Not India's fault that Smith and Warner were not picked: Sunil Gavaskar
New Delhi: Fittest, unstoppable and consistency personified -- India's history-making cricket team was showered with gushing praise by former players with batting great Sunil Gavaskar slamming criticism that the triumph came against a weakened Australian team.
India won the four-match series 2-1 after the Sydney Test ended in a rain-forced draw, their first ever Test series triumph on Australian soil. What the weather could not hide was Australia's poor performance with both bat and ball through the four matches.
It was attributed to batting mainstays David Warner and Steve Smith's one-year ban on ball tampering charges but Gavaskar rejected the assertion.
"It is not India's fault that this Australian team was without David Warner and Steve Smith. Australia could have handed them shorter bans but obviously it was thought that one-year bans would be good for Australian cricket, that they needed to be made an example for anyone who brings the game into disrepute," Gavaskar said during a post-match show on 'Sony Six'.
"India played the opposition they were presented with and it's a great achievement for them," the former captain.
According to Gavaskar what separates Kohli's men from earlier teams is their world class fitness standards.
"It is not that teams that I was a part of didn't play to win. We also played to win but this team is at a different level in terms of fitness and the captain has shown the way. In our times, we used do our individual routines," recalled Gavaskar.
Meanwhile, former and current players along with administrators hailed the series win on various platforms.
Following are the reactions.
Bishan Singh Bedi
Kudos to Team Ind fr recovering lot of (sic) lost ground in (sic) Sth Afr/Eng-truly remarkable feat-beating Aust fr 1st time in (sic) their own backyard-2 guys @cheteshwar1 & @Jaspritbumrah93 personified consistency-all playing X1's gr8 resolve/determination helped cross the Rubicon..Congrats All!
VVS Laxman
Many congratulations #TeamIndia on this historic series win in Australia. It took a complete Team effort from every member of the side and it gives such an immense sense of satisfaction and joy to see what the boys have done on the field. Let's cherish this special series win
Virender Sehwag
Congratulations #TeamIndia for this memorable win. Every cricket lover in India will be very proud of this one and a special effort by every member in the Team to ensure this result.
Harbhajan Singh
Proud of you guys Well done Team India for winning the test series in Australia.. congratulations @cheteshwar1 for winning MOS u (sic) been a backbone of indian batting line up.. keep it up @BCCI bowling wise @Jaspritbumrah93 has been phenomenal..love ur work
Suresh Raina
When was the last time you did something for the first time? Historic 1st Test Series win for India in Australia! Superb effort by #TeamIndia ! It may have ended in rain but that's not going to dampen the celebrations! Proud #INDvAUS
Mitchell Johnson
Congratulations to the Indian cricket team for making history, winning in Australia for the 1st time is a proud achievement for all of India. @cheteshwar1 & the whole Indian bowling attack was just unstoppable this series. Was thrilling to watch @Jaspritbumrah93 bowling
Michael Clarke
Congratulations team on a very well played Test Match series 2-1.
Vinod Rai (CoA chief)
An amazing historic series win for the Indian team. A very comprehensive effort. Every member contributed. I congratulate the captain, the head coach and each player in the team for the remarkable performance put in by them. My heartiest accolades for the performance. Great show.
CK Khanna (acting president, BCCI): I wish to congratulate the Indian team for their series win in Australia and Virat Kohli for his superb captaincy. He led from the front.
