India Save The Sydney Test: Die-Hard Vihari-Ashwin Partnership Frustrates Australia!
The Border-Gavaskar
Trophy Test series thus remains level at 1-1 with the fourth and final Test
starting from January 15 in Brisbane the uncertainty about which in view of the
COVID-19 situation was ended mutually by the two cricket boards.
India had an uphill
task of seeing off a minimum of 131 overs on the fourth day afternoon when
Australia declared at 312/6, setting a target of 407 runs to win. Instances of
a team chasing a huge target in the last innings of a test with more than a day
to go and winning or drawing it are indeed rare in the history of test cricket.
India had done it on only three important occasions: the historic win against the
West Indies in West Indies in 1975-76 successfully chasing a target of 406
runs; the historic tied match against Australia in Madras in 1986 as India failed
to reach the target of 348 runs in the last over of the last day by just one
run; and saving a match against England in England in 2007 when Dhoni stuck on
even as the team lost 9 wickets.
When stand-in
captain Ajinkya Rahane got out early today the stakes against India were at the
steepest. However, injured wicket-keeper Rishav Pant finally did what he has
been known for: launching a brutal counterattack he made an explosive 97 runs
off just 116 balls, and with Pujara anchored at the other end brought India
back in the match, almost clearing the ways for an incredible win. Owing, as
always, to his aggressive impulses he could not complete what could have been a
most memorable century, and got out in the 80th over at the team
score of 250/4. With all the recognized batsmen gone there was no realistic
hope of winning the match now, and therefore, Vihari and Ashwin focused on
saving it, and they were successful.
The frustration of
the Aussies was apparent; the grimaces, the despairing looks on the faces of
their top striking bowlers, fielding lapses, deliberately throwing the ball at
the bodies of the Indians and the ultimate of the man-of-the-match player Steve
Smith trying of smudge off Pant’s guard mark on the crease during a drinks
break, perhaps with the purpose of applying mental pressure. Fortunately, it
didn’t serve the supposed purpose as Pant searched for the mark, and not finding
it took guard from the umpire again. Not to speak of the ugly racists that lurked
in the stands, though reduced by the pandemic.
It has been
tremendous cricket of bouncing back by Team India, overcoming the
36-run-all-out syndrome, winning the next one, drawing this one against all
odds and now looking forward to the defining Brisbane test.
But it still has
to be said that given a little consistency and application from the top batsmen
the visitors could indeed have won this match too. The Indian batsmen are not
performing consistently yet: Rahane seemed to have bloomed into form becoming
one of the main architects of the Melbourne victory, but failed in both of the
innings in this test; Rohit, Pujara, Pant were playing well, but not to the extent
desired. Most importantly, the Indian batting seems to be over after being just four down with no recognized batsmen to follow. Perhaps it is due to the
absence of Kohli, but it is still not acceptable to indefinitely keep KL Rahul
rested, a player who has been used to the Australian conditions; although
Vihari has finally justified the trust put into his all-round abilities. With the
Indian batsmen playing to their potential India should be the favorites to win
the Series 2-1 in Brisbane.
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