Former England captain Michael Vaughan was all praises for Indian team head coach Ravi Shastri, as the visitors put up a great fight in their first innings of the fourth Test against Australia at the Gabba, Brisbane.
Resuming on day three at 62/2, India soon found themselves at 186/6 and on the verge of letting Australia have a massive lead when they batted again. However, Shardul Thakur (67) and Washington Sundar (62) counter-attacked beautifully and added 123 runs for the seventh wicket.
Their resistance fatigued and irritated the Australian bowlers as the lead was reduced to just 33 runs as India was bowled out for 336 runs in reply to Australia’s first innings total of 369.
The duo, hit their maiden Test fifties, with Sundar doing so on his debut, after both had taken 3 wickets each in Australia’s 1st innings. It was a pure counterattacking partnership, which left the Australian bowlers and captain Tim Paine looking for ways to get them out.
However, Michael Vaughan was in awe of how head coach Ravi Shastri has managed the team, which has seen more than a dozen injuries and has lost players like Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hanuma Vihari to injuries during different times both before the tour started and during the four-match Test series.
Add to the fact that Virat Kohli went back home for the birth of his first child after playing in the Adelaide Test, Shastri was left with stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane to motivate the players and manage them.
Vaughan tweeted,” Really enjoy the way @RaviShastriOfc manages this Indian team ... He deserves a lot of credit for making them believe they could compete once @imVkohli had gone home ... !!”
He also praised the Indian team for the way they had shown grit and character.
He posted, “Full credit to India ... The character they have had to show on this tour has been remarkable ... also the resilience with so many injuries ... a team is only as good as its bench many say ... Well India have a very strong bench of players now ...”
