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Rohit was full of praise for his teammates, especially the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep, whose heroics with the bat late on Day 4 helped India to avoid the follow-on and stay alive in the game.
A stellar fight from the Indians brought them back into the game before rain played spoilsport (AP)
The rains saved (or ruined) the day for both India and Australia as the final day of play came to an anti-climactic end, with the third match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy ending in a draw.
India were dismissed for 260 early in the first session and finished 185 runs behind the hosts’ first innings total of 445, but passed the follow-on total late on Tuesday to ensure Australia must bat again.
What would ensue would be magical, as India and their pacers would wreak havoc over the Australians.
The trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep and Mohammad Siraj would run riot over the Aussie batters at will, whittling them to a mere 89/7, following which the hosts would declare.
With India needing 275 runs to win, openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul took to the pitch. But, all action soon came to an end shortly after, as bad light preponed tea with India at 8/0, and rains stopped play entirely soon after.
“I mean, we will take that. Obviously to have interruptions like that wasn’t great, but going to Melbourne at 1-1 pretty much gives us that confidence to go out there and pull things towards us,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
“The situation we were in just after lunch (on Day 4), needed someone to stand up and take us through, we knew with the weather, we knew it wasn’t going to be a full game.”
Rohit was full of praise for his teammates, especially the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep, whose heroics with the bat late on Day 4 helped India to avoid the follow-on and stay alive in the game.
“The fight that Akash Deep and Bumrah was great to watch, we have seen them work so hard at the nets. As they showed with the bat, these are the sort of characters we needed in the team.”
Due to the draw, both India and Australia have to settle with 4 World Test Championship (WTC) points each, as the series also remains tied at 1-1.
The end of the third Test between India and Australia of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy also became Ashwin’s final match of his international career, as the legendry off-spinner announced his retirement from all formats in a post-match interaction.
The fourth Test, set to take place in Melbourne, shall commence on the 26th of December.
