Sanjay Manjrekar picks his top three moments from India's tour to Australia

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has picked his top three moments from India's all-format tour to Australia.

The Indian cricket team finished their tour Down Under on a high after winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1.

The two teams had split the limited-overs series before that, with Australia winning in the ODIs and the visitors emerging triumphant in the T20Is, both doing so with an identical 2-1 margin.

Sanjay Manjrekar was asked during a post-series discussion on the Sony Sports network to pick his top three moments of the tour.

The former Indian batsman picked the Ajinkya Rahane-led side's spirited comeback to win the Boxing Day Test after the batting debacle in Adelaide as his most memorable moment.

After losing the first Test by eight wickets, the battered Indian side had bounced back to win the Melbourne Test by the same margin.

"My first one is to get all out on 36 and then to make a comeback in Melbourne. In 1974 when India was all out for 42, we lost the next Test match by an innings and 74 runs. But here we went on to win the next match in Melbourne. This was a historic moment because before that there was a historic loss," said Manjrekar

---

Sanjay Manjrekar's other two memorable moments from India's tour Down Under

Sanjay Manjrekar picked Ravindra Jadeja's run-out of Steve Smith as another of his best moments

Ravindra Jadeja's direct throw from backward square leg to run out Steve Smith in the first innings of the Sydney Test was Sanjay Manjrekar's second favourite moment of the tour.

"My second moment is the Steve Smith run out by Ravindra Jadeja, which I will remember for a long time. It was almost an impossible run-out that Jadeja did. I had got very excited when I was doing commentary, so it has stayed in my mind. Direct hit and the fastest throw," Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out

Moment of the match. Smith run out. What a throw by #Jadeja 🔥🔥 #INDvsAUS test 3. pic.twitter.com/v1P31lu2Ma

— Gaurav Jha (@Gaurav_jha13) January 8, 2021

Sanjay Manjrekar's final pick in his top moments from India's tour to Australia was Hardik Pandya's outstanding performances as a specialist batsman in the white-ball leg of the tour.

He was particularly appreciative of the big-hitting batsman showing the ability to build his innings in the 50-over format of the game.

"My third moment is Hardik Pandya's success in the limited-overs series as a pure batsman. We had seen in the IPL that he can play as a pure batsman in T20s but there was a question if he can play as a pure batsman in 50-over cricket. But on this tour, we surely came to know that Hardik Pandya can play as a pure batsman in 50-over cricket as well," concluded Manjrekar

Hardik Pandya was India's highest run-getter in the ODI series against Australia.

The Baroda all-rounder amassed 210 runs in the three matches, doing so at an outstanding average of 105.00 along with a strike rate of 114.75. He also scored 78 runs in the three T20Is, including a match-winning unbeaten 42 in the second encounter.

Sometimes you just have to say "well played".India take the Dettol T20I Series after some late heroics from Hardik Pandya 👏 #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/XBEilou49U

— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) December 6, 2020