Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara blasted 50s as India became the first nation since West Indies in 1988 to beat Australia in Brisbane.
It took 32 long years, but finally, Australia's last big fortress has finally crumbled. Shubman Gill laid the foundation with a brilliant 91, Cheteshwar Pujara stonewalled and built the base strong enough for reality. Rishabh Pant enhanced his reputation as one of the best and aided by a solid stand with Washington Sundar, India defeated Australia by three wickets with two overs to spare to win the series 2-1 and regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, this win will be special in more ways than one when it comes to the history of Indian cricket. Ajinkya Rahane's side has ended 32-year domination of Australia at a venue and they did it with half of their side injured. No Virat Kohli, No Mohammed Shami, No Jasprit Bumrah and no Ravichandran Ashwin. Yet, India still got the better of Australia in their own den. The win in Brisbane on January 19 will be the day Indian cricket finally came off age and it exhibited the level of talent and depth in Indian cricket. This has made the Indian cricket team the second nation after South Africa to win consecutive Test series in Australia.
The day did not begin too well for India as Rohit Sharma was undone by a superb delivery from Pat Cummins. However, Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara followed the blueprint that had served them so well in the past. Shubman Gill showed more confidence while Cheteshwar Pujara set out to stonewall and grind the Australian bowlers down. In one over of Mitchell Starc, Shubman Gill blasted a six and two fours off the wayward Mitchell Starc as Australia failed to make inroads. Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill stitched a 114-run stand and the youngster looked good for a maiden century but he was undone by a flighted delivery from Nathan Lyon to fall for 91.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane stitch pro-active stand
While Cheteshwar Pujara took plenty of blows on his body and weathered the bouncer barrage of the Australian bowlers, Ajinkya Rahane looked to play some positive strokes. However, in his quest for proactivity, he edged Pat Cummins who looked the best of the bowlers. Rishabh Pant came in and played with a mixture of caution and recklessness although luck favored him totally. Cheteshwar Pujara continued to fight and registered a fifty off 196 balls, making this his slowest fifty. However, with the second new ball, Cheteshwar Pujara was trapped LBW by Pat Cummins and Australia sensed an opening. When Mayank Agarwal fell after a nervous nine, it seemed the game would be evenly poised. But, Rishabh Pant had other ideas.
Rishabh Pant found the boundary on a regular basis and he got confident support from Washington Sundar. When India needed 53 off 54 balls and Australia were trying to go for the kill, Washington Sundar changed the complexion of the game. The left-hander pulled a six and then a four off Pat Cummins as India got some breathing space. Towards the end, Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur fell but fittingly, it was Rishabh Pant who sealed the win as he thumped a full toss from Josh Hazlewood to the long-off fence.
The fact that India managed to turn the series around after being bowled for an 88-year low of 36 in Adelaide speaks volumes of the mental fortitude of the Indian cricket team. Ajinkya Rahane's calm leadership in Melbourne and his leading from the front gave India the ultimate advantage in sealing a win in the Boxing Day Test. The guts and determination shown by the Indian players who battled injuries in Sydney will go into folklore. It will not be long for social media to term this victory as one of the greatest in the history of Test cricket. More so because it was done in so much adversity. Kolkata 2001, Adelaide 2003, Rawalpindi 2004, Trent Bridge 2007, Johannesburg 2007 will all be footnotes in India's greatest Test wins. But, Melbourne 2020 and Brisbane 2021 will be spectacular only because it was done under so much adversity.
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