The current Australian team has players who are unsure about their spots: Sachin Tendulkar

After India’s iconic victory against Australia by 8 wickets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the second Test of the four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy, batting great Sachin Tendulkar thoroughly analysed the game as he opined on Australia’s batting line-up, the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane, and the performance by two debutants Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj.

The hosts are having a lukewarm run with the willow in the Test series thus far as they failed to put up an impressive show with the bat across their three completed innings. Comparing Australia’s current team with the past line-up that dominated world cricket, Tendulkar reckoned that the present team doesn’t look settled as the players aren’t sure about their position in the squad.

“When I look at this Australian batting line-up and look at some of the earlier line-ups, I feel earlier line-ups were settled ones. Those players batted with a different kind of intent but this team doesn’t look very settled,” Tendulkar said as quoted by Times of India.

“In this current Australian team, there are players who are not in good form and are unsure about their spots. In earlier teams, those batsmen batted in their slots as there was a lot of surety in their batting line-up,” he added.

It did not appear to me that Mohammed Siraj was playing his first Test match: Sachin Tendulkar

After Ajinkya Rahane’s incredible captaincy in the second Test at MCG, a few analysts started comparing him with the Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who is currently on paternity leave. However, Sachin doesn’t fancy such comparisons as he believes that both the players have different personalities.

“People shouldn’t get into comparisons with Virat. Ajinkya has a different personality. His intent was aggressive. I would like to remind everyone that they are both Indians and they both play for India, so no individuals come above India. Team and country is above everything else,” he said

Further in the interaction, the batting maestro was all praises for the two debutants Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj who looked promising and showed their class and character. While Gill scored 45 and 35* runs respectively across two innings, Siraj showed his consistency with the ball as he scalped five wickets.

“Shubman looked confident and comfortable. He played some good shots off short pitched stuff that Australians bowled. Someone upfront who goes out and scores 45 and 35 so, it is surely a good start,” Tendulkar said of the 21-year-old.

“Let’s also not forget how Siraj has also bowled. It did not appear to me that he was playing his first Test match. The way he bowled his first over and then built it up gradually but never did it look that he was playing his first match. The plans were well thought out. He executed it well. Both debutants were comfortable in execution of their plans,” Tendulkar concluded.