Anirudh Raghunath, Sudharshan R and Lakshmi Narashiman

“Can’t wait to see you at the Gabba, mate!!”

India were very successful at home, but every time they went overseas, they could barely win. Especially in Australia, they went with the tag of having never won a series there. History gets rewritten time and time again and the next couple of series was all about that. Winning away from home indeed feels more gratifying.

When they set foot in Australia in December 2018, it had been a decade since they won a series in SENA. The Kohli – led Indians had flattered to deceive in their earlier assignments in SA and England, that year. It had been, for quite a few tours, a tale of so close yet so far with a decisive session of play not going their way. However, with the emergence of Bumrah in tests, supported by Shami and the resurgent Ishant Sharma, India had a potent bowling attack which could win a series in Australia. The hosts, on the other hand, were being led by the “good boy” Tim Paine, after the infamous sandpaper scandal led to one year bans for Steve Smith and David Warner. But they still had a potent seam attack, aided by the masterful Nathan Lyon.

Come the actual test matches and what an absolutely marvelous display of cricket. At Adelaide, the teams fought tooth and nail in the first innings, but brilliant spells from both pacers and spinners, ensured India would eke out a narrow win to take the series lead. The Aussies, however, came back strongly in the second test at Perth, with a clinical victory of over 120 runs. It was all about Nathan Lyon that game, who spun a web around the Indians. Despite fighting centuries from Kohli in the first innings and runs in both innings from Rahane, there wasn’t much more to talk about about the Indian batting in the second innings.

 On to Boxing Day at the G. India handed a debut to Mayank Agarwal, and asked him to open with middle order batsman Hanuma Vihari. The debutant made a glorious fifty and Pujara made yet another ton as India declared at 443-7. The Indian bowlers came back with a vengeance and on a flat batting wicket, Bumrah showed why he was a league apart, with a six wicket haul. The hosts were blown away for 151, and India completed a dominant win, thereby retaining the BGT. The rain-marred last game at Sydney was all about Pujara and Pant. Both of them notched big hundreds to give India a 600+ score, but plenty of rain ensured India wouldn’t have the time to press for a win, as the match ended in a draw. India had won a series in Australia for the first time ever, and Pujara, for this two tons and a double, and for the countless hours he batted, was adjudged Player of the Series.

Well here we are at last. The Border Gavaskar Trophy of 2020-21. At what many describe as arguably one of the best BGT series in Australia, any and all doubts that India had won the previous tour because of playing a depleted Australian team were put to rest. This tour was all about the newcomers, especially with the ball. India dominated the first two days of the pink ball test at Adelaide, before suffering a stunning collapse to be all out for 36, to suffer a humiliating loss. With Kohli going on paternity leave, and Shami injured, absolutely no one gave India any chance. Experts and former cricketers alike predicted this was going to be a 4-0 loss for the visitors.

But on the boxing day, Ajinkya Rahane threw the ball to Ashwin within the first hour, and boy, did he deliver. The hosts were bundled for 195. Discipline and perseverance- that’s what the Indian batting was all about and the captain Ajinkya Rahane led from the front with an exceptional fighting century. India took a big lead, and with Bumrah and Ashwin being wreckers in chief with the ball, India levelled the series, and the trophy was still very much up for grabs.

Over to Sydney. Injury to Umesh meant a debut to Navdeep Saini. Steve Smith made an outstanding hundred to give the hosts a competitive first innings score. There was nothing substantial apart from contrasting fifties from Pujara and Gill, as India conceded a sizeable lead. Another blow – Jadeja was injured while batting. With just four mainstream bowlers, India were battered by Smith, Labuschagne and Green as the hosts set India more than 400 to win. Gill fell cheaply, and Rohit Sharma, after a good start, fell during the closing stages of Day 4. When captain Rahane departed early on Day 5, India were staring at a defeat. That is when Rishabh Pant, promoted to No.5, joined Pujara, and took the bowlers to cleaners. With Pujara holding one end, Pant threatened to pull off a heist. But Lyon removed Pant on 97, and when Pujara fell soon after, everyone thought it was over and that was the game. With Jadeja unlikely to bat, Ashwin, with a stiff back, joined a hobbling Vihari, who had pulled a hamstring and could barely jog.

No one though had factored in the perseverance and the fight in this Indian team. As play progressed, both these batsmen became bruised and received blow after blow from some exceptional bowling from Cummins and Co, but just refused to budge from the crease. With these 2 playing over 250 balls, this test match ended in one of the most exciting draws in Test cricket in recent times. During the course innings – Tim Paine, famously chirped from behind the stumps – “Can’t wait to see you at the Gabba, mate!!”- words which would come back to haunt the Aussies.

The series decider was played at the Gabba – the fortress for the hosts, who hadn’t lost a game in three decades. Adding to the daunting task, the visitors’ dressing room already resembled a hospital – Ashwin, Jadeja, Vihari and Bumrah were all ruled out – as India fielded a bowling attack which had a combined 13 wickets, with two debutants – Washington Sundar and T Natarajan. Shardul and Saini were in their second tests, whereas Siraj in his third test was the most experienced of the lot.

Marnus Labuschagne scored a ton, as Aussies piled up 369. In response India were struggling at 186-6, but courtesy some brilliant batting from Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur (special mention to those picture perfect cover drives from Thakur), India managed to finish at 336. In the second innings, Siraj stepped up to lead the Indian attack, and managed a fifer in just his third test, and along with Shardul Thakur, limited the hosts to 294.

Requiring 328 runs to win, India lost Rohit early on the final day. A partnership ensued between Gill and Pujara. Getting battered all over his body, Pujara just refused to get out, and that enabled Gill to play his natural game freely. He fell agonizingly short of his century. Any suggestion that India could attempt a draw was dispelled by an attacking cameo from the skipper Rahane. After that, it was then all about Pant. After fighting till his last ounce of strength, Pujara was finally done in by an absolutely unplayable ball by Cummins with the new ball and when Mayank fell after a short cameo, the hosts saw a window of opportunity.

However even before they try to capitalize on it, Washington Sundar came in with brilliant intent, and hooked Pat Cummins for a six. On the other end, Rishabh Pant was getting into all kinds of shapes, but finding the fence. Just as the visitors edged towards victory, there was another twist in the tale, as Sundar and Shardul got out. With Saini, Siraj and Natarajan the only remaining batsmen, it was all upon Rishabh Pant to finish the game when he had the strike. And then finally, Pant drove Hazlewood into long on, and as the ball trickled into the boundary – Vivek Razdan on commentary erupted – Toota Hai Gabba Ka Ghamand!!”. Fortress Gabba had been breached, and India registered a famous series victory for the ages.

By now, it would be clear even to a casual follower of the game that just how big of a deal, the Border Gavaskar Trophy is, for both the teams and cricket fans around the world. And this time is no different – with the WTC Final Qualification on the line for the hosts, and one of India’s current best batter Rishabh Pant ruled out unfortunately, this is expected to be another very close series. And of course the icing on the cake would be yet another comfortable victory for India, but it will, by no means, be a cakewalk, with the Cummins era of captaincy starting off with great success for Australia. Additionally, the visitors do have a formidable batting line-up – two of the top three batters in the world – Marnus and Smith, supported by Warner, Khawaja and Head, and a bowling attack consisting of the best fast bowler and the best SENA spinner of this generation – Cummins and Lyon respectively. This is expected to be yet another series for the ages – teams trading punches and counter-punches, like in the two days which have already been played at the time of publishing this article.