New Delhi: India’s braveness in taking bold decisions led to their 295-run win in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar series at Perth, feels former England skipper Alastair Cook.

India didn’t include star spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and then decided to bat first on a greenish track after winning the toss. Cook lauded India’s ability to mount a comeback after getting bowled out for only 150 runs at the Optus Stadium.

“I thought India was so brave. I thought that first, you know, they win the toss and bat on that wicket, you look there, even though there’s only 150 they got, the thought process to say, ‘we’re going to take Australia on there. We know it’s going to be hard, but we think it’s going to be hard for both sides only, and then it’ll be a one-innings game’,” Cook told TNT Sports.

India were led by Jasprit Bumrah in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who was away on paternity leave. Bumrah led from the front with an eight-wicket haul, including five in the first innings.

“I think most captains would have bowled first, certainly would have done and probably got the end of a bad result, like normally in Australia. But India took it on brilliantly. It was just an all-round fantastic performance,” Cook said.

“You think… bowled out for 150, you think we’re struggling here, but to bounce back when you’ve got Boomer (Jasprit Bumrah) up with the new ball on those kinds of wickets, he’s always going to be outstanding and backed up by team.”

‘Classy Jaiswal’

Cook praised India’s left hand opener Yashasvi Jaiswal after his dominating century in the second innings at Perth. Jaiswal was aggressive from the very beginning and scored at a fast clip against the formidable Australian pace attack, having excelled against England earlier with over 700 runs in a series.

“We’ve seen his celebration enough here, but it’s more enjoyable against Australia than England, certainly,” former left hand opener Cook said.

“And sledging Mitchell Starc, saying at a certain stage, I think he wasn’t on 100, he wasn’t on anything on a major score, but he’s telling him you’re bowling slow…

“And I’ve faced Mitchell Starc and he certainly doesn’t bowl slow. And if he was bowling slow, I’d keep my mouth shut and not wind him up, but have the confidence to do that as a 22-year-old….

“I think he scored the most runs as any Indian player up to after 15 Test matches at the top of the order, which I’ll keep saying it, no one else believes me, it’s the hardest place to bat. What a classy player he is.”