Former England skipper Illingworth confident that Kohli's men may pull off a "Bradman"
As we're all aware, the world of cricket celebrated the birthday of one of its biggest frontrunners today - that of none other than Don Bradman. It was the 110th anniversary of his birth today, and on the occasion, former England captain Ray Illingworth said that if there was any side that could match the exploits of the Australian cricket great and his team, it was the current Indian cricket team.
Illingworth was reminiscing about the 1936-37 season, when Don Bradman and his Aussie side came back after trailing 0-2, to win the Ashes in England. Similar to the Bradman-led side, India also bounced back to win the third Test, after trailing 0-2 after two matches. With two more matches to go, India are still in with a chance of completing the fightback.
India lost the first Test by 31 runs at Edgbaston, and the second one by an innings and 159 runs at Lords. They then won the third Test by 203 runs win in Nottingham. Praising the attitude shown by the Indian contingent in that last game, Illingworth felt that the visitors will be high on confidence after the win and will be a tough competition for England in the final two Test matches. He told Anantbazar Patrika:
"Well, India have shown they have come here to fight. They did very well to make a comeback in the series by winning the Test match at Trent Bridge convincingly. I would say, the series is 50-50 and after the Trent Bridge win, India has a chance to do what no other team could manage to do in many many years after Don Bradman's team in 1936-37."
He also added that England's defeat in the last Test "will serve as a reality check" for them, after being on a high with two straight wins initially. He said that the hosts needed to improve their game if they are to avoid losing another game in the remainder of the series - and as a result, concluded that both sides had equal chances.