India retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by taking a 2-0 lead in the four-match series. Ravindra Jadeja rips through Australia with seven for 42
Our Bureau
New Delhi
India inched closer to a place in the ICC World Test Championship Final as the third day of the Delhi Test on Sunday saw India taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023.
The hosts claimed a thrilling six-wicket victory over Australia to move a step closer to sealing their place at the Ultimate Test at the Oval on June 7. The World Test Championship has seen two years of intense competition in the longest format, and the second Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy characterised the ebb and flow that has been present throughout, with both sides wrestling for control of the match before Rohit Sharma’s men triumphed on a dramatic day in Delhi.
With the top two teams in the ICC World Test Championship standings securing a place in June’s Final, the result still means that Australia and India control their own destiny as we edge towards the conclusion of the competition.
Australia remains atop the standings despite the defeat reducing their percentage tally to 66.67 per cent. At the same time, India widens the gap between themselves and the third spot thanks to their victory in Delhi, moving to 64.06 per cent.
As a result of India’s victory, the number of teams able to qualify for the Final shrinks from four to three. South Africa dropped out of contention, unable to reach the percentage points required to break into the top two, leaving Sri Lanka as the lone challenger for a place at the Ultimate Test.
Sri Lanka currently sits third in the standings at 53.33 per cent, and they head to New Zealand next month knowing that not only must they win both tests in their two-match series to stand any chance of qualification, but they are also reliant on favourable results in the remaining two tests between India and Australia.
The third Test match between India and Australia starts in Indore on 1 March with the hosts able to secure their place at The Oval with another victory. Anything less, and Australia will become the first team to qualify for the World Test Championship Final.
Rohit to miss first ODI
The Indian squads for the third and fourth Test match against Australia for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy and followed by three-match ODI series against the same was announced on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma will be unavailable for the first ODI due to family commitments and Hardik Pandya will lead the side in the first ODI. India are leading the four-match Test series 2-0 after winning the Test match in Delhi by six wickets and they will now take on Pat Cummins-led Australian team in the third Test match in Indore starting March 1 in Indore.
Jaydev Unadkat who was released to lead Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy final against Bengal also came back to the Test and ODI squad. The three-match ODI series between India and Australia will start from 17th March in Mumbai followed by the second and third ODI to be played in Vizag and Chennai on 19th March and 22nd March 2023.
Axar Patel and KL Rahul, who missed the New Zealand series due to family commitments, return back to the ODI side. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and batter Shreyas Iyer also make a comeback to the ODI team.
Sweep is not good option against me: Jadeja
India’s star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja made a sneaky jab at the Australian batter for always attempting to sweep him and said that playing these shots against him is not a good option on this kind of wicket.
As many as six Australian batters fell while sweeping or reverse-sweeping in the innings. After bowlers skittled out visitors for 113, Rohit Sharma, Srikar Bharat and Cheteshwar Pujara held their ground to help India register an emphatic 6-wicket victory against Australia in the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy here at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday.
“Don’t think a sweep is a good option against me on this kind of wicket,” Ravindra Jadeja said in the post-match presentation.
Left-arm spinner Jadeja was the tormentor-in-chief with a career-best 7/42 in the second innings while his partner-in-crime Ashwin picked 3/59. Australian batters fell to a mix of bad sweep shots and accurate deliveries which kept low, sliding from 85/2 to 113 all out.
India’s spinner dominated the proceedings in the first session, rolling Australia out for 113. The hosts chased down the target with six wickets in hand.
“I think I was enjoying my bowling. These wickets suit me because the odd ball spins and some stay low. I knew they’d play sweeps and reverse sweeps, so my idea was just keeping it simple and straight. I knew they were looking for runs, so the plan was just bowling into the stumps. If they make a mistake, I have a chance,” he said.
Coming to match, India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by taking a 2-0 lead in the four-match series. Pujara (31*) and Bharat (23*) played till the end to guide their team home. For India, Ravindra Jadeja ripped through Australia with seven for 42.
Axar & Ashwin changed things: Dravid
India head coach Rahul Dravid highlighted the crucial partnership between Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin as the turning point of the second Test in Delhi after the hosts’ six-wicket victory against Australia.
India were in trouble at 139/7 when Ashwin walked into bat with Axar at the other end, trailing the visitors by 124 runs. The duo stitched a 114-run stand for the eighth wicket helping the hosts recover in the first inning. “This Test match moved up and down, but today morning it moved really quickly for us. I think it was the partnership between Axar and Ashwin that changed things. We wanted to chase something close to 200-225 and that partnership enabled us to get back, or we’d have been trailing,” expressed Dravid.
The head coach also spoke about India’s bowling in the last session on the second day of the Test and mentioned that the bowlers were sprayed away from their lengths resulting in Australia scoring quick runs.
“A bit of a downer to concede too many runs in the evening, I think we bowled probably wrong and were all over the place, and they came hard at us, but we course-corrected this morning. It was just brilliant then how the game moved. I think it was about sticking to a length and letting the wicket do it for us. I felt yesterday we overpitched too much, and honestly, we learnt from what Australia and Nathan Lyon did. I think the balance that we have is brilliant, there’s great depth to be able to play 9 batters,” the former India batter said.
Batters went away from their methods: Cummins
Australia skipper Pat Cummins has acknowledged that his team’s batter overplayed their hands in their second innings, going above and beyond the call of duty in a spectacular batting collapse that cost them the second Test in less than a session.
India’s spinner dominated the proceedings in the first session, rolling Australia out for 113. The hosts chased down the target with six wickets in hand. After bowlers skittled out visitors for 113, Rohit Sharma, Srikar Bharat and Cheteshwar Pujara held their ground to help India register an emphatic 6-wicket victory against Australia in the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy here at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday.
After the Nagpur loss, Cummins urged his batters to be courageous and proactive, but he later acknowledged that his team may have taken things too far the other way in Delhi. Six of the dismissals came during frantic 90-minute periods against Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, who shared all 10 of the innings’ wickets between them.
“Nagpur maybe [we] underplayed it, we probably overplayed it here at times in the second innings. You’ve got to find a way to try and put pressure back on the bowlers. They’re really, really good bowlers, especially in these conditions. Probably just at times maybe just overplayed it,” Cummins said in a post-match conference.
“I thought they bowled really well. It’s not easy out there. But perhaps some guys went away from their methods. Each batter has their own way to go about it. I don’t think there’s any one size fits all rule. Unfortunately, quite a few of us got out with kind of cross-batted shots which might not be our preferred method,” he added.
For Australia’s batsmen in particular, there will be a lot of introspection, according to Cummins. Yet the team may potentially undergo some adjustments. As many as six Australian batters fell while sweeping or reverse-sweeping in the innings.
“We’ve got a bit of time. We’ll have a good think. Have a look at different things. I think over the next day or two we’ll look at any changes in the squad as well. Mitchell Swepson has gone home, he’s a chance of coming back. Hopefully Cam Green is available, [Josh] Hazlewood, [Mitchell] Starc, we’ll manage that,” Cummins said.
“We’ll assess it over the next couple of days. [We’ve] probably got enough time to have a bit of a break, a bit of a refresh, and still plenty of time to roll up the sleeves before the next one,” he added.
