PM Modi heaps praises on Indian cricket team again for historic series win in Australia
Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on January 22 said the Team India's victory is highly inspirational for the youth of the country.
Australia assistant coach Andrew McDonald was unapologetic for his team’s fielding efforts against India and said there can be no excuses for dropping catches against India in the second Test. Australia lost the Boxing Day match by 8 wickets.
“Nothing obvious for fielding lapses. India had a similar problem with the pink ball,” said McDonald after he was asked if concentration was an issue since the players were playing with the red ball after a long time.
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“Few catches went down. I would put it down to sloppy moments. Don’t know what happens at the moment in players’ mind, whether they are switched on or not. Our preparation has been good. No concentration issues. Lot of players have played shield cricket and A games. So, no excuses,” added McDonald.
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He added, “Executing those moments will be key. Our preparation was good and going into the third Test, our fielding preparation will be good. We have got four solid training days to work on it.”
The Tim Paine-led team missed quite a few catches, dropping debutant Shubman Gill twice in first innings. The Indian opener made 45 in the first innings and followed it up with an unbeaten knock of 35 in the second.
More crucially, the Australians dropped India skipper Ajinkya Rahane twice with Steve Smith missing one of those catches in slips. Rahane went on to make a match-winning century.
Meanwhile, India on Tuesday defeated Australia by eight wickets in the Boxing-Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Cricket Ground to level the four-match series 1-1.
Set a target of 70 after Australia were dismissed for 200 in their second innings on Tuesday, the Indians got to the target for the loss of opener Mayank Agarwal (5) and No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara (3).
Shubman Gill, who hit seven fours in a delightful innings, was unbeaten on 35 and skipper Ajinkya Rahane on 27.
Rahane, who scored a gritty hundred in the first innings to lead India’s comeback at the Down Under, said going in with five bowlers worked well.
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