Indian cricket has seen a lot of change with the men in blue now becoming one of the best cricket teams in the world. The Virat Kohli led side have now won two back to series against perhaps two of the toughest test playing nations in the world when they beat Australia in Australia to win the series 2-1 and beat England at home 3-1 to qualify for the World Test Championship Final to played between 18-22 June against New Zealand at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. The Indian team and its fans are all in readiness for the biggest prize in the history of test match cricket post which the Indian team will train its guns on winning their first series in England for nearly 14 years as they get ready to play Joe Root and his men in a 5 match test series starting in August and ending in September.
Michael Vaughan comes up with a cheeky dig at Justin Langer using team India as a reference –
After India were bowled out for 36 in the first test at Adelaide there was a chorus of voices who came out and said that the Indian team will be whitewashed 4-0 especially with skipper Viratt Kohli heading back home to performer husband duties and be with his wife as they were expecting their first child. The Indian team not onlty bounced back in style to win the next test at MCG but also drew the SCG test against all odds and then did the unthinkable as they beat Australia in their favorite fortress Brisbane for the first time in over 3 decades and win the series 2-1. Former England Captain Michael Vaughan who was part of the panel back then had said “ There is no shame in losing to India’s 3rd XI” India had lost a lot of their frontline players to injury and had to field new comers like Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar and Natarajan in the playing XI.
Justin Langer gives a befitting reply –
Australian Coach and former opening great Justin Langer who was known for his tenacity when batting has been known to be one of the one the shrewdest cricketing brains and had taken over the reins of Australia cricket during the height of the sand-paper gate which happened in 2018 during the tour of South Africa. Justin Langer was quick to retort and said “ I know we all joke. Vaughany (Michael Vaughan) jokes about Team India’s second and third XI. But the truth is in a country of one and a half billion people, who love cricket, if you make the first XI, you are going to have a pretty tough team. There will be good players and when the opportunity comes. You have got to be ready to grab them. We saw that exceptional young talent, they were fierce and unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the ledger”