Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman and captain Ramiz Raja hailed Team India for their splendid six-wicket win over Australia and claimed that it is impossible to beat the Indian team on their own soil.
India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja spun a web around the Aussies on Day 3 of the second Test at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium, triggering a collapse. India cruised home to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
Ramiz, in a video on his own YouTube channel, lavished praise on skipper Rohit Sharma and his entire team. He also mentioned all-rounder Axar Patel, whose innings of 74 helped India recover from a difficult position in their first innings. "The clincher was Axar Patel's knock in the first innings. He stitched a crucial partnership with Ashwin at a time when Australia would have entertained hopes of skittling India out for a low score and taking a sizeable lead. Australia did not demonstrate the necessary mental toughness to thrive on these surfaces and there are obvious technical flaws in their batting. Their batting against spin left much to be desired. They played the wrong shots," Raja said.
The former Pakistan skipper slammed Australia for failing to stand up to spin in both the innings. "Australia would do to teams from the sub-continent on tailor-made surfaces at Perth or Brisbane what India did to them at Delhi. The tables have turned. It shows Australia did not prepare well for the series. It's impossible to beat Team India in India. It was an ordinary performance against spin. They lost 9 wickets in a single session. Jadeja came up with an exceptional bowling effort," the former Pakistan skipper said.
Having taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the ongoing series, India have taken a giant leap to sealing its passage to the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Having conceded the Border-Gavaskar trophy, the visitors will play to level the series in the remaining two Tests.
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