Before coming to the point, let us altogether congratulate our young Indian Cricket team who have done a splendid job against the Aussies at their home ground and the fans too who kept supporting and encouraging their team even after such a dramatic loss in the first test(all out for 36).
Now, we can proudly say that Indian cricket has a bright future after this series as we now have a greater capacity to win series at SENA countries. India has won the Border-Gavaskar consecutively and ensured the title remained in their hand. India has also retained their first position at the International Test Championship points table with a total of 430 points.
How The Series Started
BCCI had signed off the Indian Cricket team to Australia for the tour of three one-days, three T-20s, and four test matches in Nov. 2020. The tour was to begin on the 27th of Nov. and go through Dec. and end on the 19th of January.
This 54 days tour was started with a One-day match on the 27th of Nov. Here, on this day, India was beaten by Aussies with a margin of 66 runs. 2nd one-day, Aussies again repeated the job and beat India by 51 runs to take an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the ODI series. But, Indians hammered Aussies in the 3rd ODI and beat them by 13 runs. After the last ODI, Aaron Finch and Adam Zampa were the leading scorers and wicket-taker respectively and Steven Smith was titled “player of the series“.
Now, let’s move to the T-20 session. Here, the Indian team started with a win continuing the last ODI confidence. India won by 11 runs in 1st ODI and repeated the same strategy in the 2nd ODI, beating Australia by 6 wickets this time. And now India has an unassailable lead of 2-0 in this series.
Virat Kohli was granted paternity leave by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
And in the last T-20 but not least of the series, Australia won by 12 runs. And this time, Mathew Wade was the leading scorer and T. Natrajan, a young debutant, was the leading wicket-taker. Hardik Pandya was declared as the “player of the series“.
The Real Emotions Of Cricketers
Then the real emotions of Cricketers, i.e test cricket, had started. And at the Adelaide, Australians had beaten India by 8 wickets giving a remarkable performance by taking all of India’s wickets at just 36 in the second innings. Mohammad Shami was injured in this test, Virat Kohli has moved on for leave.
Now, Ajinkya Rahane is the new skipper of this young team. In the 2nd test, Mohammad Siraj and Shubhman Gill debuted and were handed over the Indian cap by R. Ashwin and Ravi Shastri respectively.
This whole match could be considered as the beautiful captaincy from visiting skipper as he hit a hundred as well and saw through a good comeback from the Indian team against the Aussies on their soil. Following the way, the third test remained a draw with the beautiful saving knock from Hanuma Vihari and R. Ashwin.
Now, the final test was scheduled to be held at the Gabba where Aussies have didn’t lost a single Test in the last 32 years. This was the deciding test for the series too, thus the excitement and enthusiasm rushed around both the teams.
Till then, the Indian squad had gone through several injuries making things even more difficult for this visiting side. Virat Kohli was not available. Shami, Umesh, Jadeja, Ashwin, and Vihari had been injured and out while the Aussies sides have experienced players like Warner, Smith, Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, and Lyon. Even after this, the management especially Skipper and Coaches kept motivating and believing in the young team.
At the Gabba, the coin goes at Aussies’ side and they have decided to bat first. Australia scored 369 in the first innings in reply of which India stood up with a struggling total of 336 which includes the fifties from two young men W. Sundar and Shardul Thakur. Australia takes a lead of 33 runs.
Then in the second innings, India all-outed the Aussies at 294 with the help of five wickets haul by Mohammad Siraj and four wickets by Shardul Thakur. India needs to chase 328 to win this test. On the 4th day of this 4th test, India starts with 4-0. And they need 324 from 100 overs on this last day to win the test.
Gabba Heroics
India has two options, either to go for a draw or win. Somehow, the play started and India lost their first wicket at just 18 runs as Rohit Sharma. After that, C. Pujara and S. Gill takes the inning at an interesting position. S. Gill played a fast knock of 91 runs and missed a historical century at Gabba.
C. Pujara was still facing the bowlers and had several blows by the Australian bowlers on his body but continued to play. A. Rahane, the skipper, came and played a few attacking shots to clear ropes and showed the intents that they are playing for the win. But soon, lost his wicket at a very low score.
Then, Pujara scored a half-century and finally, the match has turned at very crucial points from where Rishabh Pant lead the inning from the front, and also W. Sundar played some beautiful shots. And at last, Rishabh Pant, who scored 89, ended this thriller by hitting a four on long-off, well drive.
India won the test by 3 wickets and the series too, breaking the Aussies’ unbeaten record at Gabba. And this series has been remarked as the historical win for India against Australia on their own soil.
All the players enjoyed and greeted each other and move around the Gabba holding the Nation’s pride that is Tiranga. BCCI has announced a bonus of 5 cr. INR for the team. Congratulations to all the Indian cricket team fans for this incredible and historical win against Australia at Gabba. We appreciate the efforts of this young team and wish them the best of luck for future endeavors.
Shardul Thakur was one of the many driving forces behind India’s stunning victory at Gabba