What’s the story?
Australia’s premier pacer Mitchell Starc has stated that India were scared of losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia at home which was the principal reason behind the on-field verbal sparring during the third Test at Ranchi.
In an interview with Fox Sports, Starc spoke about the verbal confrontations between players of both teams and said that it was “a lot more from their side than ours”.
Extra Cover: Wriddhiman Saha plays down altercation with Josh Hazlewood
He then said that the Indians were scared of getting beaten and hence resorted to confrontations, “They were scared of us, beating them in India the way they've been playing as well. So it was almost a defensive mechanism for them and obviously, they come out in the second Test match, performed really well and got back into it.”
In case you didn’t know...
Mitchell Starc has been ruled out of the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar trophy due to a stress fracture sustained in the second Test at Bengaluru. Starc has stated that he is eager to make a comeback in the Champions Trophy that will be held in England during June.
He was replaced in the squad by Pat Cummins for the third Test in Ranchi which Australia managed to draw thanks to the patient match-rescuing knocks of Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb who scored 53 and 72 respectively. The series remains tied at 1-1 with the fourth Test scheduled to be held at Dharamsala on Friday.
The heart of the matter
A patient and composed partnership of 199 between Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha and some final pinch-hitting from Ravindra Jadeja propelled India to a total of 603/9 in reply to Australia’s 451. Australia were dealt severe blows in their second innings with the dismissals of David Warner and night watchman Nathan Lyon and were stranded on 23/3 at the end of the fourth day.
In the final day, it seemed that India would take a 2-1 lead in the series as they had removed Renshaw and Smith early to restrict Australia to 63/4. However, a crucial partnership of 124 from 373 deliveries between Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb helped Australia draw out the match.
Extra Cover: Mitchell Starc eyes Champions Trophy comeback
During the match, a number of controversial moments took place including Glenn Maxwell’s mocking Virat Kohli’s injury and the verbal confrontation between Indian batsmen, Cheteshwar Pujara and Wriddhiman Saha, and Josh Hazlewood.
What’s next?
After drawing the third Test, India and Australia now travel to Dharamsala to play the fourth Test at the HPCA stadium which will be hosting its first Test match on Friday.
Author’s Take
Several instances of sledging and on-field spats have occurred when India have played Australia in the past, so, it’s no surprise that we are witnessing some drama during this ongoing series.
However, Starc’s words regarding the Indian team being afraid of losing comes as a surprise as there was only one team capable of winning the match on the last day of the Test.
