A Fan's Account- India's Finest Cricketing Moment

 

Adelaide ( 17^th-21^st Dec’20)

Finally, the much anticipated Test series got underway. Australia never loses Pink Ball Day Night Matches at the Adelaide Oval. India knows it all too well, and refused to play a day night game last time around. To start with, Kohli does something which he usually doesn’t, win the toss in away test matches.

But the first session just highlighted what India’s batsmen were to face for the next 1 month. Yes, in terms of individual wickets they may still not be at the level of McGrath and Warne. But in the last 50 years, in these conditions, you will struggle to name a better attack than Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon.

India somehow managed to get to a respectable score, and then bundled out Australia cheaply to get a sizeable first innings lead. Nervous expectations began to take shape. It was a Saturday. It was a weekend cricket Lovers across the world was waiting for. The expectation of 2 days of high quality test cricket which would ultimately result in an Indian win.

I had an early morning flight on that fateful day. The flight took off with play yet to begin on the 3^rd Day. And just as the flight landed, a barrage of whatsapp messages across many cricket crazy groups I am part of meant that something extraordinary happened. India were bowled out for their lowest ever score in Test history. The weekend plans were ruined then and there.

But my weekend plans were not the only things to be destroyed. If you were to believe people, it was India’s belief that was shattered. They lost the test. They lost their captain and the best batsman who was to fly back home. They lost their premier bowler to injury. And this was after 5 months of staying in a bubble cut off from the outside world. And suddenly, the conversations in the whatsapp groups changed from “Can India put up a fight” to Can India avoid a 4-0 whitewash and be in contention to make the WTC final with a strong performance at home against England”?

 

Melbourne ( 26^th-30^th Dec’20)

Next up was Boxing Day. And moving back to normal red ball test cricket also meant waking up at 5 AM for us. The team selection was bold. India replaced their best batsman with an all rounder. And they finally gave a debut to a batsman who most likely will turn out to be a generational talent. But India lost the toss. When Australia bat first at MCG, they usually bat you out of the match.

And then all of a sudden, you see the resilience emerging which will define India in the series. Bumrah shows the maturity and leadership of a player who looks like he is a veteran of 100 matches. Ashwin bowls with the same confidence like he is bowling in Chepauk on a day 5 turner. And Australia get bundled for 195.

Again, it’s the same nervous expectations. Can India take the game by its horns? Or will they again surrender the advantage and keep chasing the game. On Day 2, Cummins bowls the spell of a lifetime. On another day, he will take 5-6 wickets in that spell. But not today. India survives that spell. And then enters Ajinkya Rahane.

Ajinkya Rahane doesn’t play T20 and ODI for India anymore. He is a fringe player in IPL. He is always 4-5 failures away from his test spot being questioned. In Kohli’s absence, he is now the captain. And he does play a captain’s knock to remember. On a difficult track against Cummins and co, he scores India’s only century of the tour. A match winning and series turning century. A century that gives the others belief that if you stay put, you can score runs against this attack.

The bowling attack put their hands up once again even after losing Umesh to injury. And India completed a famous victory on day 4.

Backs to the wall test match victories overseas is something that our generation is now used to. But this victory also came at the cost of Umesh. And now, only Bumrah remained out of India’s top 5 pacers for the next 2 matches. The head still said India is going to lose at Sydney and Gabba. The heart on the other hand, started to dream. Can India pull of a miracle?

 

Sydney ( 7^th-11^th Jan)

Normal service finally seemed to resume in Sydney. A flattish wicket and another toss lost by India. Smith was back to doing what he does best, scoring centuries for fun. India looked flat. Bumrah seemed exhausted. Ashwin was tired. But just as Australia seemed to be set for 450+, the bowlers stuck back and kept Australia down to something more respectable.

Cummins and Hazlewood made run scoring almost impossible for India that meant Australia ended up with a significant lead. Jadeja broke a finger and was ruled out of the match and series. After a strong Aussie second inning, India were set a 400+ target and 4 sessions to survive.

With 97 overs left to play on the final day, India were 3 down. On a 5^th day track that was supposed to be difficult. Pujara was joined by Pant. And they made us believe. That innings by Pant changed everything. The slogans of “new India” were all over Twitter. The same people who ridicules Pant for trying audacious things were now back to hailing him as a representation of new India. All of a sudden an Indian victory seemed possible. The cameras showed us that Ashwin was standing throughout the partnership. Cricketers and their superstitions, I must say.

Pant got out playing the same kind of shot which got him to 97 in the first place. Pujara departed soon after. Hanuma Vihari injured his hamstring. And he had Ashwin for company. The same Ashwin who I thought was standing because he wanted the partnership between Pant and Pujara to continue. Instead it turns out that he had such a bad back, he couldn’t even sit.

