Former Indian skipper Virat Kohli said that he was “jumping from the couch” cheering team India in the Melbourne test of the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy.
This was the series where India got bowled for just 36 runs in the second innings of the first test match at the Adelaide Oval. The current skipper, Virat Kohli left the tour after the first test as he was expecting the birth of his first child.
Star Sports shared a video where Kohli was looking back at the defining moments of the series. He said, “I will be very honest. Before the Melbourne Test, I was a bit anxious, but then the way the whole team played in Melbourne, I was cheering every ball. Jumping up from the couch every now and then as well, every time a wicket fell. Probably not as loud as I am on the field but still the cheers were loud enough.”
He further added, “The character and the belief shown by the whole squad – a group of young guys, which was led beautifully by Jinx in those three Test matches.”
“Biggest in cricket”: Ravi Shastri, “Led beautifully by Jinx”: Virat Kohli
India came back strongly after the 36 all out in the first test to win the match by 8 wickets at the MCG. Ajinkya Rahane was leading the side in India’s absence. Bowling first, India bundled out the Aussies for 195 runs thanks to a brilliant performance from Jasprit Bumrah (4 wickets) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3 wickets).
India then scored 326 runs in their first innings led brilliantly by Ajinkya Rahane (112 runs). Ravindra Jadeja (57 runs) also did a good job. The bowlers then continued their good form as they restricted Australia to 200 in their 2nd innings. Siraj picked up 3 wickets. Bumrah, Jadeja and Ashwin picked up 2 wickets each. India then chased down the target of 70 with 8 wickets in hand to level the series.
After this win, the third test ended in a draw in Sydney and then India won that iconic test at the Gabba, Brisbane to win the series 2-1. Ravi Shastri was the head coach back then. He said that it was the biggest moment in test cricket.
Shastri said, “You talked about Indian performances. I will go one step forward: ‘I don’t think cricket has seen anything like this or anything bigger than this’. And that includes world Test match cricket. I don’t think you would have seen anything as big as this”.