Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has showered praise on Australian captain Pat Cummins’ determination after the Aussies regained the Border-Gavaskar trophy after a decade-long wait. The home team won the fifth Test match of the series at the SCG by six wickets to take the series by 3-1.
Pat Cummins was able to lead from the front as he picked five wickets in the Sydney Test, including crucial breakthroughs of Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar on the third day.
Cummins also ended as the second-highest wicket-taker of the series with 25 scalps in five games at an average of 21.36. Furthermore, he scored 159 runs in eight innings and added pivotal runs down the order.
Ravi Shastri said on ICC Review, “He amazes me. Even when I was the coach in the dressing room, I would just admire his determination, his willingness to compete. He never gives up and it’s like that session after session – he’ll come at you with the ball. And just when the chips were down, various times in the series, he rose to the occasion. And not just with the ball, but with the bat as well.”
On the other hand, Australia suffered a huge loss of 295 runs in the opening Test at Perth against India but bounced back strongly in the next four Test matches. Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting said it was a really good turnaround.
“When you lose a Test match (in Perth) like that against another very strong opposition side, you do have to do a bit of soul searching and do a lot of talking. It’s been a really good turnaround, especially when at the start of the series, I thought Australia would win 3-1, but I actually thought they’d win the early Test matches.
Ponting highlighted that he thought Australia would go on to win the first three Test matches at Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane but would find it difficult to get positive results at Melbourne and Sydney.
“I thought they’d win Perth, I thought they’d win Brisbane and probably Adelaide and find it harder in Melbourne and Sydney. The conditions that you think India would normally play better in, Australia’s found a way to outplay them in Melbourne and Sydney. It was a really good turnaround and one that they’ll be happy with,” the Aussie batting legend concluded.
Australia will next tour Sri Lanka for two Test matches.
