Indias Jasprit Bumrah (R) celebrates the wicket of Australias Travis Head on Day 4 of Perth Test.© AFP
India started their defence of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a dominating victory in Perth. After a 3-0 loss to New Zealand, no Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, India selected a playing eleven which had four players playing in Australia for the first time, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja left out of the eleven. Being bowled out for 150 on day one of the match was enough to create doubts in minds of onlookers of India defending the BGT. But the visitors, captained by Jasprit Bumrah, reminded everyone of their all-famous bounceback abilities and came back from behind in emphatic style to record a monumental 295-run win over Australia.
Reacting to the win, South Africa legend AB de Villiers pointed out that many like to see Australia losing a match.
“It was a fascinating Test match. Nothing against the Aussies, but most of us around the world don’t mind seeing them going down every now and then,” de Villiers said.
“It was nice to see India start well; they needed to start well after the loss against New Zealand. That took a big dent in their confidence but coming out in the first Test, the most important thing was to adapt to the conditions, which they did exceptionally well.
“They fought back after the first innings, 150 all out, and really bowling well, Bumrah and the whole bowling attack coming together.”
The manner and margin of India’s famous win in Perth Stadium has given them a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, which became their biggest Test win from the runs margin outside home. It’s also the second time India won the opening match of a Border-Gavaskar Trophy series after doing so in Adelaide in 2018.
Bumrah, the chief architect of India’s famous triumph in Perth, picked eight wickets, including the match-changing spell of 5-30, which gave them a 46-run lead and single-handedly blew away Australia.
(With IANS Inputs)
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