The 10-day gap between the first and second Test of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy cost India their winning momentum following the impressive 295-run victory in the opener at Perth, feels former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
"There was a very long gap between the two Tests, sometimes such a gap spoils the momentum, and that's what happened here," said the 44-year-old Harbhajan, who played 103 Tests for India, while talking on Star Sports.
The second Test of the series was a pink-ball match played under lights at the Adelaide Oval, and the hosts recovered from the early setback to level the five-match series with a thumping 10-wicket win inside three days.
"This series is tough because both the teams have had setbacks. What happened with Australia in Perth, maybe they didn't expect it. And what happened with India in Adelaide, maybe India didn't expect that either," Harbhajan added.
India also had a change in leadership for the two Tests. While Bumrah captained in Perth when Rohit Sharma was away on a paternity leave, the latter returned to take over the leadership duties in Adelaide.
On his return, Rohit decided to not open as both KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal had the confidence after their 201-run opening stand in the second innings of the Perth Test. However, India's batting failed miserably in Adelaide, folding up for 180 and 175 in their two innings.
Out-of-form Rohit endured another poor outing, with scores of 3 and 6 in his two innings.
There was just a four-day gap scheduled between the second and third Test, but with the Adelaide Test ending on the third day, the gap extended to six days. However, it's still a shorter turnaround time than the 10 days between the first and second Test, which gives Australia a slight advantage.
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