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‘That is one of the bold decisions’: Sunil Gavaskar on how India got the ‘perfect balance’ in Melbourne Test

It was a dominant display from the Indian cricket team as they outperformed Australia in all aspects of the game. Indian team made four changes after their loss in Adelaide and it worked wonders.

Updated on: Dec 31, 2020, 07:46:40 IST
Hindustan Times, Delhi | By
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Team India have been earning a lot of praise for their display in the second Test match against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. After going 0-1 down in the Test series and missing the services of Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, and Rohit Sharma, not a lot was expected out of the team after their disastrous performance in Adelaide. But Team India bounced back and in style. India under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane defeated Australia by 8 wickets to level the series 1-1.

NFormer Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. (Getty Images)
NFormer Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. (Getty Images)

It was a dominant display from the Indian cricket team as they outperformed Australia in all aspects of the game. Indian team made four changes after their loss in Adelaide and it worked wonders. Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj impressed on debut while Rishabh Pant contributed with the bat. Ravindra Jadeja was drafted into the side and he showed his value as he scored an extremely useful fifty in the first innings while providing crucial breakthroughs with the ball.

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Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar also lauded the decision taken by the team management to bring in Jadeja as it lead to a perfect balance for India.

“That is one of the bold decisions that this captain or the team management took because to go with Jadeja as an all-rounder meant that India had the perfect balance,” Gavaskar told ‘India Today’’.

“In batting, it got little bit of depth and in bowling, they had an extra option which meant Bumrah, Umesh could take a bit of breather and also he is a fabulous fielder.”

Gavaskar has also got words of praise for him. Gavaskar said that it is ‘heartening to thing see’ the way Australia legends are praising Rahane for his leadership skills.

READ | Ashwin explains how India managed to respond after Adelaide low

“You had to be around the Australian commentary boxes to understand the kind of admiration that was there for the way he (Rahane) lead the team amongst some of the Australian legends who were at the commentary box,” Gavaskar said.

“So that was such a heartening thing to see that he was being praised for his leadership by these guys, someone like Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Mike Hussey, Shane Warne, they had nothing but praise for Rahane’s captaincy.”

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