Dinesh Lad, the coach of Rohit Sharma and Shardul Thakur, has said that Shardul's 123-run stand with Washington Sundar in the first innings of the fourth Test against Australia turned out to be very crucial in the context of the series decider.
On Tuesday, Australia's fortress -- The Gabba -- was finally breached. It took 32 years and two months, but the unthinkable was achieved as an injury-ravaged young Indian team beat Australia by three wickets against all odds to take the series 2-1.
"The way our new players performed, it was very good to see. (Mohammad) Shami and (Jasprit) Bumrah were not there, so the players who had just played one-two Tests performed really well. Both Shubman and Rishabh batted exceptionally well, our future looks very good. All the guys took responsibility and it is very nice to see. Everyone grabbed their chance so it is very pleasing to see," Lad told .
"Shardul has been bowling really well, he is an attacking batsman but the way he batted in this fourth Test, it was really good. His partnership with Sundar in the first innings turned out to be match-winning. This series win will bolster the confidence of every Indian player, beating Australia at Gabba is a big achievement. (Ajinkya) Rahane also led the side in a nice fashion, his field placements were very good, he was very calm," he added.
Shardul had scored 67 runs in the first innings, while he also took seven wickets in the Gabba Test. In the second innings, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant might have played knocks of 91 and 89, but it was Cheteshwar Pujara who stood like a rock, facing 211 balls for his 56 runs.
Speaking about Pujara's performance, his father Arvind Pujara said: "It is a very big win for India. This win is special because most of our players were new, only Rahane and Pujara played all four Tests. First (Virat) Kohli left, then (Ravindra) Jadeja and R Ashwin got injured, fast bowlers also got injured, the morale of the team was very upbeat, we defeated Australia and it is a historic moment in our cricket history."
Former India skipper Kapil Dev also took to Twitter to congratulate the Indian side on winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1. "Well Done Team India. You proved yourself right and played like world champs. You are our Stars & You made us all proud," he tweeted.
The last time a visiting team came out triumphant from the Brisbane Cricket Ground was back in November 1988 when the mighty West Indian outfit under the leadership of Viv Richards thrashed Allan Border's team by 9 wickets.
( With inputs from ANI )
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