"This Is A Message To The Top Order...": Sourav Ganguly Delivers Verdict On Indian Cricket Team At WTC Final

Former Indian cricket team skipper Sourav Ganguly was all praise for Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur for their resilient performance but he also took a sly dig at the top-order batters on Day 3 of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final at The Oval on Friday. India were all out for 296 in their first innings but both batters scored half-centuries to keep them in the game. Ganguly said that they showed it to the dressing room how to bat on the surface and this can be seen as a "message to the top order".

"They showed it to the dressing room that if you apply and have a little bit of luck then you will be able to score runs on this wicket. Credit to Rahane, he was magnificent. Shardul got battered and bruised early on but he hung in there. He has batted well in the past in England and Australia. It's a good fightback from India. This is a message to the top order," Ganguly said on Star Sports.

Australia reached 123 for four at stumps in their second innings to extend the overall lead to 296 runs against India on the third day of the World Test Championship final.

At stumps, Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green were batting on 41 and 7 respectively.

Resuming on overnight 151 for five, India lost KS Bharat early but Ajinkya Rahane (89) and Shardul Thakur (51) added 109 runs for the seventh wicket to help their team avoid follow-on at The Oval.

However, India lost the remaining wickets quickly after the lunch break to end at 296 in 69.4 overs.

Skipper Pat Cummins picked up three wickets for Australia while there were two wickets apiece for Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Cameron Green.

(With PTI inputs)