India’s abject first-innings batting against Australia cost them the opening test in the four-match series, home captain Virat Kohli said after his side’s 333-run defeat on Saturday. Later on Ashiwn too declared the win as the best of his career. I won’t mention the word but it falls into that bracket. It was a quite an emotional game for us, quite draining as well.
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On most occasions, the third day’s play clearly indicates which team is in control.
Kohli dropped a bombshell in his post-match press conference, all but accusing the Australians of cheating, and he did not miss their predecessors either. This was evident as the Virat Kohli-led side settled score with Australia by a 75-run win.
India put everything on the line in the second Test, coming back after their first-day collapse to record a famous victory and level the series.
Sunday was another day when Australia wrested the honours as Indian bowlers and fielders failed to make an impact and gain ascendancy in the second Test at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here in Bangalore.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the star of the final day, returning 6-41 as Australia collapsed, but Kohli was swift to highlight two other key passages of play. It was about taking responsibility.
“They, you know, were just trying to get our captain out like we have been trying to get Virat out”.
“Can’t wait for Ranchi”.
“When he turned back that’s when the umpires knew what was going on”.
“I think when we came out and bowled we were probably rushing a little bit, nearly expecting things to happen instead of getting to the basics and executing our skills”, Smith said.
Rahane, who reached his 11th Test fifty with a boundary off Starc, and Pujara handled the spinners with relative comfort early on.
There is plenty of talk when these two are out in the middle, but also quite a lot of mutual respect.
“Wriddhi’s (Wriddhiman Saha) knock in the end, Ishant’s (Sharma) application, that was a bonus”.
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“The fans will get their money worth, Kohli and Smith will get a chance to settle their differences, so it is a good idea for everyone”. We would have liked anything over 200, we thought from 225 there was only one victor. “I would never do something like that on the cricket field”, the skipper added.
