A thrilling tussle with the tourists full of fight

ON Australian soil it is a rare sight indeed — two teams with their hands wrapped around each other’s throats, scores level, with eight days left in a Test series.

Touring teams to Australia are supposed to get ground into submission with their spirits becoming crushed into the dirt, their bowling attacks falling apart and their batsmen shell-shocked and confidence fading by the week.

Not India. The more you push them down the harder they fight back. Both teams deserve credit for putting on a magnificent series. Just as well India are supposedly stressed by bubble life. You’d hate to see them fully relaxed.

In the past few weeks India have lost their entire team for 36 runs, a captain, two fast bowlers and two tosses. And they just keep fronting up with their fists figuratively in the air.

Nerveless debutants. Hungry old sweats. Everyone has a crack. With the super cool Ajinkya Rahane, pictured, as captain, no-one seems above anyone else. It’s a true team effort. It would be a herculean effort to bowl first on this SCG deck and win the Test but they shouldn’t be written off. If you take out that horrendous innings of 36 in Adelaide India have batted well in every game. But it’s no fluke.

Indian teams used to be among the world’s worst tourists with minimal emphasis on fitness but all that is changed and fitness is where it starts.

Players are not even allowed to tour unless they reach a certain standard in the beep test. Captain Virat Kohli helped change the way India’s young cricketers thought about their fitness by posting photos of his taut frame. Suddenly, it was cool to be ripped.

Ravi Shastri has been heavily influenced by Australia’s robust attitude towards the game. Clearly, they play the ball and not the man and Australia’s long-standing aura on home soil means nothing to them.