Shubman Gill: “[Lyon] is always on his mark. He tests your patience so much. Especially when I was batting against him on day three and the first session was quite challenging for me and Rohit. Just the areas that he bowls. He doesn’t give much to the batter for someone who is consistently bowling outside off stump, he doesn’t give half volleys or short balls. That’s quite amazing. As a batter, it’s quite difficult to score runs off him.”
Nathan Lyon: “It’s been a tough challenge. We knew it was going to be tough but it’s been rewarding. I think our group can take a lot out of it. There are areas where we can improve but some proud moments along the way. [This pitch] was a pretty tough surface. There wasn’t a lot in it. It can be quite challenging but it’s up to us bowlers to get the guys caught on the crease and try to get them to play false shots. A totally different surface to the first three wickets.”
Rahul Dravid: “It was a really hard-fought series, there were moments where we were put under extreme pressure by a really good cricket team and we responded. Whenever we needed someone to step up and put in a special performance, we found it. Rohit led the way in the first Test with a brilliant hundred and it was bookended by Virat Kohli’s brilliant 186. In the middle, we had performances from Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar, and Shubman there. I’ve probably missed out on a few.
I think our fight stood out. Whenever we were under pressure with our backs to the wall we had to respond and we always found that. It’s one of the heartening things about coaching this team. People want to stand up and take responsibility. [How do you prepare for the WTC final?] We just qualified at lunchtime today. I wasn’t counting my chickens before they hatched. We’ll celebrate this for starters. It is going to be a challenge. There’s going to be a lot of logistics involved given the IPL final is only a week before the WTC final. We’ll think about it.”
Post Match Presentation
Steve Smith: “It did end slowly. That was a pretty flat wicket that one. It was a really enjoyable series to be a part of. The boys had a great time over here. The hospitality has been outstanding and the crowds have been amazing. It was a really well-fought series. I think we started to play a lot better as the series went on. That hour of madness I suppose in Delhi really cost us in that game. But I think coming back from that in Indore we fought back really nicely and this game as well. Unfortunately, the wicket was probably a little bit too flat for a result in the end.”
Rohit Sharma: “It was fantastic. Right from the word go. It was exciting, all the Test matches there was something in it for everyone to watch. We understand the importance of the series and definitely understand the importance of the opposition. After playing good cricket for 40-odd days we stand here with a result we are quite happy with. There were challenges thrown up but we responded to them. With the result 2-1, the first two Tests, we knew how important it was to start the series. I think the Delhi Test match was something I’m really proud of because we were very much behind the game and to comeback from the situation that we did shows a lot of character and a lot of fight.”
Player of the match is Virat Kohli: “The expectations that I have for myself as a player are more important to me. I think in Test cricket I wasn’t able to play with my tempo and template that I have played with for the last 10 years for a while now. So that was the one thing I was trying to do. I felt like I was batting really well from the first innings in Nagpur. But we focussed more on batting as long as possible for the team. I did that for periods but not to the capability that I have done in the past. From that perspective, I was disappointed but there was belief there that I was playing well and if I got an opportunity on a decent wicket then I can make a big one.”
Joint Player of the series to R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Ashwin: “It’s been a great journey together. We wouldn’t be the same without the other. He gives me a lot of freedom to be creative on the field with the ball. Credit to him. I thought he bowled beautifully in the Delhi Test. That’s why we’re here.”
Jadeja: “We’re always talking about the wicket, what field we should have to particular batters. We’re always talking and discussing. I’m not happy with my batting in the series. I missed it on a few occasions. Especially in this game. Hopefully, I’ll work harder and more focussed on my batting for the next series.”
India vs Australia Highlights today. 4th Test, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Monday 13-3-2023, Australia tour of India 2023.
Australia chose to bat.
India team: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 KS Bharat (wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Axar Patel, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Mohammed Shami
Australia team: 1 Travis Head, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Peter Handscomb, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Todd Murphy, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Matthew Kuhnemann
Head to Head In Test’s: 105
India Won: 32
Australia Won: 44
India Test Rankings: 2nd
Australia Test Rankings: 1st
Form guide
(Last five completed matches, most recent first)
India LWWWW
Australia WLLDW
Match Timings: 4:00 AM GMT | 9:30 PM Local
Umpires – Nitin Menon, Richard Kettleborough
TV Umpire – Jayaraman Madanagopal
Match Referee – Chris Broad
Reserve Umpire – Anil Chaudhary
Match number – Test no. 2499
