Sachin Tendulkar, legendary former Indian batsman heaped rich praise on the stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane’s batting and captaincy as India turned the tables on Australia to win the Boxing Day Test after Adelaide’s debacle where they registered lowest ever Test score of 36 but cautioned against comparing him with regular skipper Virat Kohli.
Ajinkya Rahane led India to one of the greatest comebacks wins as the visitors crushed Australia by 8 wickets in the Boxing Day Test on Tuesday. India put behind the horrors of succumbing to 36-all out in Adelaide to successfully bounce back and level the series 1-1.
Sachin Tendulkar: Ajinkya Rahane Batted Brilliantly And Was Calm But Showed Aggressive Intent
Ajinkya Rahane scored a classy 112 and was well supported by Ravindra Jadeja (57) who displayed all-round performance delivering both with bat and ball. Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj were brilliant with the ball while opening batsman Shubman Gill had a dream debut Test.
“I felt this was a brilliant performance by our team, the manner in which our team was able to play and the way Ajinkya led the team. Also if you look at senior cricketers and their contribution, it has been good,” Sachin Tendulkar told PTI in an interview.
“I thought Ajinkya batted brilliantly. He was calm, relaxed and composed. He had aggressive intent but aggression was rightly balanced by calmness and surety. So he did not miss opportunities when a boundary ball was there. And when one had to be patient, he was patient. The intent was very good.”
Sachin Tendulkar warned people against comparing Ajinkya Rahane with Virat Kohli, saying both have different personalities.
“People shouldn’t get into comparisons with Virat. Ajinkya has a different personality. His intent was aggressive. I would like to remind everyone that they are both Indians and they both play for India, so no individuals come above India. Team and country is above everything else,” he said.
Virat Kohli is India’s most successful Test skipper with 33 Test wins in 56 Tests while Ajinkya Rahane now has won all his 3 Tests as skipper.
Sachin Tendulkar: Some Players In Australian Team Are Unsure About Their Spots As The Line Up Is Less Settled
Sachin Tendulkar who had played against some of the finest Australian teams comprising of stalwarts like Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting in his time feels that Australia’s current batting line-up is comparatively ‘less settled’ with some cricketers ‘playing for their spots’.
“When I look at this Australian batting line-up and look at some of the earlier line-ups, I feel earlier line-ups were settled ones. Those players batted with a different kind of intent but this team doesn’t look very settled.
“In this current Australian team, there are players who are not in good form and are unsure about their spots. In earlier teams, those batsmen batted in their slots as there was a lot of surety in their batting line-up,” Sachin Tendulkar said.
Opener Joe Burns had been axed from the 18 member Test squad for 3rd and 4th Tests as openers David Warner and Will Pucovski have been named after recovering from respective injuries. Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Wade were the only ones to show some intent by amassing 129 runs and 111 runs respectively in the 2 Tests.
Skipper Tim Paine who was Man of Match in 1st Test scoring an unbeaten 73 couldn’t perform well in next 2nd Test as the likes of Cameron Green, Joe Burns and Travis Head too disappointed. Steve Smith was a total failure in two Tests after an outstanding performance in preceding limited-overs series.