NE WDELHI: Australia’s unprecedented series win as New Zealand beat India 3-0 at home has put Australia on guard as Josh Hazlewood believes the embarrassing defeat could awaken the ‘sleeping giant’ . Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under.
Team New Zealand on Sunday completed a stunning series sweep, giving India their first 3-0 whitewash at home.
With the key series scheduled to start from November 22 in Australia, Hazlewood said the loss against New Zealand may have shaken India’s confidence and he is not sure what to expect from Rohit Sharma and Co.
“It may awaken a sleeping giant, so to speak. We will see it when they come out,” Hazlewood told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It’s obviously better to lose 3-0 than to win 3-0 easily. Confidence may have taken a bit of a hit. A lot of them have been out here (Australia) and they haven’t, so they don’t know what to expect. You can’t be sure you should read too much into the results.”
“Thank you to the Kiwi boys. They played outstanding cricket. To win 3-0 in India is unbelievable. It is difficult enough to win just one match there, let alone all the matches in the series.” he said
Team India experienced a series of batting collapses throughout the series against the BlackCaps.
In the Bengaluru Test, India were dismissed for just 46 runs in an innings at the Siming Stadium in overcast weather. Despite taking the lead, they fell again in the second innings as New Zealand chased the 107-run target.
In the second Test, India scored 259 against New Zealand. However, the batting was poor again and a total of 156 points were recorded. Chasing 359 runs for victory, India’s batsmen once again disappointed and were bowled out for 245 runs after a promising start.
The third and final Test in Mumbai was another low-scoring encounter. India had set a target of 147 runs, which seemed to be their easiest chase of the series. However, despite Rishabh Pant’s fighting half-century, the batting collapsed and they ended up scoring 121 runs.
The India vs Australia series begins on November 22 with the first Test starting in Perth. Adelaide Oval will host the second Test under the lights from December 6 to 10, featuring a captivating day/night format. The Gabba in Brisbane will be the third Test venue scheduled for December 14-18. The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, marks the second phase of the series. The series concludes with the fifth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising to be an exciting conclusion to a thrilling contest.
Indian national team in Border-Gavaskar series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk) ) ), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.
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