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New Delhi, India
No. 1 ranked India are set to lock horns with second-positioned Australia in the forthcoming ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval, London, commencing on June 07. Ahead of the marquee finale, Indian captain Rohit Sharma revealed his top-most Test highlight in recent years. Rohit made his debut in whites in late 2013, which was Sachin Tendulkar's farewell series but has cemented his spot in the red-ball format ever since he was promoted as an opener in late 2019. He has been involved in several memorable wins for India in Tests but picked Ajinkya Rahane-led side's famous 2-1 win over Tim Paine's Australia in the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
'The way we played in Australia was probably the top highlight'
At an ICC event 'Afternoon With Test Legends’, also featuring Pat Cummins, Ross Taylor, and Ian Bell, Rohit said, "The last couple of years especially, after COVID-19. You know the times weren't that great. Especially the bubble, you didn't know what to expect. Stuck indoors and the younger boys were quite upset about that. But again, you need to beat the odds and come out on top. I thought the way we played in Australia was probably the top highlight, I would say. After losing the first Test match in Adelaide and then coming back to win then shows the strength and the depth of the team as well because we had a lot of injuries on that trip."
"I wasn't part of the first two Test matches. I was part of the third and fourth one. I know as a team what we were going through. So a really tough time, but we held our nerves. Like Pat just said, we came out on top but there was a lot of groundwork that happened behind the scene as well. A lot of the young players stepped in and turned things around for us. A lot of senior players were missing on that trip and that was certainly the best we played outside India. Again, the last series we played against India was another exciting series, difficult pitches and challenging ones. But we managed to go through that," Hitman added.
Talking about India's memorable 2-1 win over Australia in 2020/21, the tourists were trailing 1-0 after losing the series opener by eight wickets following a debacle with the bat in their second essay (after attaining a 53-run lead). Following that, they were without regular captain Virat Kohli for the remainder of the series as Rahane took charge. With their back against the wall, India scripted an inspiring win to claim the series 2-1 with an impressive win in the second Test, in Melbourne, by eight wickets and a three-wicket victory at The Gabba, Brisbane in what was the series finale.
The likes of Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, Hanuma Vihari, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, etc. chipped in during India's series triumph.
It will be interesting to see who will be the players who stand tall for India in the upcoming WTC finale versus Pat Cummins-led Australia.