BGT 2023 | India, you can't count Australia out, warns Gautam Gambhir

02/21/2023

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Gautam Gambhir has warned the Indian team against complacency saying that Australia cannot be counted out from the series and they can still put on a valiant display in the remaining fixtures. He further added that only individual performances can help Australia stage a comeback.

With a world-class spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja wreaking havoc on the rank turners, Australia have been blown away so far in the Test series losing the first two games. India won the Nagpur Test by innings and 132 runs while they were victorious in the second by a margin of six wickets. In both games, the Indian spinners bamboozled the opposition batters and restricted them from scoring freely. While most of the cricket experts and former cricketers have praised India’s spin department former cricketer Gautam Gambhir fired a warning over complacency.

"If one of them scores a double century, you would remember Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman did that when India were down and out, one player scored a 280 (281) and another scored a 150 (180) after a follow-on and India won the series. Such things have happened. So you can't count them out but technically, there are a lot of issues," said Gambhir on Star Sports.

In the Delhi Test, Australian batters once looked comfortable when they were poised at 65/1 at one stage. Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head were tackling the spin well but the approach to go overboard with sweep shots by the Australian batters sunk their ship. They were wrapped up on a total of 113 and India ensured a six-wicket victory over the visitors.

Gambhir opined that Australia can still stage a comeback on the back of individual performances.

"I cannot predict if it will be 4-0 because this dressing room still has individuals - Steve Smith, Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja - the batting will be extremely dependent on these three players if David Warner doesn't play,” Gambhir stated on Star Sports.

"I believe you cannot teach defense to these batters now. If you try to improve your technique in the middle of the series, you won't even score the 260 and 120 you scored. Only individual performances can help Australia stage a comeback and not a collective performance.”

India will play the third Test of the series from March 1 in Indore and they will aim to ensure a series win in the game.