Team India in action during the India vs Australia 1st Test.© AFP
With India dominating the second day of the first Test against Australia in Perth with a superb batting performance, former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh opined that the Jasprit Bumrah-led side will win the series opener and go on to claim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series with 4-1 scoreline to complete a hat-trick of triumphs Down Under. India have won the last two away Test series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and hasn’t lost the series since 2017.
In the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma, stand-in skipper Bumrah won the toss and opted to bat first on Friday but were bundled out for a paltry 150 in the first innings. In response, Bumrah returned with figures of 5-30 to decimate Australia for 104 all out in the first innings.
In their second innings, openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and K.L. Rahul staged a stellar performance with an unbeaten 172-run partnership to stretch India’s lead to 218 runs before the culmination of the second day’s play on Saturday. Jaiswal and Rahul will continue their knocks from 90 and 62 on Day Three to boost India’s chances of a massive win.
“India’s performance is very solid. To dominate in Australia is a difficult task which they have done so far. I hope that they finish the series with dominance after a good start. It would be a great pleasure if India win the series 4-1 in Australia,” Harbhajan said on the sidelines of an event on Saturday.
The former cricketer acknowledged the difficulty of playing in Australia and believes that India will win their third consecutive Test series Down Under to complete a hat-trick.
“I congratulate captain Bumrah early because we’re going to win this Test match and hope we will continue the same result in the series. Everyone knows defeating Australia in Australia is a tough job but we’ve done that in the last two tours and it would be great if we score a hat-trick,” the veteran off-spinner added.
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