On November 25, the India cricket team managed to secure their biggest victory on Australian soil. To beat a team by nearly 300 runs isn’t a small feat, and to do that at their home is an even bigger feat. That is exactly why many have hailed the Perth Test as one of the greatest victories in India’s history. Ricky Ponting, a former Australian skipper, also prescribes this view.
Ponting hails Perth wins as ‘one of the greatest’
What stands out for the cricketer-turned-coach is the fact that not only were they without three of the immediate starters in captain Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Mohammed Shami but were also skittled for just 150 in the first innings. Staring into the face of defeat, with Jasprit Bumrah leading Team India and the bowler’s pack, the visitors managed to gain a 46-run lead.
It seemed huge in the context of the game, but what was even bigger was India’s second innings total of 487/6. Such was the dominance that Team India chose to declare, thinking they had enough on the board instead of tiring the Australian bowlers out. A 295-run victory off the back of incredible performances from Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Siraj, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Bumrah himself.
“It’ll go down, I’m sure, as one of India’s greatest-ever Test match wins, and it probably should. With the players down that they had… Rohit (Sharma), not there, (Shubman) Gill, not there, and (Mohammed) Shami not there… It’s an amazing win. After getting bowled out for 150, it was a bit, yeah, a shock win. And they’ve won by the best part of 300 runs. So it’s an incredible turnaround,” Ponting told Cricbuzz in Jeddah.
India’s schedule for Australia tour
- November 30-December 1: Prime Minister’s XI v India at the Manuka Oval (Day and Night)
- December 6-10: 2nd Test at the Adelaide Oval (Day and Night)
- December 14-18: 3rd Test at The Gabba
- December 26-30: 4th Test at the MCG
- January 3-7: 5th Test at the SCG
