Virender Sehwag joined the cricket fraternity to react to Australia's thrilling two-wicket win over England in the first Test match on Tuesday, June 21. England lost control of the game in the last over as Australia's Pat Cummins played a captain's knock to stun the crowd at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Usman Khawaja dominated the match with 141 and 65 scores but Cummins made the biggest impact as he played out an unbeaten knock of 44 to snatch a win from England's grasp in the last hour of Day 5. This was the fifth Ashes win in six matches for Pat Cummins as a captain. He overcame England's much-hyped bazball style as he led by example and that totally impressed Sehwag.
Sehwag, with over 8000 Test runs, praised Pat Cummins for his calm leadership skills and also took a sly dig at Ben Stokes for his controversial decision to declare the first innings on Day 1.
"What a Test Match. One of the best I have seen in recent times. Test cricket is the Best Cricket. Was a gutsy decision by England to declare just before close on Day 1, especially considering the weather. But Khawaja was outstanding in both innings and Pat Cummins is the new Mr. Cool in Test cricket. What an innings under pressure and that partnership with Lyon was one to remember for a long time," Sehwag wrote in his Tweet.
The world no.1 Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin also reacted to Australia's emphatic win at Edgbaston. He compared Australia's two-wicket win to their infamous two-run defeat at the same venue in the 2005 Ashes.
Ben Stokes' decision to declare England's first innings on 393/8 on Day 1 while Joe Root was batting at 118* definitely played a big part in his team's defeat. England will be looking to level the series in the next match at Lord's starting on June 28.
