The Indian cricket team stunned the cricket world after being victorious in the second Test match against Australia. They had just suffered a humiliation in Adelaide and expectations were not high for the team after losing Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami for the series. But India with Ajinkya Rahane showed character in the face of adversity when they leveled the series 1-1 after winning by 8 wickets in Melbourne.
The Indian cap was awarded to two debutants, Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj, for the Melbourne Test and both justified their selection. Shubman looked calm and collected throughout his time in the crease scoring 45 and 35 in both innings to emerge as the second highest scorer for Indian in Test 2. He impressed a lot of people with his hitting in Melbourne when several former cricketers praised him.
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Australian sprinter Pat Cummins was also impressed with the young starter from India and praised his display with the bat.
“Shuby (Gill) looked good on his first test. He is quite a calm character. It seems like, in a similar way, he wants to play, he wants to move on, which as a bowler provides opportunities, some days it will come out, others not, “he said.
Not surprised by the Indian team’s act of retaliation in the second test, Cummins says they will evaluate the visitors’ fight and be ready for combat when the third test begins in Sydney from January 7.
India shrugged off the humiliation of the Adelaide Test to level the four-game series 1-1 with an eight-wicket victory in Melbourne in four days.
“Either way, once they have a big loss, you know they’re going to come back a little tougher. Everybody is incredibly proud when you play at this level, so it’s no wonder they (India) turned out very badly, ”Cummins said at a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
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“They pitched and hit very well in this game and they were absolutely ready for the fight, so we have to evaluate that before the next game and make sure we can combat that,” he said.
Cummins has outscored Cheteshwar Pujara three times in the two test matches so far, but insisted they haven’t come up with any special plans for the Saurashtra hitter.
“The reality is that I really don’t know, just try to throw good balls, make the decision to play or leave it (to him) and try to do it for as long as we can. Fortunately, it came out quite early in its entrances ”. Nothing has changed drastically and we are going to try to focus on what we do well for a longer period and so far it has worked. I will be lying if I say that we have this great plan that we have changed (for him) ”. Despite losing eight wickets in Melbourne, Cummins said the bowling group’s effort was good in the Test.
“Our efforts and execution were really good. We create a lot of opportunities, especially the first entries. Throwing one side out for 300 on the MCG, a really good wicket, and creating so many chances is a huge tick. So I’m pretty happy from that point of view (but) there are things to work on.
“Rahane hit wonderfully, so look at what we could have done differently and check it out. Overall it was a good performance from the rapids and from Lyona (Nathon Lyon), ”he added and also praised his teammate Mitchell Starc.
Now that Cricket Australia has confirmed Sydney as the venue for the third round, Cummins, 27, is delighted to be playing on his field.
Happy to return to SCG. Really special test game here and our record there is really good. In terms of tone, it’s probably closer to the MCG than other terrains, in terms of it’s usually quite dry and a little slow. ” But for Nathan Lyon, usually there is a twist, so excited to go up to another field and play in front of the home crowd is really special.
Cummins, who has 153 pitches from 32 tests, also feels that the Australians can’t play two spinners in Sydney.
“He is not a coach, but I would say probably not, we are lucky that on our side we have someone like Marnus (Labuschagne), who can also throw some turns in the legs,” he concluded.
The third test will air on Sony Six, Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3, starting on January 7, starting at 4.30am. M.
(with PTI inputs)
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