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When India stepped down on Australian shores in November 2018, there was an air of expectation that something special could happen. There was genuine hope that this Indian side could do something no side before it had done – which was to win a test series in Australia for the first time ever.
The Indian team had played in two tough and closely contested test series against South Africa and England before them and although they had lost both series, the general feeling was India played much better than the scorelines suggested and could have won both if only for want of better planning and team selection. Their bowlers had been in fine form all through out and the team was confident that they could get the opposition out cheaply, as they had for most parts in both South Africa and England. If only the batters could adapt to the conditions and play better than they had in those two countries.
The Australian side up against them was a weakened side with their two best Batsmen – Steve Smith and David Warner – missing.But they had a world class bowling attack comprising of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon.
There was no doubt that Indian bowlers would get the wickets, the question was, could the Indian batsmen outscore their Aussie counterparts? Kohli would always put a price to his wicket, who else would stand up with him?
India’s big problem was right at the top, the openers had seldom given a good start in England and South Africa and all incumbents had looked lacking in confidence. The problem was further complicated when the man brought in to solve that problem, Prithvi Shaw, injured himself in the only practice match and was ruled out from the series.
The practice match itself was curtailed due to rain, hampering the preparations of the team before the first test match.
Heading into the first test, an unsure and under confident host, took on an under prepared visitor.
The stage was set for a fascinating 4 test match series. It surely turned out that way!
The first punch up
The Indians were keen to show intent and not be intimidated by the 4 Australian bowlers and wanted to stamp their authority on proceedings right from the get go. They won the toss in Adelaide and decided to bat first and pile up a big score on one of the more batting friendly pitches in the country.
Sadly, what panned out did not go to plan. The Indian openers, KL Rahul and Murali Vijay again fell cheaply while looking unsettled in their time in the middle. Kohli fell cheaply too, out to a spectacular catch taken by Usman Khawaja at gully, and with Rahane out soon after, India were tottering at 41/4 on the very first morning. Not the template they were after.
Pujara was holding up one end and Rohit Sharma looked assured during his stay and both got about the repair work and put on 45 runs ( Rohit hitting 37 of them) before Rohit got out to a rash shot, something he had been guilty of once too often in the past as well, 86/5. Pant and Ashwin chipped in with handy 20s but India kept losing regular wickets to be all out for 250. Only Pujara stood tall for the Indians scoring a masterful 123 runs blunting all that the Aussies threw at him. If not for a solid contribution from him, the score would have been much worse. Still, 250 gave India the chance to limit the Aussies from taking too big a lead – or so was the popular opinion in the comm box. The Indian bowlers had other ideas. Ishant announced their intentions by dismissing Aussie opener Aaron Finch of the very third ball of the innings. That set the Template and the Indian bowlers ( Ishant, Bumrah, Shami and Ashwin) kept taking wickets at regular intervals to have the Aussies on the mat at 127/6. From there Travis Head, assisted by the tail, put up a rear guard action and got the Aussies to 235 all out. Head top scored with a confident 72.
A 15 run lead for India. They had a chance to capitalize on it by scoring substantial runs and putting a stiff target for the aussies on the tough 4th and 5th day.
The Indians were keen not to let this advantage slip away and the openers made a resolute start for a change, adding 63 runs for the first wicket. Pujara once again batted well to put up 71. Kohli scored 34, Rahane a fluent 70 in a good partnership with Pujara. Pant again chipped in with a quickfire 28 but got out playing a rash shot. Still, India were sitting pretty 303/6, a lead of 318 runs and with a chance to bat Australia out of the contest by stretching the lead to close to 400 runs. Not so easy. India lost their last 4 wickets for only 4 runs to be dismissed for 307, setting Australia a target of 323 to win. Tough, certainly not impossible, filling the Aussies with a glimmer of hope. Nathan Lyon picking up 6 wickets in the 2nd innings.
Once again, the Indian bowlers were relentless, they bowled impeccable line and lengths not giving too many easy scoring opportunities to the Aussies. It was a test of patience which the Indian bowlers started winning and despite some resistance from Shaun Marsh, who scored 60, they were struggling at 187/7. It was then that things got a bit interesting. Indians have been guilty of not being able to dismiss the lower order cheaply, something that came to bite them hard on their tour of England. This time too, a combination of Indian bowlers relaxing and Aussie lower order pluck ensured that the Aussie tail kept chipping away at the remaining target. Cummins and Starc (28 each), Nathan Lyon (38 not out), Hazlewood (13) gave the Aussies a glimmer of home but they were stalled 32 runs away from the target, when Ashwin dismissed Hazlewood, to hand India a well-deserved 31 run victory.
Their bowlers had done well to dismiss Australia cheaply in both innings but the standout player was Pujara – his combined effort in both innings going a long way in ensuring India won the first test match of a series in Australia for the first time.
The Aussie comeback at Perth
Australia won the toss in Perth and elected to bat on a very fast and bouncy pitch. Conditions they were accustomed to and it showed in the manner with which both openers, Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch played to bring about their fifties. The score read 112 when the first wicket fell. From there useful contributions from Marsh (45) Head (58) and Captain Tim Paine (38) ensured that they put up a handy 326 in their first innings. Ishant Sharma picked up 4 wickets.
The Indian openers reverted to their unsettled selves and both Rahul and Vijay got out cheaply again to have India struggling at 8/2. Pujara fell for 24 but Kohli looked in fine fettle and Rahane too looked good for his 51. The two added 91 runs together and the score read 173/4 when Rahane was dismissed. Kohli brought up his 25th century and when he got out scoring 123, the team score was 251/6. There was a genuine chance that India could over hall the Aussie score but Nathan lyon put that thought to rest by wrapping up the tail and taking 5 wickets in the process. India dismissed for 283. A lead of 39 runs for Australia.
