BRISBANE, Jan 19:
They say heroes are ordinary people doing extraordinary stuff. If one wanted to see a live demonstration of it, Gabba was the place to be where Australia’s cricketing pride and invincibility was torn to shreds by a bunch of Indian rookies who didn’t seem to care for either history or reputations.
A target of 328 lay in front of them and with all the broken bones and bruised bodies in the dressing room, it would have been perfectly understandable to chase a draw to retain that coveted Border-Gavaskar trophy.
But they wanted more and that’s precisely what they walked away with.
So what if their regular captain was on paternity leave? So what if their pace spearhead and premier all-rounder were out injured? So what if the crowd in Sydney had caused some mental scars with their racist chants?
So what? Asked a lot which had seen adversity of a more intense kind in their personal lives. They knew all about it and on the field, they showed how to stand up to it.
On Tuesday, a minefield of talent called Rishabh Pant (89 not out off 138 balls) channelled his inner ‘Mad Max’ to scare the daylights out of the Australians with his breathtaking strokeplay. He couldn’t care less for the history that the home team had not lost at ‘Fortress Gabba’ in the past 32 years.
He was out to change it.
“Every session we discovered a new hero,” said the nation’s favourite cricket hero Sachin Tendulkar, aptly capturing what a cricket-mad country felt especially after the agony of watching them fold for 36 in the Adelaide opener.
Coach Ravi Shastri knew how momentous it was. He would know, he was part of the ride and he made no bones about it.
“It is the toughest tour ever. Nothing surpasses this. After 36 all out, this is unreal,” Shastri said, admitting that at the end of it all, he had tears in his eyes.
If Shastri’s intense declaration reflected his flamboyance, stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane’s reticence shone through in his response.
“I looked good because everyone contributed,” he said.
The result has the potential to end Tim Paine’s reign as Australia captain having lost back-to-back home series against India.
“Whether it was with bat, ball or field, every time we had a chance to go ahead in the game, we let it slip,” Paine said after the rather poor performance by his team.
The highlights package of Pant’s battle with Nathan Lyon can be enjoyed repeatedly in times to come as he demolished the 100-Test man in company of debutant Washington Sundar (22), who hooked the world’s best fast bowler, Pat Cummins, for a six.
No one moved from their seats as Pant cut, drove, and paddle-swept to make a statement to his detractors while gifting India one of their finest overseas wins during the dying moments of the final session with an off-driven boundary.
While Shubman Gill (91 off 146 balls) announced his arrival on the global stage, Cheteshwar Pujara (56 off 211 balls) surpassed all the pain barriers en route his slowest Test fifty that held the game in balance for Pant to launch a final assault.
The Australian team wouldn’t feel too good about not being able to win a Test match with an opposition that was finding it difficult to field a fit first XI a day prior to the Test match.
Add to it, the visitors were also left quite hurt by the racial slurs directed at the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah by the crowd during the Sydney Test.
The series will be remembered for ages and the impact that Ajinkya Rahane’s team had on the cricketing fraternity and the fans in general will be written in golden words when a fresh history of Test cricket after 2000 is written.
In terms of relevance, a series win without Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah not being available at various points, is zillion times more significant than the 2-1 win in 2018-19 when the opposition didn’t have Steve Smith and David Warner in its ranks.
First time, people celebrated draws, became empathetic to players with limited abilities and believed in their team.
The stands were near-about empty at the Gabba thanks to the COVID-19 crowd restrictions but make no mistake that Test cricket seemed well and truly alive and kicking. (PTI)
Scoreboard
Australia 1st Innings 369
India 1st Innings 336
Australia 2nd Innings 294
India 2nd Innings
Rohit Sharma c Paine b Cummins 7
Shubman Gill c Steven Smith b Lyon 91
Cheteshwar Pujara lbw b Cummins 56
Ajinkya Rahane c Paine b Cummins 24
Rishabh Pant not out 89
Mayank Agarwal c Wade b Cummins 9
Washington Sundar b Lyon 22
Shardul Thakur c Lyon b Hazlewood 2
Navdeep Saini not out 0
Extras: (B-18, LB-8, NB-3) 29
Total (7 wickets, 97 overs) 329
Fall of Wickets: 18-1, 132-2, 167-3, 228-4, 265-5, 318-6 , 325-7.
: Mitchell Starc 16-0-75-0, Josh Hazlewood 22-5-74-1, Pat Cummins 24-10-55-4,Cameron Green 3-1-10-0, Nathan Lyon 31-7-85-2, Marnus Labuschagne 1-0-4-0.
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