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India ‘A’ series win Down Under proof of India’s growing bench strength
India ‘A’ registered their third successive win over Australia ‘A’ in the final after the Manish Pandey-led team beat the hosts by 57 runs in Mackay.
Sunday’s quadrangular series win Down Under augurs well for Indian cricket.
India ‘A’ registered their third successive win over Australia ‘A’ in the final after the Manish Pandey-led team beat the hosts by 57 runs in Mackay. The series win was another show of India’s growing bench strength. While it was Mandeep Singh (95) and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (4/34) who stole the show in the final, skipper Pandey made another strong case for him to be with the senior team.
Pandey’s 61 in the final helped him surpass South Africa’s David Miller (332) to become the highest run-getter of the tournament with 359 runs (two centuries and a half-century). Kedar Jadhav, who shared a crucial 69-run stand for the fourth wicket with Pandey in the final, also had a good outing, scoring 254 in seven innings.
The India bowlers also came to the fore with Mumbai pacer Dhawal Kulkarni finishing with nine wickets in five innings to end behind Australia ‘A’ pacer Christopher Tremain (13 wickets) on the wicket-takers’ list. Jaydev Unadkat also impressed with six wickets in five innings. Former chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar felt Pandey and Kulkarni must be rewarded soon.
“Manish has been a quality player and so is Dhawal. All they require now is regular opportunities with the Indian team to do justice to their talent. At this level (‘A’ tours and U-19s), our focus should not be on winning or losing. We should look at developing our bench strength. We should approach it as preparing players for international challenges,” said Vengsarkar.
Given the pace-friendly conditions Down Under, it was encouraging to see Chahal amongst the top-five wicket-takers. Chahal finished with seven wickets in four matches at an economy rate of 4.26. “There is a dearth of quality spinners, so it is a good sign to see Chahal doing well,” said Vengsarkar.
Former India coach Lalchand Rajput demanded more hard work from the players. “Performances in ‘A’ tours do not guarantee a place in the Indian team. It is about performing consistently. The success in Australia should be an impetus to work harder,” said Rajput.
Brief scores: India ‘A’ 266/4 (Mandeep 95, Pandey 61) bt Australia ‘A’ 209 (Handscomb 43, Ross 34; Chahal 4/34) by 57 runs.
