Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Saba Karim believes it’s a wake-up call up for the national team after a narrow win against Bangladesh. India secured a three-wicket win against the Tigers in the second Test match at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Dhaka.
India had their backs against the wall at 74-7 on the fifth day of the Test match. However, the visitors were able to just get over the line in the run-chase of 145 runs after Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin bailed them out of jail as they scored 29 and 42 runs respectively.
Karim feels India will need to pull up their socks against Australia in the upcoming four-match home Test series.
“It’s a wake-up call for Team India. It’s crucial to address the issues in this Test match. We’ll play Test matches against Australia. We are only talking about qualifying for the World Test Championship, but we also need to win the WTC. Don’t repeat the mistakes,” said Karim on India News.
“Team India batters are unable to pick the spinners’ length. We are tentative in our defense. The batters need to work on their batting against spinners,” Karim added.
The current broadcaster added Australia can make India pay the price if the Rohit Sharma-led team will be complacent.
“There is room for improvement. How you played Mehidy Hasan, losing seven wickets in no time. Australia won’t give you a chance if you are complacent. Leave no stones unturned. We can challenge them and win the crucial series at home,” said Karim.
India were just able to get over the line against Bangladesh and there is no doubt they need to be better against a potent Australian team.
India was missing players like Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami against Bangladesh and all four of them are expected to return for the series against the Aussies.
The first Test match between India and Australia will be played in Nagpur from February 9.
