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'No shame in losing to India's third XI': Vaughan quips about Australia's series defeat to India, coach Langer responds
Justin Langer had an answer ready when Michael Vaughan jokingly said there was no shame for Australia in losing to India's '3rd XI' during the Test series.
India's Test series win against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year will go down in ages as one of the greatest Test series of all time. The back-and-forth battle, coupled with India's remarkable resiliency that saw them recover from the low of their lowest Test score to eventually taking the series 2-1, makes it one of the most fascinating Test series ever played.
To recap the series, Australia had hammered India by eight wickets in the first Test – where Virat Kohli's men had been bowled out for 36. From there, with Virat Kohli returning home and Ajinkya Rahane leading the team even as key players kept getting injured. The Indian team, with fresh face emerging to the fore, won the second and fourth Tests, while drawing the third. To assemble an XI with whatever players they had left, India did the unthinkable.
Recently, during an interaction on Fox Cricket hosted by former Australia cricketers Mark Waugh and Brendon Julian, Michael Vaughan and Australia coach Justin Langer were asked about the incredible series played between India and Australia, in regard to which the former England captain quipped, 'There's no shame in losing to India's 3rd XI,' which was received with a bit of laughter from Langer, Waugh and Julian. However, Langer did address the comment, with a clever remark of his own.
"I know we all joke, Vaughany (Michael Vaughan) jokes about India's second and third XI but the truth is, in a country of one and a half billion people, who love cricket, if you make the first XI, you're going to have a pretty tough team," said Langer.
"There will be pretty good players, and when the opportunity comes, you've got to be ready to grab them. We saw that exceptional young talent, they were fierce. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of the ledger."
