Reminiscing BGT 2020-21

How do you talk about what is possibly one of the greatest test series of all time? You start right at the beginning. The year was 2020. Covid had absolutely ransacked everyone’s plans. The Indian Senior Men’s cricket team was not spared. Instead of going to Australia after some solid preparation, the team went there after not having played test cricket for 10 months. And the last time they played? A horrible defeat in the two match test series against New Zealand.

The bad news did not stop there. Ishant Sharma, the most experienced fast bowler, was declared unavailable due to an injury he sustained during the IPL. Virat Kohli, the captain and one of the best batters in the team, would not be available after the first test as he was availing paternity leave. Rohit Sharma would not be able to play till the 3rd test. Given that the performance during the white ball games was rather average, were India really capable of repeating their stunts from 2018?

The series started with the Day-Night test match at Adelaide on the 17th of December. The anticipation was palpable as the Indian openers walked out to the middle. Two balls in and Aussie quick Mitchell Starc had taken the wicket of Prithvi Shaw. Not the start India hoped for. Despite Mayank Agarwal also not contributing much, the experienced Indian middle order was able to restructure the innings. Pujara stood firm while his partner Kohli scored. Everything seemed to be going India’s way till the vice-captain, Ajinkya Rahane, ran out the skipper. Soon after the entire batting line up crumbled and managed to put up only 244 on the board. Australia came out to bat early on Day 2. Though their line up did not feature star opener David Warner, they were still a formidable side. But the Indian bowling attack was asking all the right questions. Except for Marnus Labuschagne, who survived on luck, and the captain, Tim Paine, none of the other Aussie batters made an impact. They folded for less than 200 runs – a huge loss for them and a greater victory for India. If we had to put another 250 runs on board, we could have won that game. Alas, that was the start of India’s misfortunes. India started their innings late on Day 2, under the lights when the Australian bowlers looked menacing. Despite Pat Cummins claiming Prithvi Shaw’s wicket before stumps, India were not knee deep in trouble. Yet. Day 3 arrived and out strode Agarwal and Bumrah, ready to face the fiery pace attack. However, Josh Hazelwood had other ideas. Along with Cummins, he destroyed the Indian batting line up for a paltry 36 – India’s lowest total in tests. It didn’t matter how good their bowling attack was, India were not going to be able to defend 90 runs. With morale low and heads bowed lower, the Indian team took a beating that day. Fans lost hope. Let alone the series, would this side win at least one match?

Year after year, the MCG has hosted Australia’s Boxing Day Test Match. 2020 was no different. There were a couple of changes to the Indian side. Shubman Gill replaced Shaw after his shoddy performance, Mohammed Siraj came in for the injured Shami and Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja were added to increase the batting prowess of the team. This time, Australia batted first. Once again, the Indian bowlers showcased their flair and bowled the opposition out for under 200 runs. Now India came out to bat. Had they shaken off the nightmare from the previous test? Only time would tell. Gill showed promise with a really good debut performance of 45. But it was Rahane who stole the show with a century. Lady luck shone her good fortune and gifted hi with reprieves. Coupled with a plucky 57 from Jadeja, India were able to post a competitive 326 on board. With the Aussies managing only 200, India were able to secure a comfortable victory, once again on the back of the stand-in skipper, Rahane. This test was in stark contrast to the previous one. The Men in Blue had managed to dominate and show their mettle. It was the best possible reply to the events that unfolded at Adelaide. We breathed a sigh of relief. Two down, two more to go. Granted, India did win this test. But what did the new year have in store for us?

