IANS: Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels the Rohit Sharma-led side was right to celebrate after avoiding the follow-on during the rain-affected third Test against Australia in Brisbane.

"It's one thing to follow on, then it's another thing to be 2-3 down and then you go ahead and demolish the Australian top order. That's perfectly justifiable," Shastri said on the ICC's review show.

Bumrah and Shami remembered

Talking about the scenes in Brisbane, Shastri recalled the 89-run partnership between Bumrah and Mohammed Shami at Lord's during the 2021 series against England, a match that India eventually won. He also highlighted the importance of the lower order in getting India out of difficult situations. "It reminded me of the celebrations in the times of Covid, when Jasprit and Mohammed Shami were involved in a partnership at Lord's that completely changed the match. England were the favourites to win the Test on the final day and that partnership, I think around 80 or 90, suddenly changed the game completely, and by the end of the day, India had won the Test match," he said.

He said, “When tail-enders are stubborn, they fight out there. It makes a lot of difference. That's what happened on the last tour. When Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari batted the entire last session to save the match, we went to Gabba and won the series.”

Eyes on Melbourne

After three matches, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is tied at 1-1. Now everyone's attention is on the Boxing Day Test match starting in Melbourne from December 26. Both teams would like to gain a lead in the series by winning this match. After this, both teams will clash in the New Year Test match from January 3, 2026. This match will be played at Sydney Cricket Ground.