Page 38 - The Indian EYE 022423

SPORTS FEBRUARY 24, 2023 | The Indian Eye 38

AUSTRALIA IN INDIA

India inch closer to World Test

Championship Final with 2nd

Test win against Australia

India retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by taking a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

Ravindra Jadeja rips through Australia with seven for 42

OUR BUREAU Australia will become the first team
to qualify for the World Test Cham-
New Delhi
pionship Final.
ndia inched closer to a place in
the ICC World Test Champi- ROHIT TO MISS FIRST ODI
Ionship Final as the third day of he Indian squads for the third
the Delhi Test on Sunday saw India and fourth Test match against
taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the TAustralia for the ongoing Bor-
Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023. der-Gavaskar Trophy and followed by
The hosts claimed a thrilling
six-wicket victory over Australia to three-match ODI series against the
same was announced on Sunday.
move a step closer to sealing their Rohit Sharma will be unavailable
place at the Ultimate Test at the Oval for the first ODI due to family com-
on June 7. mitments and Hardik Pandya will
The World Test Championship
has seen two years of intense compe- lead the side in the first ODI. India
are leading the four-match Test se-
tition in the longest format, and the ries 2-0 after winning the Test match
second Test in the Border-Gavaskar in Delhi by six wickets and they will
Trophy characterised the ebb and now take on Pat Cummins-led Aus-
flow that has been present through- tralian team in the third Test match
out, with both sides wrestling for con- in Indore starting March 1 in Indore.
trol of the match before Rohit Shar- Jaydev Unadkat who was re-
ma’s men triumphed on a dramatic leased to lead Saurashtra in the Ranji
day in Delhi. Trophy final against Bengal also came
With the top two teams in the
ICC World Test Championship back to the Test and ODI squad. The
three-match ODI series between In-
standings securing a place in June’s dia and Australia will start from 17th
Final, the result still means that Aus- March in Mumbai followed by the
tralia and India control their own second and third ODI to be played
destiny as we edge towards the con- in Vizag and Chennai on 19th March
clusion of the competition. and 22nd March 2023.
Australia remains atop the
Axar Patel and KL Rahul, who
standings despite the defeat reduc- missed the New Zealand series
ing their percentage tally to 66.67 per due to family commitments, return
cent. At the same time, India widens back to the ODI side. All-rounder
the gap between themselves and the Ravindra Jadeja and batter Shreyas
third spot thanks to their victory in Srikar Bharat celebrates after beating Australia by 6 wickets during the third day of the second Iyer also make a comeback to the
Delhi, moving to 64.06 per cent. ODI team.
As a result of India’s victory, the test match in New Delhi on Sunday (ANI)
number of teams able to qualify for SWEEP IS NOT GOOD OPTION
the Final shrinks from four to three. Sri Lanka currently sits third vourable results in the remaining two AGAINST ME: JADEJA
South Africa dropped out of conten- in the standings at 53.33 per cent, tests between India and Australia.
tion, unable to reach the percentage and they head to New Zealand next The third Test match between ndia’s star all-rounder Ravindra
points required to break into the top month knowing that not only must India and Australia starts in Indore Jadeja made a sneaky jab at the
two, leaving Sri Lanka as the lone they win both tests in their two-match on 1 March with the hosts able to IAustralian batter for always at-
challenger for a place at the Ultimate series to stand any chance of qualifi- secure their place at The Oval with tempting to sweep him and said that
Test. cation, but they are also reliant on fa- another victory. Anything less, and Continued on next page... >>

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