Opting to go in without a proven performer like R Ashwin and batting first in an opening Test of a high-pressure series in Australia are reflections of an Indian team that is brave and supremely confident in its ability to win from any situation, feels England’s all-time great Alastair Cook. Cook, a former captain and the first England batter to make 10,000 runs in Test cricket, praised India for their remarkable comeback after getting bowled out for just 150 in the first Test at Perth.
“I thought India was so brave. I thought that first, you know, they win the toss and bat on that wicket, you look there, even though there’s only 150 they got, the thought process to say, ‘we’re going to take Australia on there. We know it’s going to be hard, but we think it’s going to be hard for both sides only, and then it’ll be a one-innings game’,” Cook said on TNT Sports.
He added, “I think most captains would have bowled first, certainly would have done and probably got the end of a bad result, like normally in Australia. But India took it on brilliantly. It was just an all-round fantastic performance.
“You think… bowled out for 150, you think we’re struggling here, but to bounce back when you’ve got Boomer (Jasprit Bumrah) up with the new ball on those kinds of wickets, he’s always going to be outstanding and backed up by team.” Captaining the team in the absence of Rohit Sharma, pace spearhead Bumrah came up with a magnificent performance to grab eight wickets, including a first-innings five-for, to lead India to a memorable win.
Speaking about India’s move to exclude the senior off-spinner Ashwin from the playing XI, Cook said, “… Just think of how brave they were? They didn’t bother playing Ashwin who has got 500 Test wickets. They’ve kind of played a couple of like, not makes you spinners, but you know, I thought Ashwin would have been outstanding, but you know, great thinking by them.
“And isn’t it nice to see Australia get thrashed?” Cook lauded the “classy” Yashasvi Jaiswal for the manner in which he dominated the formidable Australian pace attack and said he wouldn’t have told the menacing Mitchell Starc he is bowling too slow even if he was.
After failing to open his account in the first innings of the series opener, Jaiswal adapted to the conditions beautifully and played a brilliant 161-run knock in the second essay, his maiden century on Australian soil.
During the second day of the match, Jaiswal told Starc, “It’s coming too slow”, with his confidence attracting the attention of many in the cricket world, including the former England captain, who had been a prolific scorer in Tests for a prolonged period.
“We’ve seen his celebration enough here, but it’s more enjoyable against Australia than England, certainly,” Cook said, referring to Jaiswal’s phenomenal run in the Test series against England, when he amassed over 700 runs.
He added, “And sledging Mitchell Starc, saying at a certain stage, I think he wasn’t on 100, he wasn’t on anything on a major score, but he’s telling him you’re bowling slow…
“And I’ve faced Mitchell Starc and he certainly doesn’t bowl slow. And if he was bowling slow, I’d keep my mouth shut and not wind him up, but have the confidence to do that as a 22-year-old….” “I think he scored the most runs as any Indian player up to after 15 Test matches at the top of the order, which I’ll keep saying it, no one else believes me, it’s the hardest place to bat. What a classy player he is.” India thrashed Australia by 295 runs in the five-match series opener and Cook said he was pleasantly surprised by the result.
“I was surprised. I was surprised that India have gone there and hammered Australia in what normally is a very hard place to go and play cricket, Perth. I know it’s not the WACA. I know it’s the new stadium, but still, historically, Australia don’t lose many games there,” Cook said.
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