Opinion
Tough times never last, but tough people do.
The phrase was embodied by this Indian team over the course of a gruelling summer of cricket in Australia. It was never going to be easy, which is something they learnt the hard way in two straight takedowns in the ODI series.
India responded emphatically with a series win in the T20 format, but little did they know just how many setbacks they would face during the course of what turned out to be a Test series for the ages.
The five-day format is so ruthless that despite having dominated for the majority of the Adelaide Test, one session of mediocrity left India red-faced going into Boxing Day. To add to their miseries, Virat Kohli, the enigmatic captain around whom this side revolves and is built, had departed the shores of Australia for the birth of his first child.
Enter Ajinkya Rahane.
Ajinkya Rahane (Photo by William West/AFP via Getty Images)
In the firing line for his own form with the bat, Rahane lit up the spectacle of Boxing Day with a steely century that gave India a critical first-innings lead.
He was spot-on with his field settings and made some instinctive bowling changes, none more important than that of Ravichandran Ashwin’s early introduction into the attack at the expense of Mohammed Siraj. It proved to be a masterstroke.
The injection of youth in the form of Siraj and Shubman Gill combined with the street-smart Ravindra Jadeja and the ever-so-reliant Jasprit Bumrah to ensure India were able to script the unthinkable – a Boxing Day victory.
Really India had no right to even compete in Melbourne, let alone decimate Australia the way they did.
Such is Australia’s aura and dominance at home that despite being pinned down in Melbourne, the general perception was that it was a one-off and a series win was deemed inevitable.
But as it turned out, the win in Melbourne had changed the vibe inside the Indian camp, and it showed in Sydney. Quite literally on one leg, Hanuma Vihari stood tall in defence, and teaming up with a bruised but inspired Ravichandran Ashwin, the duo saw India through to the unlikeliest of draws. But it was more than just a draw – it was a win denied to Australia. And Tim Paine very well knew it. It was evident enough by the frustrated digs that he took at Ashwin late on Day 5.
India’s fate was such that the heroes from Sydney – Jadeja, Ashwin and Vihari – were all ruled out of the Brisbane Test. Oh, and add Jasprit Bumrah to that list. It forced four changes going into one of the most feared venues in world cricket. Surely the fate of this game was sealed long before it began!
But yet again India defied all logic at Brisbane. It was a team pushed to a corner. It was a set of individuals with tremendous self-belief who refused to pay heed to the proud longstanding record of Australia at the Gabba. It was a new-age India.
Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Wade steered Australia towards a good score only for Thangarasu Natarajan to get them both in one spell. India collapsed against a charged-up Josh Hazlewood, but Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur performed a rescue act. Australia looked to score quickly with the aim of a declaration, but Siraj and Thakur bowled their hearts out to keep India in the game.
And for the final thrilling act of this epic saga, it was Gill’s free-flowing shot-making, Cheteshwar Pujara’s remarkable grit and Rishabh Pant’s madness that took India over the line.
Contrary to belief about the bio-bubble life, India got mentally stronger as the tour progressed. The events that took place on and off the field ignited a fire within the side. For that we must credit the entire team management and Ajinkya Rahane, who didn’t do much wrong as the stand-in captain. In fact he did a lot of things right.
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