New Delhi (Nilesh Tiwari), December 08: Australia dominated the match sweeping out India for just 175 early on Day 3. Thanks to a 13th Test five-wicket haul from Pat Cummins. India’s hopes were momentarily revived by Nitish Kumar Reddy’s heroic 42-run effort, but it only gave them an 18-run lead and forced Australia to bat again. On Day 2 at the Adelaide Oval, Australia’s all-around mastery left India reeling, as the hosts tied the series 1-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India lost the wicket of Rishabh Pant in the opening over of Day 2, which began with an overnight total of 128/5. In the slip cordon, Mitchell Starc was able to take an outside edge off Pant’s bat and pass it to Steve Smith. After hitting 28 runs off of 31 balls, Pant left. Despite his encouraging appearance, Cummins dismissed Ravichandran Ashwin with a short ball. He left for a zero-point score. A flurry of short balls was thrown at Harshit Rana. He was out for a 12-ball duck by Cummins.
Nitish Reddy removed the trail after the eighth wicket and amused the audience with a few aggressive strokes. However, as Reddy played an uppercut that Nathan McSweeney caught at a fine third man, Cummins finished his fifer. Reddy hit six fours and a six in his 42 runs off of 47 balls. The first ball dropped Mohammed Siraj. He fell to Scott Boland after hitting a boundary. They bowled out India for 175 runs.
Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney, the openers, completed the run chase in 3.2 overs. Against Siraj, Khawaja scored the game-winning runs.
Press Conference: Rohit Sharma after defeat against Australia
On pink-ball Test match:
“not insufficient pink ball experience. It is what it is. At bat, we were 30–40 short in the first inning. When Australia batted, we didn’t take any chances. In Australia, we understood we had to play pink ball. Our bat skills were inadequate. We didn’t bat well, they batted well – That was the difference”.
On Adelaide defeat:
“A Test match was lost by us. We have to discover some things about ourselves. How we wish to use the ball and bat. The score remains at 1-1. There is a lot more to come in this series. We hope that everyone is up to the task. I wouldn’t be concerned. I agree that we didn’t bat well enough if you exclude the most recent 5–6 game.”
On bowling lineup:
“Although having someone like Bumrah is great, he is not the only one who can complete the task. Other bowlers are also present. We’re excited about shared accountability. The whole world knows that.”
On Mohammed Shami:
Of course. The door remains firmly open. We’re keeping an eye on him. In SMAT, he experienced minor knee swelling. He pulling up in a match is not something we want to happen. We want to be certain. We don’t want to put him under any pressure. The BCCI medical staff is keeping an eye on him. We will listen to what they have to say. We must exercise caution. The door is ajar.
On fight between Siraj and head:
“I don’t know what was the talk but when the two competitive teams are playing each other – these things happen, I don’t think we need to look too much on it, it’s part of the game” .
Rohit Sharma On next game:
“We have some good memories from last time (Brisbane, Gabba) but we need to start well & play well”.
Australia squad for border gavaskar trophy 2024-25:
Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc.
India squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25:
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