SCG’s annual New Year Test Match saw changes to both the sides. Warner was back for Australia and so was Rohit Sharma for India. Will Pucovski, the sensation of the domestic season, finally managed to rise against his injury concerns to make his debut. Navdeep Saini replaced the injured Umesh Yadav. The test started with Australia batting first. Despite Warner not finding his feet, his opening partner did put on a good show. With Labuschagne barely missing out on a century and Steve Smith scoring a well-deserved one, the Aussies seemed to be in a commanding position. Until they were not. Ravindra Jadeja’s 4 fer and his breath-taking direct hit to dismiss Smith served as a great counterattack. However, the damage was done. Australia had put up 338 on the board. Indian batters did not impress in their first innings. With only Gill and Pujara managing to score a half century, the team’s total was 244. Australia came out to bat again. Once again Smith and Labuschagne flaunted their dexterity while Cameron Green top scored with 84. They declared close to the end of Day 4, leaving India a target of 407 to chase. The openers did put up a good fight but a mammoth task was left for the rest of the batters on the last day. Now, this is where it begins, folks. Events so wonderful that you would bet your life that they were scripted. Day 5 dawned and the morning saw India lose a couple of early wickets. Out walked Rishabh Pant, the most criticised player in the squad, with a point to prove. And boy, did he prove his point. On a surface where most of the other batters relied on traditional cricketing shots, Pant played fearlessly and brought out every shot not described in a cricket textbook. The Aussie bowlers were in for a shock. On one end was Pujara, playing solid defence and on the other Pant, trying to hit every ball out of the park. Till the latter got out, India thought they would clinch victory from the jaws of defeat. Alas, Pant did get a tad bit too enthusiastic and gave away his wicket. The match was heating up, with all four outcomes still a possibility. But with the wicket of Pujara, the scales definitely tipped in Australia’s favour. Or did they? The next two batters were R Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari. Both of them were injured. The Aussies probably thought it would be a piece of cake. But more than skill, character was on display in Sydney that day. Despite not even being able to stand properly, both batters faced over a 100 balls each and wore the opposition down. From a morning where winning was a distant reality to a roller coaster of an afternoon and finally, the draw in the evening, it was the best match of the series. A popular saying is that the journey is better than the destination. Yes, India were extremely close to winning but that draw was magical because of the way we go there. When Paine decided to call it quits, cheers erupted from India. Three down, one to go.

Despite witnessing one of the best draws ever, waiting with anxiety and bated breath as every ball was released, the best part of that match was a sledge which wicketkeeper Paine threw at Ashwin, when the latter was batting. “I can’t wait to get you to the Gabba Ash I’ll tell you what, woo hoo,” Paine said from behind the stumps. This might have been something casually said to mentally wear down the opposition but it was the starting of something so grand that neither team would have envisioned it.

By the time, India landed in Brisbane, they were exhausted. They had battled three tough games and were battered and bruised. In a series fraught with tension, India kept losing many of their valuable players to injuries. None of their first-choice bowlers were available for the last test. In fact, Indian bowlers had 13 wickets between them while the Australians had 1033. K L Rahul who was set to play the last test instead of Vihari was also faced with injury. Australia were waiting at the Gabba, nursing their wounds, ready for payback. Can a team with only two experienced players make even a dent in that fortress? January 15th rolled around and Australia batted first, yet again. With Marnus Labuschagne finally scoring a hundred and Paine chipping with a fifty of his own, they scored 369 runs. India’s first innings was not hopeless but it lacked firepower. Or so was the case till Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar walked to the crease. It was two bowling all-rounders against arguably the best bowling attack in the world. And they took the game by storm. With a half century each and a hundred run stand to boot, they saved India’s batting line up from definite collapse and posted an extremely competitive 336. Australia came in for the third innings which was not quite as successful as the first, courtesy Siraj’s 5 fer and Thakur’s 4 fer. They put up 294 on board, giving India just one day to bat. Glenn McGrath, the fast-bowling legend, was of the opinion that Australia should have declared early and picked 10 wickets on a tricky Day 5 Gabba pitch. There is a meme that illustrates what exactly happened on the last day of that series. Even a well-set batter might get out to the flighty part-timer. He might have stood tall against the best bowler of the pack but this guy stumps him. Why? Because he underestimated the bowler. And that exactly was Australia’s gravest mistake. India were no longer a team that played conservatively. They were a side that wanted to win and were ready to go for the kill. With that mindset, the batters approached the last day. Despite Rohit Sharma falling early, Gill put on a show – arguably the best innings of his life. His 91 set the tone for the rest of the day. While he used the pull shot to counter the barrage of short balls coming his way, Pujara, on the other end was using his body as a shield. Though he got hurt numerous times and was under a fiery volley of bouncers throughout his innings, he never backed down. Soon enough, Pant joined him at the crease. India needed 161 runs. The wicketkeeper had walked into a literal do or die situation. If scenes from Sydney had haunted the Aussies, it was nothing compared to what happened at Brisbane. They threw everything they had in their artillery at the Indian batters but they took the fight right back to the Aussies. Pujara received blow after blow while Pant delivered one after the other. When the former’s wicket fell, India only needed a 100 runs and the latter was in full flow. Despite the new ball picking a couple of wickets, there was no doubt in the minds of fans which side was going to take the cup home. Finally, when Pant was on 85, he drove the ball past mid-off in a glorious straight drive that took India past the finish line. The ecstasy I felt in that moment is a memory at par with the 2011 World Cup winning six.

Even today, a year later, when I look back at that win, I am giddy with happiness and grinning from ear to ear. Till the last day, I wouldn’t have believed that India would win comprehensively. Nobody did. But now we know it will be etched in the pages of history. It will be a tale that is passed down from generation to generation. That victory was symbolic of the kind of test side India are. The kind that believes in themselves, the kind that fights back and the kind that never, ever gives up. Ever.