Ahmedabad: Following his marathon knock against Australia in the fourth and final Test of the series, star India batter Virat Kohli remarked that the expectations that he has from himself are more important for him and he is not in a space to prove someone wrong.
Half-centuries from Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne helped Australia draw the fourth and final Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday.
“To be honest, the expectations I have from myself as a player is more to important to me. I felt I was batting well from the first innings at Nagpur. We focused on batting for long. I did that to an extent but not to the capability that I have done in the past. I was a little disappointed about that. Relief from the point of view that I could play the way I wanted to play,” said Virat in a post-match presentation.
“I was happy with my defence. I am not in a space now where I will go out and prove someone wrong. I also need to justify why I am there on the field. When I was 60 not out, we decided to play positively. But we lost Shreyas to injury and were a batter short. So, we decided to play time. They were good with the ball and placed some good fields. We got a bit of a lead and gave ourselves some sort of a chance,” added the batter.
Virat was named as the ‘Player of the Match’ for his magnificent knock of 186 runs. He emerged as the second-highest run-scorer in the series with a total of 297 runs at an average of 49.50. He scored one century in the series.
With this, India has won the four-match Test series by 2-1.
Australia started the final day of the match at 3/0, with Matt Kuhnemann (0*) and Travis Head (3*) unbeaten. They had the responsibility to overcome the 88-run lead that India had in the match.
After Ravichandran Ashwin trapped Kuhnemann early for just 6, Head joined forces with number one Test batter Marnus Labuschagne to give Australia the lead.
The duo put on a 139-run stand for the second wicket before Axar removed Head for 90. Labuschagne scored an unbeaten 63 and along with stand-in captain Steve Smith (10*), helped the side draw the match and end their innings at 175/2.
Earlier, India gained a 91-run lead over Australia after they were bundled out for 571 in their first innings.
Virat Kohli brought an end to his century drought in Test cricket, scoring his 75th international century and his 28th in Tests. This was his first century in Tests since November 2019. In his marathon effort, he scored 186 runs in 364 balls, consisting of 15 fours.
Shubman Gill also scored a century, smashing 128 runs in 235 balls. Axar (79), KS Bharat (44) and Cheteshwar Pujara (42) also played some important knocks, which helped India gain a lead over Australia.
Todd Murphy (3/113) and Nathan Lyon (3/151) were the pick of the bowlers for Australia. Mitchell Starc and Matt Kuhnemann got a wicket each. lead over Australia.
In their first innings, Australia posted 480 runs. Usman Khawaja (180) and Cameron Green (114) posted stunning centuries to help the Aussies gain a massive advantage earlier in the match.
Ravichandran Ashwin was the pick of the bowlers, taking 6/91 on a surface offering no help to spinners.
Virat Kohli was adjudged as the ‘Man of the Match’ for his knock of 186 runs.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, India’s star spin all-rounder duo were given the ‘Men of the Series’ award for their heroics throughout the series.
Ashwin ended as the top wicket-taker in the series with 25 wickets, with the best bowling figures of 6/91. He also scored useful 86 runs in five innings throughout the series with the best score of 37.
Jadeja also emerged as the second-highest wicket-taker in the series, with a total of 22 scalps and best figures of 7/42. He also scored 135 runs in five innings with one half-century and the best score of 70.
Brief Scores: India 571 (Virat Kohli 186, Shubman Gill 128, Todd Murphy 3/113) vs Australia 480 and 175/2 (Travis Head 90, Marnus Labuschagne 63*, Axar Patel 1/36).