Indian cricket would have given so many scripts for Grimm brothers that their fairy tale series would’ve had so many moments that would’ve made that blood pumping organ, break into pieces many times, miss a beat on million occasions and jump with joy at times when everyone think of an otherwise result. The miracle at Gabba - would be an apt name I guess for the last match in the Border-Gavaskar series (2020-21). If at all there was a David vs Goliath parlance in test cricket, this would’ve been it. Your top pacer and top spinner are out. 4 of your batsmen were never part of the original team list. The main pacer who was included as the best fit for the pitch, limps off with just 7 overs, with the rest of the bowling squad having a sum total of test match experience which will leave couple of fingers vacant and still be counted in one hand. The wicketkeeper was carrying an injury from previous match and even fit, his catching skills were borderline lucky. This is a team you’ve to marshal in on a pitch where the opponents have never lost in 3 decades!!! Guess if there is a contest for winning a bad hand, Rahane would’ve won it magna cum laude!! To top it all, they lost the toss!! Not that it would’ve made much difference, but at least they could’ve stretched the bowling miles on the tired legs of their opponents. That was also not to be done. They gifted catches to a person who went on to score a century and rubbed it all in. Being written off is one thing. But the Indian supporters wouldn’t have been mistaken had they all queued up to advance book their refund for tickets from day 3 onwards. The second day showed some glimpse with this novice team claiming all 10 wickets and not allowing the Aussies to run away all over them. The batters led by Pujara showed true grit. They took it on their chin (literally) and on their bodies to come as close to the Aussie total. Yet they fell short by 30 runs, all thanks to the heroic efforts from the least recognized pair to shore the score up. Then came the real scene, where in the same novice team, knocked the famed Aussies out again for a score less than 300. No one, I would bet and say not a single sane person, would’ve bet on these bowlers taking 20 wickets. When it came to last innings bat, everyone would’ve thought rain might’ve saved the blushes for India on day 4 and wouldn’t have been ridiculed for watching the sky more than the score. But one young guy had other plans and like a fish on water (having a name called gill doesn’t count though) he took to the task of seeing the team home. Much like his famed senior (Sehwag) he thrashed around the now tiring bowlers and fell short of a deserved 100. The panic was slowly beginning to set, but with this new wall called Pujara, one thing was sure certain. My Wicket over My dead body was the ironclad will with which he took so many blows after blows on his body to grind the already tired bowling to dust. With their lead spinner being made ineffective on a weirdly good batting pitch for day 5, the score line was still looking like heading for a draw. With 55 needed for last 11, no one would’ve still dreamt of a win but for a more assured result of a draw, barring a batting collapse. But that 2 bit wicketkeeper had other plans and even the commentator was thinking it was a single getting converted into 2, when the ball crossed the boundary and the fortress was breached. India had always been that thorn which have stopped many an Aussie Juggernaut, they’ve rubbed it off this time with a team that no one, not even their own, believed to have pulled it off. This would hurt them the most that they lost to a bunch of kids, but what a morale booster it would’ve been for those kids, whose backgrounds and the sacrifices they made and their parents as well, to reach this stage and perform at the top most level, coming up trumps too!! Well. Fairy tales of sports are often made of sweat and blood. This one surely has the right kind of writing with the right kind of result as well to go with it.
Kudos team. Thanks for making this day memorable.
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