Adam Gilchrist also heaped praise on Steve O’Keefe
after his stupendous success in the first Test
India were bowled out for poor scores of 105 and 107
in the Pune Test against Australia,
and succumbed to a massive 333-run defeat within three days. Steve O’Keefe
walked over the famed Indian batting line-up and ended with a record spell of
12 for 70, handing the hosts their first Test defeat at home since 2012. While
many lauded Australia’s victory that seemed impossible to the likes of
Harbhajan Singh and Sourav Ganguly, Australia’s former cricketer Adam
Gilchrist was particularly happy and thrilled. Gilchrist, who filled
in for an injured Ricky Ponting to guide Australia to a historic series win in
India in 2004, says that Virat
Kohli’s team is strong enough to not require rank turners to win.
Speaking on the topic of turning tracks in India,
Gilchrist told Mumbai Mirror, “The Chinnaswamy Stadium, we all
know, can produce a beautiful cricket pitch — one that can reward the batsmen
and bowlers alike. They can go for a conventional pitch which plays well early
on and then deteriorates later or prefer the one like in Pune which was
substandard. They can do that but they probably run the risk of losing another
toss. If they win the toss, India will logically dominate the Test match and if
they lose the toss, they could find themselves in trouble. And that would be
risky when you are down in the series. But India has a the team that is capable
of playing high quality cricket and get result on much better wickets than what
we have seen. They don‘t need traditional India cricket pitches.”
Gilchrist could not stop praising Australia for
their remarkable victory, “Looking at the two teams prior to the Test, it was
unexpected, and certainly not in three days. My thoughts were that Renshaw
(Matt) and Handscomb (Peter) did not have any previous experience but they
prepared very well and had the best of the condition on a wicket which was not
up to the standard. All in all, they did well to get that win and it is
exciting for the rest of the series. India still play well in these conditions
and they will be cursing. They will be ready to strike back.”
Gilchrist remained silent on the comments of
Harbhajan and Ganguly, who predicted a whitewash. Instead he recollected the
days when Glenn McGrath used to forecast the results ahead of any series,
“McGrath always used to say 5-0, 4-0, 3-0 (for Australia) and I was happy to
leave that to him. I never liked to predict results but those were not the only
ones to write Australia off. Many others too did that but the team worked hard
for the success. They have got off to a perfect start and the challenge is to
win the game in Bangalore.”
Gilchrist said India need to stop over-depending on
their captain as well as their ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. “Virat, as I
have said, is undoubtedly the world class player, a proven performer. But he
can’t do business every single time. So there is a challenge for the rest of
the batting group to find a way to shine on the odd times when Virat has not.
Ravi Ashwin’s record speaks for itself. But the Australian batsmen seem to have
a plan for him. He has a challenge too,” Gilchrist explained.
Gilchrist heaped praise on O’Keefe after his
stupendous success in the first Test, “He is a hard worker, he has been very
loyal and high performer for New South Wales for many years. Many have felt
that his results had gone unrewarded by the previous Australian selectors. He
did not get what he deserved in Test cricket. There were a few people who
questioned he being in the team and he is enjoying proving them wrong. He is a
very solid bowler who knows his game very well.”
No conversation is complete without mentioning MS
Dhoni. Both these players have managed similar responsibilities from being a
wicketkeeper to captain of the national side or leading from the front with the
bat. Gilchrist concluded by saying “Batting, keeping and captaining at a time
is not easy to do. I would not expect MS to be too upset about the loss of
captaincy. He has achieved everything that can possibly be achieved in cricket.
He has won all the trophies that one can win. I think he is enjoying his
limited attendance in cricket. He has been one of the most exciting cricketers
to watch in the last 10-15 years.”
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