Indian captain Mithali Raj on Sunday said that it was a “tricky” call as to when India would declare their second innings and try for an outside chance of victory against Australia in the drawn day-night Test which ended on Sunday.
The visitors dominated the proceedings in a game were 80 plus overs were lost in the first two days due to rain accompanied by lightning
“It was a little tricky as to when we could declare. Getting eight wickets in 15 overs was a bit of a stretch,” Mithali said at the post-match media conference.
Mithali termed this as one of the best Test match performances by India considering this was their first day-night Test.
“Against the best sides, definitely yes. (Against) Australia this is the best game we’ve played. But in 2014, with eight debutants winning a Test in England against England, who had just won the Ashes. That was also very close. That was pretty great. The girls really put up a great show,” she replied asked about her personal favourite.
About her playing future, Raj, who is also the ODI captain, said “Well...My goal is the World Cup. Let’s come to that once I finish playing the World Cup.”
The 50-overs World Cup is scheduled to be held in New Zealand next year.
About having more time for preparation with the pink ball ahead of the Test, she said, “It would have been nice if we had a couple of days more with the pink ball. But the response after one session, they understand how to fit into a format given the leagues and exposure they have,” the Indian captain said.
Australian coach Matthew Mott rued the missed opportunities in the game but was all praise for the Indian attack.
“If we could have kept them under 270, it would have been a different match altogether. We didn’t execute as well as we should have and there were eight chances,” he said at the virtual post-match media interaction.
He further said they would have liked to have taken a chance but it would have given India a chance.
“We would’ve liked to take the game on and take a chance. But it would give India a chance and we could have lost four points. We’ve discussed changes multiple times. From 6 points to 4 and even 2. That might help teams roll the dice a bit more. It’s only human,” Mott said.
“Taking it back to 2 points so there’s less to lose and make for more entertaining cricket is probably the way to go. We want to put on a spectacle and play the game in the right spirit,” he added.
Mott said after the toss, they were behind the game and never really got back.
“The first word would be frustrating. We were looking forward to this. We knew India would be good for us. We thought we hit out mark with the toss. But we moved behind the game for the rest of the game. We never really got back in the game,” he added.
The Aussie coach hailed the Indian bowling attack and said they had set a blueprint from which to learn from.
“Nothing but praise for the Indian attack. They’ve set a blueprint that I think we have a lot to learn from. Jhulan Goswami for me is the ultimate professional world class bowler. We were quite happy when she was not bowling,” he added.
Australia v India, day-night Test, as it happened: India shine as first pink-ball match ends in draw