Our plan was to hang in there to tire Australia bowlers: Thakur

Brisbane: India's Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar on Sunday kept calm and ignored the on-field chatter to frustrate a tiring Australian bowling line-up to add 123 for the seventh wicket and reduce the first-innings deficit in the fourth and final Test at the Gabba.

"They were trying to have a conversation with me but I wasn't answering them. Once or twice I answered them in one word but they were sort of normal questions. Even if they tried to sledge me, I just ignored it and kept on playing," said Thakur after making 67 in the first-innings.

"We weren't looking at the scoreboard. The idea was to spend some time there. We knew that their bowlers were tiring and we thought it was a matter of one hour. So if we hung in there for one more hour then probably we would be on top. So it was really important for us to hang in there, score off all the loose deliveries," said Thakur while speaking to the media after the end of the day's play.

The two have not batted together before, except twice, in a T20 and a warm-up game. However, both communicated very well.

"When we were playing in the middle and one of us played a rash shot then the other would just go up and tell the other, 'okay you are losing focus. Get back to normal and do your basics'," said Thakur.

"Whenever there was break, drinks or tea we would communicate that let us slow down the game. The break is about to happen. Those were small little conversations we had." IANS

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