No doubt that India will bounce back: Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar believes India have the fighting spirit to recover from the heavy defeat in the Pune Test and bounce back.
Mumbai: Batting great Sachin Tendulkar thinks India can make a comeback in the second Test against Australia in Bengaluru despite the visitors putting Virat Kohli’s men to the sword in Pune.
India were thrashed by 333 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium as Steve O’Keefe ran riot with a 12-wicket haul, bundling out the hosts for 105 and 107. That victory also means that Australia need only one more win from the remaining matches in the series to keep the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"It was a tough Test match for us," said Tendulkar as per cricket.com.au. "But (losing) is part and parcel of the game. That does not mean the series is lost, the series is still wide open. Knowing the spirit of the Indian team I know they will fight back hard.”
“Australian team also knows about it because when we beat them, we also knew that they are going to come back at us really hard. That is what makes sport interesting. That is what sportsmen play for. There are good moments and there are tough moments but it is all about how you stand back on your feet again and start competing. I have no doubt that the Indian team is going to come back and compete hard."
India are still the most in-form team in the world and had gone undefeated for 19 consecutive matches before the Pune debacle. The last time they lost a Test was back in August 2015 against Sri Lanka when they came back from 0-1 down to win the series 2-1.
O’Keefe rightfully grabbed all the headlines in the first Test but former India captain Ravi Shastri believes India must also be wary of the other Australian bowlers.
"O'Keefe is one thing but Indians can't take their eyes off Starc or Hazlewood either; not to mention Nathan Lyon," Shastri wrote in the Times of India. "It's a very fine pair of fast men at Australia's command. Indeed all of Australia's four bowlers are match-winners on a given day."
Based on previous encounters, the pitch in Bangalore looks like it will aid the fast bowlers more than its Pune counterpart, and Shastri alterations in the starting XI for India.
"I would be surprised if India doesn't bolster its batting at the cost of a spinner," Shastri wrote, with triple centurion Karun Nair for Jayant Yadav looking the likely change.