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The great Wall of 36 has been breached, with just two casualties, this will go down in history books. :Cheering:

On a serious note, this will calm down some nerves, half done, half to go, keep at it boys.

In hindsight, after the fall of the 6th wicket, the last 5 Indian batsmen scored 30 runs in thier first innings. Compared to that, the last 5 Australian batsmen scored 100 runs in their second innings. That difference of 70 runs is what we are chasing now. If our last 5 batsmen can score a little more or if our bowlers can dismiss their tail quicker, we will win more matches easily. If both can happen, that's even better.

Anyway, I expect Gill and Rahane to finish this off. But strange things have happened on a cricket field!

And then, we see some super cool shots from Gill and Rahane. Lovely looking boundaries.

Was about to hit the submit reply button when Rahane hooked one and gave the jitters, thankfully fell in the gap.

Ok I was almost accurate with my prediction. Atleast the first half and the way Gill is playing probably the second half may come close. What a good feeling to see Rahane square off the series :Cheering:

Brilliant win, one of the best overseas, specially after that demoralizing innings in last test match. Except for one brain fade session, we have competed brilliantly, trading blows to blows and invariably landing more. This team has shown a character our team has not been known of overseas.

Battling loss of players due to injury, one of our best batsman not available, three front line bowlers not playing, still to pull it through, it is nothing short of grit and determination, very very well played. Special call out to rahane for his match winning knock and a calmness he brings to team as a captain.

This match though belongs to our bowlers, more then anyone else, special call out to Siraj for such a brilliant performance on debut. Even gill deserves a lot of credit for a great debut, positive cricket and a brilliant knock in the chase.

A win finally for India :Cheering: :thumbs up
Series level now at 1-1.

Third test changes for India:
-Saini in for Umesh (depends on his injury/recovery) ?
-Rohit/KL in for Mayank/Vihari ? Maybe both!

ODI 2-1 Australia
T20 2-1 India
Test 1-1 with 2 more to go...can't be a better way to step into the new year. Well done team India!

Saini/Natarajan for Umesh
Rohit for Mayank
Rahul for Vihari

This would be my changes if the next one happens in MCG.

If it happens in SCG, probably we should add Kuldeep Yadav in place of Umesh Yadav

Great win. It was a befitting end with Rahane scoring the winning runs :Cheering:

And not to forget the debutants. Both Gill and Siraj making healthy contributions. Sir Jadeja and Bumrah as well were clinical. Overall a great team effort :thumbs up

Mayank and Pujara weren’t upto mark but I hope they get their mojo back in the next.

I think certain players like Mayank and Rahul go all out and change their style too much to score in IPL. They are applauded for that. I think that's impacting their test performances.

Hope Mayank can continue in next test. He was very good in defense last time while in Australia. Not sure if Ravi Shastri as a coach can tell them anything :) He doesn't even wake up during day time.

An all rounder is an important asset in any format. Comes Sir Jadeja into playing 11 comes calmness in the team. Thanks to Sanjay Manjrekar for waking up the tiger in Sir Jadeja in July 2019. SM continue your waking up job in Shaw, Mayank & Vihari too.

If team had a test fit Hardik in for Vihari then the team can accomodate/give grooming time for players like Shaw/Agarwal/Gill who are new to international tests.

The meek might very well inherit the Earth, but they definitely won't win a test series in Australia. Brilliant, aggressive cricket from the Indians, without any overt histrionics. Loved it!

Hope we retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy with an outright 3-1 series win!

Oh you bet.

In the last 3 years, Jadeja has played 5 test matches in SENA countries has scored 271 runs at an average of 45 runs per innings and a bowling average of 28.8.

His career stats overall are a batting average of 35 and bowling average of 25. I think he always would be a strong contender for number 7 unless Pandya comes in.

I wish I could see Ponting do an interview now. He had predicted a 4-0 white wash. Wonder where he is hiding.

If only, if only, we didn’t do that horrible one hour of batting at Adelaide..tchh..

Ajinkya Rahane joins the elite list of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli to win a Boxing Day Test match as Indian captain.

The proud recipient and the inaugural winner of the Mullagh Medal.





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Brilliant win. Back against the wall. 36 humiliation which could break any teams morale. I will rate this win as high as the Perth one in 2008. We couldn't win the series then. We can win it now. I want Warner to play next game. I want us to beat their best XI even when we don't have our best XI playing.

Positives-
Gill- brilliant temperament in both innings. No nervous jitters. Ya, he got lucky with couple of drops but was flawless in 2nd innings.

Rahane- Very good Captaincy, brilliant batting and return to form is good omen for rest of series. A true gentleman like Rahul Dravid. New players like Gill will benefit from him and Pujara.

Siraj- So, his Ranji exploits weren't exaggerated and he can bowl a good line and length all day.. very impressive debut.

Jadeja- he should be a starter in all matches unless it's a green top like NZ. MVP since long. Period.

Ashwin- probably bowling his best. The pressure he creates is invaluable.

Bumrah- we are lucky to have him. Enough said.

Pant- One drop catch aside was reasonably good with the gloves. However, his counterattacking 29 and that 50+ partnership with Rahane when we were struggling for momentum was precious. Will only get better with confidence.

Vihari- Doing reasonably well at 5/6 and holding out one end. But, I would like him to make some 50+ scores soon.

Negatives-
Mayank- Technical issues and lack of confidence is apparent in his dismissals. Might get replaced by Rohit in next match.

Pujara- Dip in form but hopefully does well in next one. He is undroppable overseas.

Seems Saini will play next game if Umesh isn't fit. I would have liked to try Natrajan but team management prefers Saini.

After the sadness of 36 it's good to be happy for another 9 days :Dlol: