Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly reckons that the current Test team of India is a good side but dominate across the world, each and every player need to chip in. He stated that India would have to ‘fight hard’ and ‘buckle down’ for the coming Test series against Australia in December.
Until May this year, India was the number test team before Australia took them over. Their ranking went down after Virat Kohli’s men badly lost against New Zealand. Before this tour, they lost tours in England (1-4) and South Africa (1-2). Sourav Ganguly believes in winning in the SENA nations (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia), all the batsmen need to give their best effort.
“He (Virat) must sit back and understand that he has to play better away from home. Yes, Australia was a good series that they won (in 2018-19) but they should have done better in South Africa, England (both 2018) and New Zealand (2020),” Sourav Ganguly said on India Today’s program ‘Inspiration’.
“They are a capable side and they must have learned from that. Everyone has to bat well. We lost in England because no one got Test match hundreds apart from Virat Kohli, Pujara, and Pant.”
Everyone has to get together to beat Australia: Sourav Ganguly
To elaborate his point, Sourav Ganguly presented the example of the 2018/19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which India won 2-1. Cheteswar Pujara scored over 500 runs while Mayank Agarwal at the top also had a good outing. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant also get the runs for the side. So, he believes when everyone puts the best effort, India can dominate against Australian pacers.
“We won in Australia because Pujara got you 500 runs, Virat got a hundred, Pant got a hundred. That’s how you are going to win the series. Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, and Lyon are good bowlers. They need to fight hard and buckle down. This is a good side and everyone has to get together to beat Australia in Australia,” the former India captain added.
The Test series will begin December 17 with the first match set to take place under lights. The Indian team will land Australia after the completion of the Indian Premier League 2020.