"You are not defeated until you accept defeat"- Harbhajan Singh hails Ajinkya Rahane, Shardul Thakur for India's comeback in WTC final

Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh was delighted to see some sort of fight-back from India on Day 3 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at The Oval on Friday.

From a precarious situation at 152/6, Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur added a brilliant 109 runs for the seventh wicket and helped India narrow down Australia's lead a lot more that what it could have been. Harbhajan hailed both the players for not giving up despite the conditons being testing for batting.

In a video on his YouTube channel, here's what Harbhajan Singh had to say about the partnership between Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur:

"The only way India could have made a comeback was to fight back with the bat and they have done it with both Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur playing crucial knocks. You are not defeated until you accept defeat."

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Bowlers will need to step up now: Harbhajan Singh

India added 36 more runs to their total in the second session on Day 3 as they finished their first innings on 296, still a massive 173 runs behind Australia. They needed a great start with the ball in the third innings as that exactly what happened with Mohammed Siraj striking early and sending back David Warner.

Harbhajan Singh feels the Indian team will need to keep hunting for wickets and bowl Australia out as soon as possible. On this, he stated:

"Rahane and Thakur have ensured that India stay in the game. But now it's upto the bowlers as they will need to step up and produce an incredible performance."

India's bowling was a lot more disciplined than what it was in the first innings as they were able to pick four Australian wickets by end of play on Day 3. The Aussies are still in a strong position with a lead of 296 runs.