IND vs AUS 4th Test: After a stunning victory in the opening test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth, Team India have struggled in the next two games. The series is at 1-1 with two more games to play. The fourth test between the two teams is scheduled to start at 5 AM on December 26 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The visitors need one more win to retain the BGT trophy, and two wins can help them qualify for the World Test Championship 2023-25 final. But the biggest issue has been the batting unit for the Indian team. They have struggled to score runs on the board and give their bowlers something to fight.
Especially the Indian top order. Apart from KL Rahul, none of the Indian batters have looked consistent in this series, which is the main reason for India’s poor show in the last two games. That’s what all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja also pointed out and urged the Indian top order to score runs in the remaining IND vs AUS tests.
IND vs AUS: Ravindra Jadeja blames Indian batters for poor performances in the BGT series
Apart from the second innings in Perth, India have crossed the 200-run mark only once in the series. The forms of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are questionable, while Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill have not converted their starts into something big. Ahead of the fourth test, Jadeja highlights the area that they are lacking at the moment.
In an interaction ahead of the Boxing Day Test, Jadeja said, “The top order needs to make runs. If the top order doesn’t make runs, then definitely there is pressure on the middle and the lower order batters. The responsibility also increases. As a team, we need the top order to perform. As a batting unit, if everybody contributes, then the team will do well. We want the entire team to perform.”
For India, the highest scorer in this series is KL Rahul, who has scored 235 runs in six innings. Gill, Pant, and Rohit have an average of less than 20, while Virat has scored 126 runs, where he scored an unbeaten 100 in the second innings in Perth. India need something solid from their batters if they want to challenge Australia. The hosts have made some notable changes to their squads for the remaining games and brought some new faces to the squad.
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