India Down Under - A Look Back
Written on January 20th, 2021 by {"login"=>"jcbitshyd", "email"=>"journal@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"", "last_name"=>""}It is the 19th of January, 1:11 P.M. IST when Rishabh Pant drives a low full toss from Josh Hazelwood down the ground, beating the fielder at mid-off and sending the ball into the boundary, along with sending the hearts of 1.3 billion Indians, who paid very intense, curious and yet nervous concentration towards the happenings on that very 22-yard strip of Brisbane soil, into unbounded happiness. We claimed victory against 'them'. Yes, 'they', who have always nibbled at us, bit-by-bit, at regular intervals, very much akin to a Kangaroo. 'They', who prided themselves on the invincibility of having never lost at the very stadium this match was held, Gabba, since 1988, and finally, 'they', who coated themselves with several layers of confidence before the start of this test match. Indeed, Australia. India beat Australia by 3 wickets to claim the Border-Gavaskar Series 2-1.
Writing that last sentence alone sent shivers down my spines. Reading that last sentence again induces a very broad smile on my face, sponsored by a quick burst of adrenaline. Why though? What makes this series alone, so unique? We've beaten Australia countless times earlier. This series had, and will always continue to hold a special memory slot in the brain of every Indian. This series wasn't just a game featuring 22 players in action for two teams in 4 matches; it was personal. It started with a Day-Night Test in Adelaide from 17th of December, 2020. The visitors were already dented before the start of the series with skipper and star batsman Virat Kohli unavailable after the 1st Test due to paternity leave and star players Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma unavailable due to injuries. There was a sigh of relief in the visitors' camp after Rohit Sharma was declared fit and available to play in the last two matches.
The pink ball test in Adelaide was India's first day-night Test in a foreign country and only second in total. The match started well for the visitors with Captain Kohli winning the toss and electing to bat first. Through the combined efforts of Pujara, Kohli and Rahane, India managed to score a decent first innings total of 244. Skipper Tim Paine led Australia's fightback with an impressive half-century. He, however, couldn't stop India from gaining an important first-innings lead of 53 runs. When it looked like that the visitors were gaining the upper hand, the storm arrived. The fiery Australian bowling line-up comprising Cummins-Hazlewood-Starc and Lyon's quartet blew away the star-studded Indian batting line-up for just 36, their lowest in the history of the game. While Hazlewood bagged 5 and Cummins bagged 4 wickets, Australia did not even need Lyon's services. Australia chased the target of 90 runs easily in the fourth innings to claim an important lead of 1-0 in the series. During the game, Indian bowler Mohammad Shami got hit on the wrist and was ruled out. With captain Kohli set to depart and the morale destroying loss at Adelaide, many cricketing pundits went on to say that the hosts will easily win the series. The Australian arrogance knew no bounds. The question of Australia winning this series became a matter of 'When', instead of 'If'.
Then came the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne from 26th of December, 2020. The dramatic collapse at Adelaide raised various questions on the potential of the highly decorated Indian batting. In the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, the onus was on stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane to lift the morale of the team. Debutants Shubhman Gill and Mohammed Siraj were two of the four changes made by India in that game. Tim Paine won the crucial toss and elected to bat first. However, the Indian bowling rose to the occasion and wrapped up the Australian team to 195 runs. With the scars of Adelaide still fresh, it was time for the Indian batting line-up to prove its potential. And they responded to the challenge well led by skipper Rahane's century and small yet significant contributions from the remaining batting line-up to get a big lead of 131 runs. Australian batters failed to make a mark again as they were bowled out for just 200, setting the target of 70 runs which India chased easily to level the series 1-1. It sent shockwaves across the cricketing sphere. From the dreaded '36' to level the series at 1-1, both teams went into the third Test with uncertainty. India, with the uncertainty of keeping up with this newfound momentum, and Australia, with the uncertainty of which opposition will they see turning up against them.
While both the debutants impressed with their performances, India lost another seamer, Umesh Yadav, to injury. With series levelled 1-1 and star batsman Rohit Sharma and David Warner all set to make returns to their respective teams, it was a perfect build-up to the New Year's Test at Sydney. Due to travel restrictions and COVID related protocols, the New Year's Test started on 7th of January instead of the traditional start on 3rd. Australia handed a debut to Will Pucovski. Paine won the toss once again and elected to bat as expected. Though Warner failed to make an impact, Pucovski was impressive on debut. However, Marnus Labushagne and Steve Smith stole the day. Smith, who was going by an unnatural slump of form, made a grand return with a score of 131 helping Australia score 338. In reply, India could not build on the openers' good start and ended up conceding a lead of 94 runs. Australia batted well in the third innings to give a target of 407. Though openers started well, they failed to capitalise and score big. Rahane fell early on the morning of the 5th day, and it looked like a matter of time before Australia bowled India out. But the visitors had other intentions. Rishabh Pant joined Pujara and much as they had done in the 2018-19 series, built up a huge partnership. Pant was the destroyer-in-chief as he smashed Australian bowlers all around the park while Pujara continued to be the immovable force with impregnable defence.
