Australia made a strong comeback in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 with a nine-wicket win over India in Indore Test. This was Australia’s first win on this tour after they were thumped in Nagpur and Delhi earlier in the first two Tests. Things were not going their way as they lost their captain Pat Cummins ahead of the third Test as he had to fly back home because of a family medical emergency. However, Steve Smith’s appointment as captain worked wonders for the team as even on a difficult pitch to bat on at Holkar stadium, Aussies played better cricket than the home side.
There were two leading heroes for Australia in this Test match win. Both spinners: Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon. Kuhnemann picked up a five-wicket haul in the first innings to help Australia bowl out India for 109. Lyon then picked up eight wickets in the second innings to bundle the hosts out for a mere 163. The visitors then chased down the target of 76 under one session to make it 2-1 in the four-match series.
On the other hand, the loss is a wake-up call for India, who were dominant in the first two Tests. One of the major concerns for Team India is their top-order batting. The collective failure of the top 4 is a big concern. Cheteshwar Pujara played a brilliant innings in the 2nd Test to made a solid statement. His gritty fifty as well as Khawaja’s half-century in the first innings clearly stated that runs could still be scored on this tough pitch for batters.
After the loss, Indian fans came down heavily on their favourite team, blaming batters and missing Rishabh Pant at the same time.
Check the reactions of the Team India fans below:
India trying to make extreme turning wicket in Indore vs Australia didn’t end well #INDvsAUSTest #IndvsAus #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/FF1mcAl6Y9
— aman (@bilateral_bully) March 3, 2023
Rishabh Pant after seen Nathan Lyon scattered Team India batting line-up in 3rd test cricket match_..#RishabhPant #indoretest#INDvsAUSTest #AUSvIND #BCCI pic.twitter.com/gUy3dABvIV
— Hamza Qamar (@hamzaqamar233) March 3, 2023
We have been saying this alot that Indian players r very good against spin attack but is it really so??
There have been numerous contradicting instances in the recent years. May be we need to realize that this isn’t the case now.#INDvsAUSTest
— Mahak Goyal (@MahakGoyal8) March 3, 2023
#INDvsAUSTest
Got over so quickly, like the movie finishing before the interval.
— Vinay Kanchan (@vinaykanchan5) March 3, 2023
Rishab pant could have saved us.
No one else can play the way Rishabh was playing spin.
he’s currently the best test batsman of India #INDvsAUSTest #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/3dMDZLQbEA
— _ (@Magical_VK) March 3, 2023
With this win in Indore, Australia have now qualified for the World Test Championship final to be played at The Oval in June. India need to definitely win the fourth and last Test in Ahmedabad to qualify for the final. The last Test will be played from March 9 to 13.