have. They let the pitch get the better of them. It was the pitch that really got on their mind, even in the first innings,” he added. , but even more so in the second innings.” ” They said.
Gavaskar also said that the hosts India, batting first, scored 60-70 runs short in the first innings.
The legendary batsman said, “The pitch started speaking in the first hour itself, so it was not easy, but still if we had scored 160-170 runs in the first innings, it could have made a difference.”
