On January 19, 2021 at the Gabba in Brisbane, the dying moments of the fifth and final day of the fourth Test cricket match between India and Australia, India achieved the most incredible by defeating the shocked hosts by three wickets. Setting a daunting target of 328 runs to win, the visitors responded with 4/0 at stumps on day four meaning India had to take 324 runs on the final day to win. Already written off by many pundits after the catastrophic 36 races in the first test in Sydney, which handed Australia an easy victory, the Indian team had a tough job ahead of them in an unpredictable field on the final day facing arguably the best attack ever. of bowling of the world. Most importantly, the soil is popularly known as Gabbatoir for Australia, where the home team have never lost a test match against any cricket team for the last 32 years with an incredible 24-0 win tally. Therefore, at best, most cricket pundits and fans hoped that India would somehow salvage the match by highlighting the day and tie the Series. Against a forecast of rain, the weather cleared up in the morning, perhaps to witness a competition of immense proportions.
Cricket lovers from all over the world would witness one of the most amazing chapters of world test cricket. Mixing caution with aggression, the Indian batsmen launched an outright campaign, despite losing star starter Rohit Sharma early. Solid Cheteshwar Pujara (56) acted as anchor at one end, while fellow opener Subhman Gill (91) and captain Ajinkya Rahane, albeit briefly for 24 runs, continued to attack the Australian bowlers from the other end. Pujara held the fort until the arrival of man of the match, Rishabh Pant, whose talents have been widely discussed by cricket pundits and fans for over a year with almost no attendant result, delivered, after 97 glorious runs in the draw. third Test in Sydney, the final blow hitting all four winners with just 2 of the mandatory overs remaining on their unforgettable 89-run unspent singles score.
And India violated the Gabbatoir, after 32 years, further proving that Australia is never invincible even in its favored strengths. They had retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by winning the Test Series 2–1 after Virat Kohli’s first Australian Test series win against Australia on their 2018–19 tour. Shocked, in fact, is the word that described the reactions of the Australian team, the Australian media and their cricket pundits. We have already seen the tremendous importance of this victory for all parties concerned. However, there are several other crucial points from this memorable match which we mention below:
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Gabba’s win coupled with the Four Test Series victory marks one of the most resilient comebacks for any team in world Test cricket history. All the odds were against India after losing the first Test in Sydney and making those 36 runs in their second innings. Then the departure of regular captain Virat Kohli, described as disastrous by most Australian commentators/experts, put the team in the tightest possible corners as they had to overcome the ignominy of 36-run all-out syndrome and had to carry without its captain that defines history. Defying all predictions, the India team rallied under deputy captain Ajinkya Rahane, calm but aggressive and strategic: he gave a fitting answer to the hosts who won the second test in Melbourne convincingly by 8 wickets, and went on to stage the historic Salvation from the third Test in Sydney by holding off the fierce Australian bowlers for almost a day and a half.
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Ahead of the start of the final test in the Gabba tiles, India continued downhill with almost half of their team members injured, mainly from the body blows they sustained in that Sydney save, which included top bowlers. . They recruited their youngsters, most of them appearing in only one or two Test matches before and some downright novices. And they violated the Gabbatoir.
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India have discovered their incredibly talented bench force who would not have been in the spotlight without the injuries sustained to their prop. This is likely to define an era for the future of Indian Cricket, giving the national selectors a chance to pick the “best” team. This would also prove very useful considering the fact that players are prone to injury in fiercely competitive international cricket.
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The win also marks a significant move away from having players in the national team mostly from megacities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata or others, because most of the talented rookies like Mohammad Siraj, Natarajan, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar and others hail from small towns or villages with humble backgrounds, often in the grip of poverty.
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India has proven time and time again that super teams like Australia, England and West Indies are never invincible even on their own turf once the team has the resolve and self-confidence in their abilities under any circumstances. Particularly when it comes to Australia, Sourav Ganguly’s India ended Australian skipper Steve Waugh’s world record streak of 16 consecutive test wins at the Kolkata test in March 2001 on Australia’s tour of India and the Anil Kumble’s India ended Australian skipper Ricky Ponting’s 16 Test winning streak without a defeat at Perth in January 2008, on his 2007-08 tour of Australia. Not to mention away test series victories against the West Indies and England in 1971, and stopping the so-called giant West Indies in the 1983 ICC World Cup.
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Team India have also suffered racial abuse from some of the stands during this tour and the sleigh of Australian players desperate to win. However, they have also managed to emerge triumphant in this regard.
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It has proven again how strong the game of cricket is as a unifying force in times of divisive strategies around the world and the horrors of the year-long pandemic. There is simply not a soul left in the Indian Republic that has stopped smiling since that unforgettable day of the 19th.he January 2021, and they are going to smile a lot for a long time.
Long live the game of cricket! May the competitive spirit of cricket win us over again and again from the narrow horizons of division and communalism!
