Heart in mouth, Pant on strike. 3 needed to win. Last ball of the Hazlewood over. Saini anxiously waiting at the non-striker’s end. Pant smashes the ball towards long-off! Will Pant go for a single or will he trust Saini with the bat? The brain is rushing to get to conclusions. Wait, is it what I think it is!? There’s no one to cut it off, IT’S A BOUNDARY!
The ball thuds into the boundary rope like a cannonball crashing into the walls of a fortress. As the walls come down crumbling, the Indian contingent in the form of an invading army rushes inside the ground. The invincible Gabba had fallen!
Adelaide Oval. 17th Dec 2020, the first test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The place where it all started. After controlling the match for the first two days, the Indians were no match for the fire-breathing Aussie bowlers. The Indians were bundled out on 36. It was a mere formality for the Aussies to chase it down. To make matters worse for the management, Shami got ruled out. The Indian captain was returning home as well. Predictions started pouring in from all over. Even statistics had given up on the Indians.
The media trial had begun, pundits started pondering over all sorts of tactical changes. The Aussies coming back from a happy Christmas were all set for the famous Boxing Day Test match. The Indian side was going into Melbourne with a lot of mental baggage, or so we thought. The toss was won by Aussies and they chose to bat first, the coin had decided to conspire against the Indians as well. The bowling attack, being led by Ashwin and Bumrah, roared and clawed at the confident looking Aussies. 195/10 on Day 1.
The Indian batsmen came out with better intent this time around. The ghosts of Adelaide were not going to haunt them anymore. Shubhman Gill, the debutant, showed promise and played his shots with flair. The stand-in captain, Rahane, probably played his career-best test innings that day. This inning was going to give this young inexperienced team a huge boost in terms of confidence. The discipline and courage shown by the batting side instilled fear in the Aussie minds. There was finally a small ray of hope for the Indians as I could finally witness the proceedings with fully open eyes. India was back into the series and it was their grit that helped level the series 1-1.
Things hung right in the balance. Next destination, Sydney, the Pink test. India was suddenly back into the boxing ring. The new year started with a lot of excitement. Warner and Rohit were back into their respective sides, along came a lot of media chatter. Aussies started the proceedings with the bat, piling on the runs on a flattish wicket. Smith found his way back into batting nirvana. Australia looked set for a total of over 450 at a certain point when the Indians pulled it back nicely to set themselves a first-inning trail of 338. The batting this time was hit-and-miss for the Indians which meant they would be lagging. Australia batted well to set a target of 407 for the Indians with close to 130 overs still to be played in the game. This was the pivotal point in this series where India shocked a lot of cricketing brains. Even the folks over at r/WallStreetBets wouldn’t have bet their money on India.
The platform was nicely set by the openers. One man with a bat that looks like Kryptonite for the bowlers, Cheteshwar Pujara aka Steve, comes out to the middle. There’s a certain sense of calm when he bats. Although, Rishabh Pant on the other end meant you won’t be needing cardio for the day. After being hit on the elbow in the first innings, Pant had come out with a mission to destroy everything that comes in his way. The next couple of hours of Pant & Pujara meant Kangaroos were trying to digest the spiciest Indian curry. Garry was on his haunches with every slog over deep mid-wicket and long-on. As it happens with all good things, they all come to an end. This meant, the baton was now passed onto the ‘one-leg’ Vihari and ‘broke-back’ Ashwin. The Indians now decided to switch into their grittier outfit in Sydney. Everything thrown at them was being blocked out. Even the atheists were caught praying. Cricketing logic had taken leave for the day. Day 5 ended with India being 334/5. Aussies accepted the draw but not before they could politely invite the guests to the beautiful non-restricting city of Brisbane.
The match was drawn but the Indians had won. The defiance and resilience had taken their own toll on the Indian side. The two bowling spearheads, Ashwin and Bumrah, were ruled out. The swordmaster Jadeja was out with a thumb injury. Vihari, after batting his heart out, had to be ruled out with a Grade 2 hamstring tear.
Adversities were not going to make this Indian team flinch.
Gabba, the fortress, was now being challenged by a team that only knew how to play cricket. The mind games, stats, and cricketing logic were all asked to stay out of the Indian dressing room again. The Aussies started well, with the help of Labuschagne’s century to post 369. The Indian reply wasn’t great, the batters had gone casual. None of the recognized batsmen could hang in. As every fairytale has a twist, there was one for India as well, it came in the form of debutant Washington Sundar and the fearless Shardul Thakur. Suddenly the Aussies had forgotten how to bowl. The classic rearguard action meant India had managed to claw its way back in, yet again. The Indians were at their grittiest best. Australia started well in the 2nd innings with the help of a 33 run lead. Things weren’t looking good for India until the bowlers flicked their magic wand and Australia was suddenly down from 82-0 to 123-4. Steven Smith, followed by the Aussie tail fought to post a target of 328.
One final day. 3 sessions. 328. The question, will India look to draw or go for the win?
The draw, albeit being enough to ensure trophy retention, was a thought that did not find its way into the Indian dressing room. Pujara took the blows, Gill and Pant repaid them with full interest. The Aussies’ worst nightmare came alive on this day.
The finest underdog story in Cricket met a beautiful ending.
P.S - Don’t you agree that Shubman Gill’s bat sound should be converted into a mixtape that we can all use as an alarm tone to wake up for Aussie tours?
Good article, keep it up ಶಭಾಷ್
Beautifully written , nice article , dil mange more😂