India produced another dominating performance in the second test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Ravindra Jadeja was the star for India with the ball picking up 7 wickets in the second innings to run through Australia’s batting lineup. Cheteshwar Pujara who is playing his 100th test hit the winning runs as he returned unbeaten on 31.
Former Indian Opener Aakash Chopra criticized Australia’s batting application in the 2nd innings, as most of the Australian batters were predetermined to play sweep shots irrespective of the delivery and he also added that over the year visiting teams tend to play sweep shots. Speaking on EspnCricinfo, Chopra said.
“There is a way to play spin. When overseas teams come to India, they always plan to play only sweep shots. But if you look at Indian cricket’s history in the last 20 years, so Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane don’t know how to play sweep properly,” Aakash Chopra added.
Chopra further added that they are many cricketing shots to play on a spinning track apart from the sweep. Many Indian Players were successful without the sweep shot, he also took the example of VVS Laxman and Virat Kohli who are successful without playing the sweep shot.
“Except for Rohit Sharma, whose sweep is a little better and VVS Laxman never played the sweep shot at all, and he would still make runs. Even Virat Kohli doesn’t play the sweep shot and he still keeps on making runs. When did you ever see Pujara play the sweep shot,” Chopra further added.
He also said that the probability of getting out while playing a sweep shot is very high. Steve Smith, Matt Renshaw, and Pat Cummins got out while trying the sweep shot. The next Test match between both sides will be taking place on March 1, in Indore.
Jadeja’s Batting Gives Him The Confidence – Aakash Chopra
Ravindra Jadeja had been the star for India with both bat and ball in this Border Gavaskar Trophy. Former India batter Aakash Chopra felt that Jadeja’s confidence in his abilities came due to his batting in the longest format of the game.
“It is Jadeja’s batting I think which has made him the player he is right now. Just the confidence in his complete skill set, his entire package has made him a player who has got this immense self-belief,”
The Indian all-rounder had not played a single match since September 2022 and returned to the Indian squad for Border Gavaskar Trophy and has been an important player for India in this series. Ravindra Jadeja has won the Man of the match award in two consecutive Test matches in this Border Gavaskar Series.