India coach Duncan Fletcher (L) with Virat Kohli during a training session on the eve of the Melbourne Test.
© AFP
Trailing Australia 2-0 in the four-Test series Down Under, the Indian cricket team faces a tough challenge at the imposing Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar however feels mental strength will help the tourists stage a comeback.
Speaking to NDTV on the eve of the match, Gavaskar hoped Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team would come out all guns blazing. "The Indian players will have to lift themselves up mentally, more than anything else, because they are 2-0 down," said the former India opener. "If they can do that, if they put up enough runs on the board and put Australia under pressure, anything can happen." (In pics: Aussies get set | Indians train hard )
India lost the first Test - at Adelaide - by 48 runs despite a brave fight. In the Brisbane Test, the batting imploded and the team lost inside four days. Going forward, the key to India's success, according to Gavaskar, would be the tracks in Melbourne and Sydney which have slowed down over the years. "Melbourne as well as Sydney, where the ball can turn, are the two best opportunities for India," said Gavaskar. "(But) India would really have to go out there and give more than a 100 per cent to give themselves a chance."
While reports that the Indian team may be battling unrest in the dressing room may have demoralised fans, Gavaskar felt Dhoni should be trusted when he insisted that no such spat had taken place between Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli. "I think to doubt the Indian skipper's words is not the right thing to do. If he says there was nothing, there was nothing," said Gavaskar. Dhoni, earlier in the day, had said that a verbal tiff between Dhawan and Kohli during the Brisbane Test were figments of the media's imagination. (Read more here )
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