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Not India’s Fault Smith and Warner Were Not Picked: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar is all praise for this Indian team after they beat Australia 2-1 in the four match Test series.

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Cricket
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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.

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“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.”
Sunil Gavaskar on Sony Six
Sunil Gavaskar is all praise for this Indian team after they beat Australia 2-1 in the four match Test series.
India’s cricket team celebrate with the Border–Gavaskar Trophy as they celebrate their series win over Australia after play was called off on day 5 of their cricket test match in Sydney, Monday, Jan. 7, 2019.
(Photo: AP)

"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 to do our individual routines.”
Sunil Gavaskar on Sony Six
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Opting to bat first in the fourth and final Test, India took a commanding position as Cheteshwar Pujara scored a solid 193 and stumper Rishabh Pant also added an unbeaten to guid India to a massive 622/7 in their first innings.

India then rode on chinaman Kuldeep Yadav's fifer to bundle out the home side on 300 runs before enforcing a follow-on. Australia were six for no loss in their second innings when constant rain ensured no more play was possible and the match was adjudged a draw.

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