India vs Australia: Touring Australia never easy and Vihari can be proud of himself, says Ashwin

India batted a record 131 overs in the fourth innings of the third Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) to ensure a heroic draw on the final day. One of the chief architects of the defiance was off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who remained unbeaten on 39 off 128 balls as he put on 62 runs for the sixth wicket with Hanuma Vihari in over 42 overs. 

“In Test cricket we don’t get a lot of draws, it was a really exciting last session. I just went to (Cheteshwar) Pujara and told him, you sold me out in both the innings. (Pat) Cummins was bowling in a different league altogether. There was a bit of double bounce, so it was difficult against Cummins,” Ashwin said after the third Test ended in a draw. 

“I think facing (Jasprit) Bumrah in the nets is not easy. We have bowlers who can bowl in the 150s. I have been batting well in the nets, so it was great to spend some time in the middle,” the Tamil Nadu all-rounder added.

The visitors would be very pleased after ekeing out a draw in the third Test, after being two wickets down coming into the final day. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed in the second over of Day 5 but promotion of Rishabh Pant up the order to No. 5 changed the course of the game. Pant smashed 97 and put the Australian bowlers on the backfoot.

“Our talk coming this morning was to show character and fight till the end. Not to think about the result. Really happy with the way we fought especially today but also throughout the game, even in the first innings when Australia were 200 for 2 and getting them all out for 338 was really good,” Rahane said in the post-match presentation.

“There are few areas we can improve on but special mention to Vihari and Ashwin. The way they batted in the end and showed character was really good to see. Credit to him (Pant). We made that strategy but in the end it is all about the player executing the plan,” the stand-in Indian skipper added.

Ashwin felt that chasing a total of over 400 in the fourth innings was never going to be easy at the SCG and the injury to Vihari didn’t help India’s cause either. “Chasing 400 in Sydney was never going to be easy, as the ball was going up and down. That knock by Pant set us up. After Pujara and Pant’s wicket and with Vihari injured, it was going to be difficult to go for the win. Touring Australia is never easy so Vihari can be proud of himself. It’s was a knock equal to scoring a hundred,” Ashwin said.

Tough pill to swallow: Paine

Australian skipper Tim Paine said that settling for a draw in the third Test will be a ‘tough pill’ to swallow. “I thought we created enough chances to win the game, this one’s a tough one to swallow. Our bowlers were superb, (Nathan) Lyon bowled well. Just that we (especially me) didn’t hold onto our catches,” Paine, who dropped a few crucial chances, said.

“There were a few positives for us, our bowlers created plenty of chances. Today was a whole-hearted effort from the boys, just that things didn’t go our way. I think having two young kids (Pucovski and Green) playing Test cricket, it’s a great thing as they were sensational. I thought Green was fantastic yesterday,” the Australian skipper added.

Former captain Steve Smith ended up as the man-of-the-match in the game, scoring 131 and 81 in the two innings. Smith said he was pleased to score a hundred at home. “India fought really hard. Our bowlers kept coming and coming, did their hardest today. They fought really hard. 

“Always means a lot when you score a hundred for your country. To be able to do that here on my home ground is pretty special. It doesn’t mean a lot now as we didn’t win the game. (We’ll) move on now to Brisbane, we have a very good record there,” Smith said in the post-match presentation.