India bat and bowl better than any opposition on spin-friendly pitches, says Sourav Ganguly after 2nd Test win

IANS

New Delhi, February 20

Former captain and ex-BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly hailed India’s performance after their win in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia and said that the hosts play better than any other team on spin-friendly pitches.

Ravindra Jadeja’s best bowling figures in an inning in Test cricket (7/42) along with Ravichandran Ashwin’s spin masterclass helped India rout Australia by six wickets in the second Test within three days to go 2-0 up in the four-match series on Sunday.

“Not surprised by India’s 2nd Test win… congratulations to Indian team… on turning pitches they bat and bowl better than any opposition at any stage of the game,” Ganguly tweeted.

Australia had been much better in the second Test, scoring a competitive score in the first innings before having India 139/7 on day two. But Axar Patel’s 74 changed the face of the match, leaving the visitors with just a one-run lead in a match.

On day three, Australia went from 1/65 to all out for 113, with attempts to sweep Indian spinners backfired as Steve Smith, Matthew Renshaw and captain Pat Cummins all dismissed while trying to play the same shot.

India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth straight time with a six-wicket win at the Arun Jaitley stadium by taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

The third Test of the series will take place from March 1 to 5 at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.