Vihari on 1 leg and Ashwin barely able to stand now had to defend for 40 odd overs. They had an injured Jadeja and 3 number 11s to follow. They kept taking blow after blow, but never gave up. The Aussies got frustrated. Dropped catches and sledges followed. Tim Paine who would later come to regret it, wanted to move the action to Gabba as soon as possible. After a grueling fight, India emerged unscathed.

Few armchair experts ridiculed Vihari and Pujara for not trying to go for the win. Vihari rightly trolled back one such influential politician. But to me, someone who had witnessed so many  Indian 4^th innings failures recently (Cape Town 2018, Edgbaston 2018, Southampton 2018) 11^th January was one of the best days of Indian test history. How naïve was I not knowing what was in store on 19^th January that will reduce this to a footnote for years to come? This was already a series for the ages. But what was to follow at Gabba made it possibly the greatest test series of all time.

 

Brisbane ( 15^th-19^th Jan)

This was the fortress. Australia don’t lose test matches here. The last time Australia lost here, the opponent team had Greenidge, Haynes, Sir Viv Richards, Marshall, Ambrose and Walsh. And whatever bowling attack India had left, that was also lost when both Ashwin and Bumrah were ruled out. India’s bowling attack had a combined 11 wickets amongst them. 2 net bowlers were making their debuts. 1 had an experience of 11 balls. The other 2 made their debuts in the preceding matches in the series. And to top it all, India lost the toss. You talk about odds stacked against you, but this was the gold standard of having your backs to the wall.

But India didn’t give up. Again when 450-500 seemed likely, the bowlers hit back. Washington Sundar last played a Ranji match 3 years back. He isn’t even first choice spinner for Tamil Nadu. Here he was holding one end up, and getting the best batsman since Bradman( going by stats) out as his first wicket. Saini got injured and walked off. But India didn’t let Australia run away.

They stayed in the game. While batting, most batsmen got starts, but India were again reduced to 180 odd for 6. Finally the fight seems to have ended. How long can boys fight grown up men? The fairy tale can’t last forever right? Just when it seemed like Australia will decimate the tail and get a 150 odd lead, Shardul and Sundar crafted a partnership for the ages. None of them had any business being even close to the playing 11 in normal circumstances. But here they were. Smashing the best bowling attack to all parts of the ground. India got close to Australia, and there was rain in the air. The pitch had started playing all kinds of tricks by now. Gabba and Perth are known for their vertical cracks in the pitch which makes batting difficult towards the end of the match. Will rain save us and help us draw the series? Indian Google searches for weather in Brisbane saw a big spike

Australia batted with purpose and set India 329 to win. A bit of rain on the 4^th evening ensured that India only has to bat a full day to survive. Could we dream of a win? Oh, come on. This is the Gabba. You don’t win against Australia at Gabba. You don’t chase 300 plus on a misbehaving wicket against Cummins and co. Rain was our best hope right?

I got up at 4.30 to check the weather, and went back to sleep as I didn’t have the heart to watch the wickets fall against the new ball. The next alarm was set at 7.30. Throughout my life, I have woken to Indian matches from Australia and New Zealand with half of the team back in the pavilion. This time it was different. India were only 1 down. Gill was starting to believe. You don’t get 21 year old batsmen who are as close to perfection as Gill is. He had starts throughout. Today was about making it count. On the other hand, Pujara was tiring Cummins and Hazlewood to ensure that they won’t have much in the tank come the 2^nd new ball. When Gill got out, Rahane came out with intent. If ever there was a statement that India was going for the win, it was Rahane’s innings of 24.

India were back to Pant and Pujara. And they kept the Aussies at bay. The second new ball equation was 20 overs, 100 runs and 7 wickets. Pujara and Agarwal got out to who else, but Cummins. Cummins is a generational talent, and if things don’t go wrong for him, he will go down as one of the greatest fast bowler of all time. But it was too much for him. This wasn’t going to be Cummins' day.

This was going to be Rishabh Pant’s day. He made us believe in Oval 2018 and Sydney 2021, but Gabba will be the one knock which will define him for years to come. He could have got out reverse sweeping when 55 was needed of 12 overs, with only Shardul Thakur and the tail to follow. He could have lost India the match and the series. And with his keeping form suspect, this could easily have resulted in him not playing for India again in test matches in the near future.

But where there is hope, fear is set aside. He was going for the win. He knew that to win, he had to play how he had always played. And he did that, and won India a series they had no business winning. Forget winning, this depleted India had no business competing against this Aussie team. No one would have bat an eyelid if they lost at Gabba by an innings.

But here we are, celebrating an epic victory for the ages. Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant and this Indian team will make an entire generation fall in love with test cricket. My wife did not understand Test cricket 1 month back. Today, she couldn’t get herself to begin her work till the time the match ended. And this is how you fall in love with test cricket: slowly, and then all at once.