New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS): India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal vowed that the team will make a strong comeback after their 1-3 Border-Gasvakar Trophy defeat against Australia in Sydney on Sunday. India lost the final Test of the series by six wickets which ended their hopes of qualifying for the third consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) final.
It was also India's first Test series defeat to Australia in a decade. They last lost the Test series in Australia in 2015. India successfully retained the Border-Gasvaskar Trophy in the last four series including two in Australia.
However, this time the result was not in India's favour as their batters struggled to score runs on Australian soil. Jasprit Bumrah was the only saving grace with memorable performances on the tour. He finished as the leading wicket-taker with 32 scalps and was named Player of the Series.
On the other hand, Jaiswal was the top performer with the bat for India accumulating 391 runs including a century and two fifties at an average of 43.44. Despite his outstanding effort, Jaiswal was not happy to finish on the losing side and was stressed to continue working hard. "Learnt a lot in Australia… Unfortunately, the result wasn’t what we had hoped for but we’ll be back stronger. Your support means everything," Jaiswal wrote in a social media post.
Australia opener Usman Khawaja, who had a dismal run in the series, heaped praise on his Indian counterpart and said "Love your work brother".
Former England captain Michael Vaughan also commented on the post and wrote, "You are a superstar...love watching you play".
On Sunday, youngsters Jaiswal and Nitish Kumar Reddy received huge backing from legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar following his great tour Down Under.
"If we talk about the macro picture like we saw with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Yashasvi Jaiswal- they are hungry. They are hungry to earn a name for India. They are hungry to earn a name for themselves. Such players are needed. You need such players who will protect their wicket like their life. You need such players. You can play with them on stroke. But the commitment I want to see," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.