The Indian bowlers did well to dismiss Australia for 243, not before Khawaja scored 72 and Paine a gritty 37. Shami picked up 6 wickets and Bumrah 3. Indians had to overhaul 287 for an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
The opening stand would be the key but when they failed once again and Pujara and Kohli got out cheaply too, the score read 55/4. India’s chance all but gone. They were duly dismissed for 140, handing Australia 146 run win and the series poised interestingly at 1-1. Lyon got another 3 wickets to have 8 in the match and the man of the match award.He made good use of the bounce on offer to make it difficult for the batters. The Indians on the other hand went with a 4 prong pace attack and Ashwin’s replacement, Umesh Yadav picked up 2/139 in the match. Perhaps they missed a trick there.
The Boxing day test knock out!
The Melbourne pitch was criticized a year before for being drab, resulting in a high scoring draw during the Ashes. The pitch did not wear down and made it very tough for bowlers to get wickets.
Thus, this test match too was expected to be a high scoring drab draw. India won the toss and rung in a few changes.
Both openers dropped from the team to hand in a debut to Mayank Agarwal, his partner would be Hanuma Vihari, promoted from the middle order to do a makeshift job. Mayank looked very assured out there and the first wicket fell at 40 of Hanuma. Mayank Agarwal scored 76. But scoring was tough on the pitch which was a bit up and down in nature making it difficult for the batsmen. India scored at just over 2.5 runs to the over for most of the Innings. Pujara and Kohli once again dug in. Kohli got out for 81,Pujara got another century and scored 106. Rohit (63 n.o.) Rahane (34) and Pant (39) all chipped in and when Jadeja got out with the score reading 443, the Indians declared, having faced over 169 overs to do so across nearly 2 days.
People expected a similar reply from the Aussies but once again, the Indian bowlers had other ideas. They bowled to a plan and immaculately executed it. Bumrah was virtually unplayable picking up 6 wickets for only 33 runs. He got good support from the others and some impatient batting from the Aussies saw them bowled out for 151. The same pundits who said that this was going to be a placid pitch, were now all ‘amazed’ at the rate at which it had deteriorated.
India chose not to enforce the follow on, with enough time remaining in the match, and decided to give their bowlers a rest.
But their batting in the 2nd innings was not upto the mark and they soon declared when the score read 106/8. Agarwal top scoring with 42.
This time the Aussies were chasing 399 for a win. Many of the batters got starts but they showed an alarming lack of application to go on and get a telling score. Bumrah again was impressive picking up 3 wickets, as did Jadeja. The Australians were 176/7 soon. Cummins top scored with 61 and the innings finally wrapped up on 261, handing India a 137 run win and a 2-1 lead with one test to play. Bumrah was deservedly Man of the match for his 9 wickets. India had retained the Border Gavaskar trophy and there was confidence all around that they could win the final test and with it their first ever series in Australia. No other Indian team had come closer.
Historic Hurrah at Sydney
India once again won the toss and elected to bat first. With Rohit Sharma unavailable for the test match, KL Rahul was given another chance, but he failed to grab it, getting out cheaply. Agarwal was impressive again as he compiled a fluent 77. Pujara though once again was the man of the moment. Compiling a masterful 193, a resolute show of application and concentration. This score took his tally to 521 in the series. By this time the Australian attack which had bowled a lot of overs in the previous three tests too ( particularly in Melbourne) started wilting and the run scoring became easier for the Indians with Pant taking toll by scoring a 159 ( the first Indian keeper to score a century in Australia) of only 189 balls. Jadeja scored an 81 of just 114 balls as well as India put together a mammoth 622/7 declared. This virtually ensured that India would not lose the match.
The bowlers were once again impressive to dismiss the Aussies for 300 with Harris top scoring with 79 and Kuldeep Yadav ( replacing an injured Ishant) picking up 5 wickets. That the Aussies could not capitalize and score big runs on a batting track and in good batting conditions, brought their batting woes once again into the limelight. They just could not counter the Indian bowlers long enough throughout the series, making mistakes and showing a lack of application.
There was rain forecasted for the last 2 days and this prompted the Indians to enforce the follow on – it was the first time in 31 years that an Australian team was following on at home.
Rain prevented play for majority of day 4 and for all of day 5, thus stalling India’s march for another win. However, it also ensured that India had won the series 2-1. Their first time in 71 years of touring the country.
The win was hailed by all and sundry in the country. It was no mean feat and the coach Ravi Shartri called it India’s best ever series win and rated it a bigger achievement than the 1983 world cup win.
It has certainly broken down a barrier for the Indian team, a barrier that comes with not having succeeded in doing something for so long. There will hopefully be a belief going forward that ‘away’ wins are not such a big deal and can be achieved regularly.
Future wins, when they come, should be looked at in that perspective.
However, as an aside, for all those of you who feel that the absence of Smith and Warner made the difference, we can only say that the team can only play against what is put in front of them. This Indian bowling troubled the best South African and English batsmen when it toured there so there is no reason to believe they would have done the same to Warner and Smith too.
Finally, in 2003-04, India toured Australia with perhaps the best batting line up an Indian team ever had and a GOAT Spinner and Left arm pacer – they faced an Australian side sans Warne and Magrath (their best ever bowlers missing) and could still only manage to draw the series.
India were the better team, their bowlers out bowled their Australian counterparts and their batters out batted their counterparts. This was a deserved win, a historic win. We can only hope it sets the template for future tours the Indian team takes.
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