From being marred by injuries to being praised for still fighting despite not having the main squad in hand, Team India are making sure to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
Seeing the efforts put in by the Men in Blue, former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said he is impressed with the character shown by India against Australia.
"Most of their players are injured but this is the beauty of the Indian team that despite all the setbacks, they are playing with kids (referring to debutant T Natarajan and Washington Sundar, along with Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj) who never would have thought in their wildest of dream that they'll have to play against Australia in such a scenario. With Australia coming with full strength and India stopping their onslaught, I’d believe that this half Indian team is better than fully-fit Australia," the former quick said on a video on his YouTube channel.
India lost Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Hanuma Vihari - all this after Virat Kohli had already returned to India after the first Test.
"With so many injuries, only two big name players are left - Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. Inexperienced Indian players are up against a ball of fire but they are making sure that Australia is being tested. Now imagine, if with this team, India can grab hold of this Test match, I would assume this would become India's biggest Test series in history," he said.
Despite such setbacks, India had bowled Australia out for 369 in the first innings, picking up the last five wickets for 95 runs. Debutants T Natarajan and Washington Sundar, and Shardul Thakur picked up three wickets each.
"You enter the final Test but you don't have the team. And yet, they're fighting. This is the character I'm talking about. I won't call it a B team, but if with this they are able to strengthen their grip on the Test, and even if are able to draw, I'd believe it will be a historic moment. There's a lot to be proud of," Akhtar said.