India cricket team has a lot of positives to look at despite the 1-3 loss in IND vs AUS Test series. The silver lining for the team comes in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal, a resilient Nitish Kumar Reddy and a gritty Washington Sundar. All three stars have pretty much outdone the rest of the seniors in the team and have surely put themselves in a position where they are set to be an integral part of India’s Test XI in the future. A transition is in the reckoning for the Men in Blue and these three stars could very well have set the tempo. It would be safe to say that the future of the team is in safe hands, thanks to these three stars at least.
Yashasvi Jaiswal – India’s new permanent opener
For an opener who has hardly played outside India, young Jaiswal displayed promising signs in the tour in Down Under. There may be flaws in his batting, such as the lapse of concentration and the inability to convert good starts into commanding knocks. However, the 23-year-old has just started out on his journey in the longest format and is for sure to stay in the side for a long time.
Jaiswal had a mixed run in his first-ever tour to Australia, registering just three 50+ scores in 10 innings. However, one can’t discount the fact that he was up against one of the most lethal pace units in the form of Cummins-Starc-Hazlewood-Boland. When he was dismissed for 0 in the 1st innings in Perth, he responded strongly with a 161-run knock that set the stage for India to romp to victory. His adventure in the Pink Ball Test and in Brisbane was short-lived, as he failed to fire. But he came back stronger in the 4th Test, registering scores of 82 and 84. In the final Test on an unpredictable Sydney pitch, he made 10 & 22. For a player of his calibre, surely the southpaw has a lot to improve on. But he was arguably one of India’s best batters in the tour. Surely, India’s highest run-getter in the ongoing WTC cycle was way better than Rohit Sharma and slightly better than the experienced and well-set KL Rahul.
| Match | Bat |
|---|---|
| 5th Test | 10 & 22 |
| 4th Test | 82 & 84 |
| 3rd Test | 4 & 4* |
| 2nd Test | 0 & 24 |
| 1st Test | 0 & 161 |
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Fast-tracking Nitish Reddy a right choice
India may have aced it by deciding to fast track all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. After all, the 21-year-old proved his ability to deliver with both bat and ball, becoming one of India’s most reliable youngsters. the highlight of his entire tour in Australia would probably be his 100 at the MCG. But what’s even better is his ability to provide stability while batting down the order. He is now dubbed as an apt replacement for Hardik Pandya in the Test side, a role that was vacant since the latter decided to not venture into red-ball cricket any more following his injury.
With five 30+ scores in 9 innings, he was indeed one of the best batters when the likes of Jadeja and Pant failed to fire in the middle-order. With the ball too, he managed to deliver when the others were struggling, picking up 5 wickets across 5 Tests. The Andhra Pradesh all-rounder has surely impressed with his ability to deliver with both bat and ball and is surely one of India’s brightest future prospects in terms of Test cricket.
| Match | Bat | Bowl |
|---|---|---|
| 5th Test | 0 & 4 | 2/32 & 0/10 |
| 4th Test | 114 & 1 | 0/21 & 0/4 |
| 3rd Test | 16 | 1/65 |
| 2nd Test | 42 & 42 | 1/25 & 0/8 |
| 1st Test | 41 & 38* | 0/4 & 1/21 |
Sundar is the new Ashwin
Another star who wasted no opportunity in cementing his spot in the side is Washington Sundar. While he impressed with his performance at home against New Zealand, albeit in a losing cause, he displayed commendable grit while batting down the order against Australia.
He only featured in the last two Tests but allowed his bat to do all the talking. His ability to anchor the innings and bat it out made him look like he was much better than the rest. In the 1st innings of IND vs AUS 4th Test, he made a half-century off 162 deliveries, stitching a crucial partnership with Nitish Reddy to save India. In the 2nd innings, he looked rock solid and warded off 45 deliveries despite making only 5 runs before he was dismissed. He played a combined of 73 deliveries in the 2nd innings in what was some gritty batting in response to intimidating bowling by the Aussies. Safe to say that India have indeed found an appropriate replacement for Ashwin, both as a lower-order batter and a off-spinner. While Sundar wasn’t used much with the ball during the series, he has surely shown his ability last with the bat.
