Team Australia whitewashed- time for India to rejoice
The six-wicket win over Australia marks a historic 4-0 clean sweep, something that team India had been desiring for long. The test match being played on the tricky Feroz Shah Kotla ground had a track that was not considered conducive for batting. However, Indian team batted with elegance chasing down a target of 155, something that was not very easy to achieve. However, thanks to the poise and elegance displayed by Cheteshwar Pujara, the home team was able to record their biggest ever series win and that too against the mighty team Australia, which was until late thought of as unbeatable.
Much credit for the win and that too on the third day of the test match goes to Cheteshwar Pujara. The strokeplayer who was playing with a swollen hand battled pain with much determination as he scored unbeatable 82 off just 92 balls. This included 11 boundaries too.
The loss was very uncomfortable for team Australia and it would have to do a lot of answering back home for the performance on the current tour. This was for the first time in 43 years that team Australia had to suffer a 0-4 whitewash in a series. The last time Australia fared this badly was in 1969-70 in South Africa when the team led by Bill Lawry lost the test series.
India ended the play in style with Pujara hitting three boundaries off Glenn Maxwell. This helped India level the score with Australia. If that was not enough Mahender Singh Dhoni, the Indian skipper ended in style by hitting the winning boundary.
Cheteshwar Pujara’s performance will ease things for team India. It is after a while that India has found a player who can perform in confidence, even when wickets around him were falling in quick succession. Team India lost three wickets in quick succession when Virat Kohli (41), Sachin Tendulkar (1), and Ajinkya Rahane (1) departed one after the other. However, Pujara kept his cool, ended the day in style, and helped India record a historic win.
The target of 155 seemed tough to achieve, as the track was not conducive for batting. However, Virat and Pujara added 104 runs for the second wicket making things look much easier for team India.
Things were looking on a different note in the morning and no one expected the test match to end on the third day itself. It took only 13 deliveries for Australia to remove the Indian tail enders as Nathan Lyon got his career best for 7 for 94. Indian team could manage a slender lead of 10 runs only.
Team Australia could manage only 164 in their second innings and this perhaps sealed the fate in India’s favor. Siddle was the only Australian player who could stand upto the might of team India as he scored a gutsy 50 with 45 balls only. His innings included seven boundaries. The performance by Siddle in the face of adversity leaves perhaps much to learn for team Australia which will now have to do a lot of answering back home. Meanwhile, celebrations have begun in India and team India deserves to rejoice this hard-earned win.