It’s been more than 24 hours after that fantastic day but still, the feeling hasn’t sunk in yet. What happened on the afternoon of 19th January 2021 remains to a large extent unbelievable. A young side missing many regulars due to various reasons went on to make history on many levels be it by becoming the first team to beat Australia in the Gabba after 32 years or by making a record 4th innings chase in recent times. They broke a lot of records. Their success defied all the odds and cricketing logic. This team is just something else.
On day 5, Team India required 324 runs to win with 10 wickets in hand. They had 98 overs to get these runs. For many people. It was more about batting out the 98 overs. Even if the required run rate would have been only around 3 RPO, not many people thought it was possible. They weren’t wrong. India didn’t need to push the result. They would have retained the Border Gavaskar Trophy even with a draw. Even that would have been a terrific result for a side battered with injuries, and one who nobody gave a chance after the disaster at Adelaide. But the ones whose choice mattered the most thought otherwise. They wanted a win. Nothing less would work.
Team India had a decent start. Even though they lost Rohit Sharma early, Shubman Gill was still playing his shots. Cheteshwar Pujara was solid as ever and kept on running the Australian bowling attack into the ground. They slowly started chipping away this large target. At Lunch, they were at 83/1 after 38 overs. They required 245 more runs, now at more than 4 runs per over. Surely, They were going for the draw. Bat out 60 more overs and the trophy could be yours. The safe and sound option. But Team India had other plans.
After lunch, things started to change and runs started to flow. Both the batsmen were looking to rotate the strike and putting the bad balls away. Pujara, who had a slow start started to accelerate a bit and Gill had started to cut loose. In this process, They even smashed Mitchell Starc out of the attack by taking 20 runs off one of his overs. They added 114 quality runs and planted a hope of a win in the hearts of the supporters. But the dream was cut short when Gill got out to Nathan Lyon or at least we thought so. But the guys were out there to do something else.
If anyone had any doubt about what Team India were aiming for, Ajinkya Rahane pretty much made it clear. He came out looking for quick runs. He was playing every shot possible and in a way made it clear that India were going for the win. He made a quickfire 24 off 22 balls but played a shot too many before edging it straight to Tim Paine. Rishabh Pant was in next. India were 3 down now. With a longish tail, maybe it was time to shut the shop. Defend till the end and secure the cup. But yet again, they weren’t going to do the conventional thing.
Pant came in and started solidly. He was ready to leave the ball but also, ready to take on the bowling when he wanted. He had come in near the Tea break and it definitely looked like he wanted to stay not out at Tea. Pujara was taking blows after blows. He was the definition of walking wounded. He and Pant ensured that no more damage occurs and in the process took India to 183/3 in 63 overs. Now, India needed 145 runs at over 4 runs an over. Surely, It’s not going to happen especially considering that 2nd new ball is also due soon. But these guys just don’t have the word “impossible” in their dictionaries.
Pant came out looking more positive and the chase was looking more and more plausible. There aren’t many individuals who can instil a glimmer of hope in so many people and Pant is surely one of them. Indian fans across the world started to believe that it was more possible. But with the new ball, Team India lost the wicket of Pujara. This should have made them feel the fear of a collapse and surely, now it was time to look for a draw. But again, They were having none of it. They just wanted to win.
India needed 100 more runs with less than 20 overs remaining. Pant started to unleash more and more. Australia still felt they had a chance. They thought they could trigger a collapse but that wasn’t to be. With Pant going berserk, The fear of a result that they might not have even considered was manufacturing right before them. The toll of Sydney and Brisbane was finally showing up on everyone except the unearthly Pat Cummins. Loss of Mayank Agarwal’s wicket did slow the preceding a bit and at one stage India required 50 from 8 overs. That’s an asking rate of more than 6 RPO. Surely, The dream is over and a draw seems the only possible result. But again, Pant and Washington Sundar had some other plans.
The superhuman Pat Cummins was still running in fast in the final hour of the final day of the series. But Sundar nonchalantly hooked him for a six and then, got a thick edge towards the boundary to suddenly change the equation to 39 from 42 balls. Then, It was Pant’s turn. He played an atrocious falling scoop shot of Lyon to get another boundary and then, brought out a sweep shot to produce the same result the very next ball. Even the cracks started to support India as one just flew for 4 byes from it. For the 1st time, The cricketing convention and the team’s thought process started to match. Both could agree that the win was on.
While Sundar did get out playing a reverse sweep, It hardly mattered at the moment as The Australian shoulders had started to drop. India just required 10 more runs to script one of their greatest Test Wins ever. Pant pulled Josh Hazlewood to the boundary using his very own falling technique and the target was reduced to just 6 runs. Shardul Thakur got out trying to work it across the line and India required 3 runs to win with 3 wickets in hand. Pant had crossed over. He was on strike. The result that was looking improbable in the morning was right in sight. A result that was written off many times was there within grasps. Surely, This isn’t a dream that was about to be broken. Gladly, It wasn’t.
Pant smashed Hazlewood to the long-off fence and finished off a chase that no one thought was possible. With that, a whole nation breathed a sigh of relief. The Indian team ran on to the field and hugged the man of the moment. The man who made it possible. The man that saw it through the end. The joy and jubilations had no bound. The improbable had happened. A result nobody thought was possible, was achieved. A wave of joy swept the nation as everyone started to celebrate the heroes who defied all odds to win the series 2–1 and bring the Border Gavaskar Trophy back home.
Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. They faced humiliation at Adelaide. They lost their best player in Virat Kohli after that. They kept on losing key players like Shami, Jadeja, Bumrah, Ashwin throughout the series. They were in the bubble for more than 5 months and that was starting to take a mental toll. Many of them hadn’t met their families for that duration. They were battling through multiple rounds of hard quarantine. Only Rahane and Pujara played all the 4 Tests and they were joined by 18 different players in the course of the series. There was every possible reason to be depressed. There was every possible reason to think that things aren’t going our way. There was every possible reason for them to drop their shoulders. They could have collapsed and accepted a defeat. Yet they chose to fight. They chose to take things head-on and bounced back to deliver a series win when nobody gave them any chance. Cricketing conventions had them dead and buried. But these guys had other plans !!!!!
