Australia vs India: 3rd Test – Who Said What

India and Australia were up against each other in the 3rd Test match of the Border-Gavaskar series at Sydney Cricket Ground. Both the teams tried their level best to walk like a hero out of the match, but it ended in a draw. Some class display of Test cricket came on table by Indian cricketers during the final day of the game. During the 1st innings, Australia posted 338 runs on the board where Steve Smith’s century (131) showed that the ace batsman is still capable of bringing magic on the field. Marnus Labuschagne added his fine contribution of 91 runs in the first innings.

Steve Smith was adjudged as the player of the match for his class show in both the innings. It was Ravindra Jadeja from the Indian side who took a four-fer to rise to the occasion. India got wrapped up on just 244 runs, which handed over a 94 runs lead to the hosts. The fifties from Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara were the highlights of India’s innings. Pat Cummins remained the shining force for Australia as he bagged four wickets in his bag.

India gave a solid fightback at SCG on final day

Talking of the 2nd innings, Australia declared on 312 runs after having a decent lead. Labuschagne (73), Smith (81), and Cameron Green (84) turned to be the flag bearers of their batting set up. India got off to a great start when Rohit Sharma (52) and Shubman Gill maintained the fine rhythm. However, Rishabh Pant displayed some pure stuff of a champion when he smashed 97 runs against the stiff bowling set up of Australia. Pujara added his good 77 runs from his end.

The great fightback flagged off when Hanuma Vihari and Ravi Ashwin stood on the crease like an unmovable rock and played 259 balls together for several hours like a warrior. They played for 131 overs relentlessly to land India in a respectable position when the match was in a spot of bother.

Australia skipper, Tim Paine said-

I thought we created enough chances to win the game, this one’s a tough to swallo. Our bowlers were superb, Lyon bowled well. Just that we (especially me) didn’t hold onto our catches. Looking forward to Brisbane. We didn’t play our best in the last two games, but we were somewhat good with the bat in this Test. There were a few positives for us, our bowlers created plenty of chances. Today was a whole-hearted effort from the boys, just that things didn’t go our way. I think having two young kids (Pucovski and Green) play Test cricket, it’s a great thing as they were sensational. I thought Green was fantastic yesterday.

Indian skipper, Ajinkya Rahane said-

Our talk coming this morning was to show character and fight till the end. Not to think about the result. Really happy with the way fought especially today but throughout the game, even in the first innings when Australia were 200 for 2 and getting them all out for 338 was really good. There are few areas we can improve on but special mention to Vihari and Ashwin. The way they batted in the end and showed character was really good to see. Credit to him (Pant). We made that strategy but in the end it is all about the player executing the plan.

Player of the match, Steve Smith said-

India fought really hard. Our bowlers did their hardest. We felt few kept a low on day three, but there was not much today. Always means a lot when you score a hundred for your country. Looking forward to play the next Test in a few days time. Absorbed the pressure when needed to, just watched the ball hard and concentrated well.