India vs Australia: Zaheer Khan lists out positives for India to take from defeat in first Test
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Zaheer Khan
India suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Australia in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval after a dismal batting performance in their second innings that saw them fold for 36 runs – the lowest ever score in their history. After the match, a plethora of questions were raised with regard to the Indian batters’ execution and the team selection.
With the second Test looming and set to begin from December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, India need to regroup and make a strong comeback in the series. They will however, have to do it in the absence of their skipper Virat Kohli who will leave for India on ‘paternity leave’ for the birth of his first child. His deputy Ajinkya Rahane will be the stand-in captain for the rest of the series.
‘Bowlers made a very good comeback’ – Zaheer Khan
Speaking to Sony Sports Network, former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan listed out the positives for India to take from the first Test. “The first positive for India was that the playing XI was announced a day before. I feel it was a big positive because you showed confidence in the playing XI,” he said.
“The second positive was opting to bat after winning the toss. You showed that however good an attack Australia may have, we will play according to the conditions. The first day was very good. Pujara and Virat Kohli had set a platform although we may have fallen short by 40-50 runs of the number of runs that should have been scored,” he added.
Zaheer also credited the bowlers and especially Ravichandran Ashwin who picked up 4 wickets in the first innings. “Bowlers made a very good comeback. There were problems about length at the start, even the Australian bowlers had that issue in the first innings. India learnt from that. Ashwin was another positive as you want your main spinner to play a good role in these conditions, get the breakthroughs. He got Smith out and picked up three wickets during that period. He overall took four wickets in the first innings,” he signed off.
The second Test match begins on December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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Nevin Clinton
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