Pant fell to Lyon on 97 when Hanuma Vihari joined Pujara. Vihari had already pulled his hamstring before Hazlewood produced a peach to dismiss Pujara. With clouds of uncertainty over Jadeja's availability due to a thumb fracture, things looked gloomy for India. However, Ashwin and Vihari denied any further wickets to hosts as they battled the fiery bowling line-up with a lot of grit and determination. Australian bowlers resorted to bodyline bowling tactics. The batters replied by putting themselves in the line of the bowl, which even meant taking a lot of blows on their body. And so it concluded in a draw. India lived to fight another day as Australia repent and regret on what could have been. It was all to play for in the final deciding Test in Brisbane.
Australia had turned Gabba as a fortress over the years and to retain the Trophy, India had to breach the fortress. However, India suffered a setback even before the start of the match as injuries ruled out the previous match's heroes- Vihari, Ashwin, Jadeja and Bumrah. An already depleted India was weakened even further by the number of injuries. Though injuries had ruled out all the first-choice bowlers, the team's heavy bench strength, thanks to successful List A and first-class structure, came to rescue. Debuts were handed to Washington Sundar and T Natarajan, who initially travelled with the team as net bowlers. The inexperienced line-up continued punching above its weight to bowl Australia out for 369 despite an amazing century on a bouncy Gabba pitch by Marnus Labuschagne. Indian batsmen one after the other got good starts but failed to convert it into a big one. At 186/6 when the team looked down and out, new heroes emerged for India in Thakur and Sundar. Two players who uptil then had only played a combined total of 10 balls of Test Cricket played out over 30 overs (including a testy new ball spell) from, arguably, the best bowling line-up in the world. Two 60+ knocks from two (almost) debutants reduced the lead to a minute 33.
Warner and Harris's aggressive batting meant Australia had a good opening partnership of 89 runs and that too at a brisk pace. But as it has been throughout the series, India punched back with Shardul taking the wicket of Harris first followed by Sundar knocking Warner over. A gritty half-century from Smith was taking Australia to a comfortable position before a comeback from Indian bowlers setting up a target of 328 for India. Siraj - a man who would have considered himself lucky to get a game - was the leader of an exemplary bowling performance. He took his first fifer - creating yet another beautiful story in a series wropped with moments. With rain washing out 23 overs of day 4 and rain predictions even on day 5, questions were raised if Australia should have declared their innings rather than waiting for an all-out. And the fight for the trophy extended, rather fittingly, to the final day of the series.
Though Australia were heavy favourites for a win, the Indian team for its perseverance, resolve, and fortitude had earned both fans and critics' respect. To retain the trophy, the relatively inexperienced side had to punch back for one final time. The question was: Do they have enough energy left to make the last punch? Or will they fall prey to the bouncy Gabba pitch as visiting teams have over the years? As for all Indian fans, our team was already the winner for us irrespective of whatever happens on the final day. The cracks had already opened up, and it was going to be a tough task for even any full-strength batting line-up to face the Australian Quadret, let alone the depleted and inexperienced Indian side. And then started the final day of the series.
Rohit Sharma fell to a Pat Cummins peach early in the day. It all came to Pujara to tire out the bowlers and help India draw, victory being a far-fetched dream. It was time for another hero to emerge. Gill stepped up on occasion and began to score at a quick pace. He eventually fell on 91, but the win was in sight. Pujara on the other side kept on defending everything the Aussies threw at him, even taking several blows on his body. After Gill departed, skipper Rahane led the charge with a quickfire 22 before eventually falling to Cummins. His departure meant it was again on the shoulders of Pujara-Pant duo to battle it out for India. And as they had done in Sydney, Pant was aggressive while Pujara was immovable. Pujara eventually departed when India still had to score 100 more runs. Australia sensed an opportunity and cleaned up Mayank Agarwal soon after. With the second new ball in hand, Cummins continued to steam in and make life difficult for Indian batters. Sundar joined Pant, and they both played aggressive counter-attacking innings. It was all down to the last hour of the series with all the results still possible. Sundar departed and was soon followed by Thakur, but the damage was already done. Pant scored the winning runs as the fortress of Gabba was breached.
Emotions were running high as this young team silenced all its critics. The victory was even sweeter because of the manner in which it had come. After that shocking hour at Adelaide, the team was down to the rubbles. Captain Rahane built a palace from those rubbles. The team kept on losing key players throughout the series. Yet, whenever it had its back to the wall, new heroes kept on emerging. It was a victory of a young team battling with determination and self-belief. The series will always be remembered because of the fighting spirit shown by both the teams as whenever one team looked in a comfortable position, the opposing team pulled it back and remained in contention. It will also be remembered as the series where a weakened Indian team battled out injuries against a full-strength Australian team in their backyard with a lot of passion and courage. We won in 2018-19 as well, but people refused to acknowledge our strength by saying it was a weak Australian team without its key players. This time we won again and that too in the absence of some key players silencing everyone who refused to acknowledge our exploits two years ago. As skipper Rahane said after the match, it is a victory which should make us proud. And it was possible only because the players refused to accept defeat until the very end. As it had done numerous times in the past, cricket united all of us Indians once again as everyone was celebrating a famous victory. For everyone, all that mattered was an Indian win.