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Indian skipper Rohit Sharma praised the resilience of the lower-order batters after his team fought hard to secure a vital draw in the rain-affected third Test against Australia in Brisbane on Wednesday, stating that it has boosted the team's confidence for the remainder of the series. With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy now level at 1-1, Rohit is confident the team's morale will remain high heading into the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. Also read: 'Last day as Indian cricketer': Ashwin's emotional retirement speech goes viral; fans express gratitude| WATCH "I mean, we will take that.
Obviously to have interruptions like that wasn't great, but going to Melbourne at 1-1 pretty much gives us that confidence to go out there and pull things towards us," Rohit said at the post-match presentation. "The situation we were in just after lunch (on Day 4), needed someone to stand up and take us through, we knew with the weather, we knew it wasn't going to be a full game." Opener KL Rahul impressed once again, top-scoring with 84, while Ravindra Jadeja contributed with a vital 77.
The lower order then fought back, as Akash Deep (31) and Jasprit Bumrah (10 not out) shared a resilient 47-run partnership, helping India avoid the follow-on. India was eventually all out for 260 in response to Australia's formidable first-innings total of 445. "Credit to (Ravindra) Jadeja, the way he played and (KL) Rahul, the way he played was magnificent at the top of the order, the fight that Akash Deep and Bumrah (gave) was great to watch, we have seen them work so hard at the nets (on their batting)," Rohit added.
Despite the challenges of intermittent rain and lightning on the final day, India's bowlers delivered strong performances in the second innings. Jasprit Bumrah was exceptional, claiming 3/18, while Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj contributed with two wickets each. Australia's aggressive strategy in their second innings led to a declaration at 89/7, setting India a target of 275 in 54 overs.
However, bad light and rain prevented any further play after the early stages of India's chase. "Coming to the bowling, Bumrah was outstanding, Akash Deep is a feisty cricketer, always wants to be involved in the game, very new to international cricket, he has worked hard at the nets, still new to international cricket, but he has put in the hard yards. There are people in the group to put their hand across and help him going forward.
As he showed with the bat, these are the sort of characters we needed in the team," Rohit added. Also read: Ashwin retires: Final hug with Rohit Sharma wins hearts; old video of spinner praising captain surfaces| WATCH Australia captain Pat Cummins expressed disappointment over the impact of rain on the match's outcome. "Would be better to be 2-1, lot of rain, nothing we can do about it.
We set a huge total and felt like we were right ahead of the game throughout," said Cummins. He also revealed a significant blow to the team, with pacer Josh Hazlewood being ruled out of the entire series due to a calf strain. "Poor Josh, one of those things, few rain breaks probably helped, Starc and I were able to push through.
Day 5 here can be up and down, there wasn't much cricket played on it, felt challenging when the ball was new and hard," Cummins said. Despite the setbacks, Cummins pointed out the positives that his team could take from the match. "(Steve) Smith and Head's innings' were fantastic, Alex Carey too.
.. (Nathan) Lyon looked really good, Starc got wickets, just about ticked off every box.
" On the Boxing Day Test, Cummins said: "That will be amazing, one of those things here in Australia that you wake up and can't wait for.".
