Australia was defeated by Team India via a really stunning performance of 295 runs at the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Perth, giving India a surprise lead of 1-0 down under.
India had achieved this in the absence of the spin twins- Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, and assistant coach Abhishek Nayar thinks that the two had no problem sitting out considering their seniority and stature in the game.
“It is only hard when you have seniors who do not understand it. But when you have seniors like Jaddu and Ash who understand what the team is trying to do, it becomes very easy,” Nayar stated.
The 41-year-old recommended that the unit had bought into the new “team-first” philosophy preached by head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Rohit Sharma.
“Because the team’s first policy is something that Rohit and Gauti bhai believe in,” Nayar added.
“It seems to me that they have all bought into it. So I felt happy that Jaddu and Ashwin are going to help the younger guys so that they do well here,” he said.
“It really wasn’t that hard to work them up; get into the culture and everyone is wanting Team India to win,” the former all-rounder said.
He, however, did not deny the possibility of including the stalwarts in the upcoming games of the series and added that the experienced duo would get their call.
“I always feel in a game of cricket, nobody is out of the game and whether you are a spinner or a fast bowler, you are always in with a chance,” Nayar said.
“It is true that how the plans are going to change, how you would release the ball and the pace, changes, that’s why you want to do with the pink ball,” he said further.
“Maybe, a bit challenging than the red ball and mainly because you haven’t bowled much with the pink ball. But any class spinner will have an opportunity,” he added.
India will pick up the hosts’ Border-Gavaskar Test series on December 6, with the second Test of the series scheduled for the Adelaide Oval.
