Opinion
Within two weeks, from one Australian city to another, India has traversed a great distance and an even greater range of emotions.
The nadir of 36 all out in Adelaide is still fresh and given the level of disaster that was, it will take some time to heal. But what this Indian team achieved in Melbourne, despite a few notable absences, is something that will be talked about for years to come.
In Adelaide, it was an hour of play that sunk the visitors to a record low – a cursed hour when the shiny ball swung just enough to trigger the collapse of epic proportions. With a deficit of 1-0, losing the skipper and a front-line pacer for the next match aggravated the misery for the visitors.
All of a sudden, the squad looked terribly under-prepared and well short of confidence. Not many were sure of what to expect from the stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who wasn’t coming on the back of too many runs and had a horrible time in the first Test.
(Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)
Any talk about India retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy reeked of hollow optimism, and some experts like Ricky Ponting and Michael Vaughan went as far as predicting a clean sweep of the tourists. There was scant mention of redemption, as it went directly against the leitmotif of the year in which things can only get worse, not better.
But this Indian team is different from its predecessors. No matter how dire the going gets, they will find a way. As cliche as it might sound, the adversity – time and again – has brought the hero out of them. And just like that, after finding themselves gasping for breath in Adelaide, they bounced back, pinning down the hosts inside four days to level the series in Melbourne.
Starting with the skipper Rahane to the new debutants – Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj – and two other changes in the form of Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, each of them stood up to the occasion.
For Rahane, this was not the best of the time to accrue the extra burden of captaining a Test side. He became the poster boy of incessant scrutiny and harsh criticism after running out his captain in the first Test and then failing to post anything substantial with the bat in two innings. A mediocre outing in Melbourne and the rest of the series could have severely jeopardised his future.
He came to the crease after Shubman Gill fell prey to Pat Cummins, reducing the scoreboard to 2-61, and Cheteshwar Pujara’s resistance also came to an end moments later. What transpired after Pujara’s wicket was a masterclass in stoicism.
Rahane not only steadied what seemed like a yet another downfall but also went on to play an innings of his life – an innings that oozed grit, gumption and flair. It was an innings that instantly put his team in the driving seat.
It was not only Rahane who overcome the odds to put up a match-winning fight in Adelaide. There were a string of other names too.
Shubman Gill looked fidgety in his first innings, where he somehow rushed to 45 courtesy of dropped chances and near misses but his stroke-making carried a perfect blend of control and flamboyance. He made a quick 35 in his second dig. The right-hander brought 75 per cent of his runs in his first match from boundaries alone.
Another debutant to capitalise on his inclusion was Mohammed Siraj, who needed some time to get in the groove, but was right on the money when called upon for his second spell of the day. He masterminded the dismissals of Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green. Siraj looked less of a debutant and more of a red-ball specialist.
On home pitches, Ravichandran Ashwin has always been an enigmatic spinner with a bag full of tricks to breach even the most formidable defence.
Ravichandran Ashwin (Photo by Peter Mundy/Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Except this time, he successfully unfurled those tricks on a pitch no one usually associates with spin. For a player often accused of being a home-track bully, a great outing in away conditions always brings immense satisfaction. There’s still too much left in the series but Ashwin has started his campaign on a different note.
The triumph in Melbourne will be cherished for ages by Indians, in a way pretty similar to what 36 all out in Adelaide means to Australia.
At 1-1 at the halfway stage, it’s hard to predict anything at this point. If India can turn around after suffering such a debacle, then so can Australia.
In what was otherwise a year filled with gloom, despair and hopelessness, Ajinkya Rahane’s men provided us with zest, joy and a blueprint on how not to brood over the past and take every battle as it comes.
Apparently, this is what won them a Test match: the ability to forget, improvise and start afresh.
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