Why Is The Brisbane Test Victory So Important For Indian Cricket?
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| The Gabba Fortress! |
Cricket lovers
across the globe were to stand witness to one of the most incredible chapters
of world test cricket. Mixing caution with aggression the Indian batsmen
launched a campaign for outright victory, despite losing all-stars opener Rohit
Sharma very early. Rock-solid Cheteshwar Pujara (56) acted as the anchor at one
end while the other opener Subhman Gill (91) and captain Ajinkya Rahane, although
briefly for 24 runs, carried on with their attack on the Aussie bowlers from
the other end. Pujara held the fort till the arrival of the player-of-the-match
Rishabh Pant whose talent has been discussed widely by cricket experts and fans
for more than a year with almost no concomitant results, delivered, after a glorious
97 runs in the drawn third test in Sydney, the final blow hitting the winning
four with just about 2 of the mandatory overs left in his unforgettable
individual score of 89 runs not out.
And India breached
the Gabbatoir, after 32 years, proving amply that Australia is never
invincible even in their favorite fortresses. They had retained the Border-Gavaskar
Trophy winning the Test Series 2-1 coming after Virat Kohli’s first-ever test
series victory in Australia against Australia in their 2018-19 tour. Shell-shocked,
indeed, is the word that described the reactions of the Australian team, the Australian
media and their cricket experts. We have already seen the tremendous importance
of this victory for all stakeholders concerned. However, there are several
other crucial takeaways from this memorable match that we mention as below:
·
The
Gabba victory along with the four-test Series victory marks one of the most resilient
comebacks for any team in the history of world test cricket. All odds were
stacked against India after losing the first test in Sydney and the making of
that 36 runs all out in their second innings. Then the exit of the regular
captain Virat Kohli, called as disastrous by most Australian commentators/experts,
put the team in the tightest of corners possible as they had to overcome the ignominy
of the 36-run-all-out syndrome and had to carry on without their history-defining
captain. Defying all predictions Team India regrouped under the calm-but-aggressive
and the strategic stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane: gave a fitting reply to the
hosts winning the second test in Melbourne convincingly by 8 wickets, and going
on to stage the historic save of the third test in Sydney by keeping the
ferocious Aussie pacers at bay for nearly one and half days.
·
Before
the start of the final test at the Gabba chips went still downhill for India with
nearly half of their team members down and out with injuries, mostly from the
body blows they suffered in that Sydney save, that included the main strike
bowlers. They drafted in their youngsters, most of them featuring only in one
or two test matches earlier and some downright debutants. And, they breached
the Gabbatoir.
·
India
have discovered their incredibly talented bench-strength that would not have
come into limelight without the injuries suffered by their mainstay. This is likely
to prove era-defining for the future of Indian Cricket, giving the national
selectors the run for their money to choose the ‘best’ team. This would also prove
to be very helpful considering the fact that players tend to suffer injuries in
ferociously-competitive international cricket.
·
The
victory also marks a significant departure from having players in the national
team mostly from megacities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata or others, because most
of the gifted rookies like Mohammad Siraj, Natarajan, Shardul Thakur,
Washington Sundar and others have come from small towns or villages with humble
backgrounds, often from the grip of poverty.
·
India
has proved again and again that super teams like Australia, England and the West
Indies are never invincible, even on their home turfs, once the team has the
resolution and self-belief in their abilities under any circumstances. Particularly
concerning Australia, Sourav Ganguly’s India ended the world-record streak of
16 consecutive Test victories by Aussie skipper Steve Waugh in the Kolkata Test
in March 2001 in Australia’s tour of India and Anil Kumble’s India ended Aussie
skipper Ricky Ponting’s streak of 16 Test victories without a single loss in
Perth in January, 2008, in their Australia tour of 2007-08. Not to speak of the
away test series victories against the West Indies and England in 1971, and
halting the juggernaut called the West Indies in the 1983 ICC World Cup.
·
Team
India has also suffered spells of racial abuse from some of the stands during
this tour, and sledging by the desperate-to-win Australian players. However,
they have managed to come out trumps in this regard too.
·
It’s
been proved again how strong is the game of cricket as a unifying force in times
of the divisive strategies the world over and the horrors of the year-long pandemic.
Simply, there is not a soul left in the Indian Republic who has stopped smiling
since that unforgettable day of the 19th January 2021, and they are
going to smile a lot for a long time to come.
Long live the game
of cricket! Let the spirit of competition of cricket conquer us again and again
from the narrow horizons of divisiveness and communalism!
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