Debarshi Dey
I would not like this piece of writing to be called a ‘cricket essay’, although I fear this is what it is, actually. Nevertheless, I had thought of jotting down in words, the emotions that I and most of my countrymen (and women, of course) were brimming with after the recent victory of the Indian cricket team Down under [Down under is a way of referring to Australia and also sometimes New-Zealand, in the informal language]. But, I never got down to do it. A few days back, after a chance encounter with Mir Niazi’s Humesha der kar deta hu main, I realized how relatable that was to so many things in life, including writing of this ‘essay’ and decided to finally start writing this.
My first memory of a series Down under was India’s tour of Australia back in 2003-2004. I was 9 years old then and already bitten by the bug of cricket. Those were the times when waking up at 5 o’clock in the morning was not a big deal and being served with cricket right after you open your eyes! What more could one ask for! Parents would also not object much to switching on the TV at 5 o’clock in the morning which would otherwise be considered sacrilege! Our FIRST EVER TEST SERIES WIN DOWN UNDER (2014-2015), will not talked about as much as this one, because the scale of the odds determines the glory of the victory. Against an Aussie team possibly with the best pace bowling line up, we would have our best batsmen (Kohli) for only one match. Ishant Sharma, had already been ruled out due to injury. So, even before the series began, we were dealt with two big blows. As we would discover later, that was only the tip of the iceberg.
First match. Adelaide. Pink ball. A black horse making his debut (Prithvi Shaw). That is what you call a blockbuster opening. And what happened? Going into bat in the second innings with a lead of 50+ runs, we get bowled out for 36-our lowest ever test score. Everything happened so quickly that most of us could not even react. We knicked everything and they caught everything. We went from being in an advantageous situation to actually losing the match in a single session. Then came the realization that we would have to play another three test matches without Kohli and coupled with this 36-all-out performance, the scenes of what could happen were scary.
Starc had broken Shami’s hand (in the 1st test), so we had another debutant-Mohammed Siraj. Shaw was replaced by another debutant-Shubhman Gill. Ajinkya Rahane was to lead the side. A stark opposite of the regular skipper, he was not a man of much words or emotional outbursts, but someone who exhibited a steely and resolute calmness. History suggested that the biggest thorn for the Indian bowlers in the Australian batting line up was going to be Steve Smith. One remembers how he simply batted and batted and batted the last time we went to Australia. Ravichandran Ashwin had got him out cheaply in the first test with a very crafty delivery. An aberration, surely! This was one of the battles to watch out for. Anyway, we put up a spirited bowling performance. The leader of the pack- Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers. And how many did Smith score? Zero. Who got him? Ashwin again. Champion stuff. The debutant Siraj picked up two crucial wickets and impressed everyone with his energy. Australia were bundled out for 195. India were to bat and I was scared, the wounds were fresh. It felt as if the horror would be repeated when Starc clean bowled Mayank Aggarwal in the first over. But, we held on. As they say, spine grows best in a back that is against the wall. The debutant Gill scored 45 very pleasing runs. Extremely comfortable against the short deliveries, good timing and most importantly-seemed unrushed. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and boy the skipper came in style. With one of the most important hundreds of his career, Rahane put us significantly ahead in the game at the halfway mark (130 run lead). As it turned out, we put up an outstanding bowling performance yet again, bundling them out for 200. Smith scored 8, bowled by Bumrah. Mo’ Siraj was the pick of the bowlers. How’s that for a debut? The Gods have finally looked at us, I thought. India needed 70 runs to win the second test and draw level. What could possibly go wrong? Well, we were 16-1 and then 19-2 and the horror filled memories began coming back. Surely, not again. Thankfully, not. Gill and Rahane saw us through and one of the finest away comebacks was scripted. Without our best batsman, without the best bowlers, this was an achievement to take pride in.
Halfway through the series and nothing to separate the two teams with both the tests being nothing short of dramatic. What more could one ask for? Well, a lot more! Third test. Sydney. Two more changes. Umesh Yadav (injured) Navdeep Saini and Mayank Aggarwal
Rohit Sharma. Keeping count of the debutants and injuries? There was talk already that this had become a second string Indian team and frankly speaking most of us would have been happy just to see this team put up a good fight.
When you travel to Australia, the game begins much before the players set foot on the pitch. It is easy to forget what goes on behind the scenes, especially after such an exhilarating series, but to get the full picture, one must not overlook the off-the-field incidents. The Indian team were parked in Dubai due to the IPL and flew directly to Sydney (venue for the white ball games) where they had to undergo a 14 day isolation, due to COVID 19. 7 members of the squad had brought their families along to Dubai and were all set to travel to Australia. 48 hours before departure, the Australian authorities communicate to the Indian team that families won’t be allowed due to COVID restrictions. This was simply Australia being Australia. Finally, Ravi Shastri put his foot down and made it clear that the Indian team won’t be travelling to Australia if the families weren’t allowed. It worked. The permissions were obtained within 48 hours.
Cricket is indeed a team game but bowlers win you test matches. India has never really been known for its pace attack but the times, they are a changin’. Australia were bowled out for 338 in what looked like a 500 run 1st innings surface, courtesy some top class bowling, fielding and catching, at the centre of which, was Ravindra Jadeja. India conceded a 94 run lead at the halfway mark, with Starc breaking Jadeja’s finger in the process! A 3-D blow. So, the game was this. 309 to get for India on the final day with 8 wickets in hand. In only the second over, Rahane got out. There was plenty of rough for Nathan Lyon to exploit and only two results were conceivable- An Australia victory (likely) or a draw (unlikely). But then there was Pujara. Final day, variable bounce and turn, Cummins bowling like an absolute champion…Pujara took 10-11 body blows, braved it all and stood still. Pant had a lousy test match with the gloves, missing catches which proved costly. He defended the first 30-35 balls and then went absolutely berserk! Australia and India both didn’t know what hit them! Everytime he stepped out, a billion hearts skipped a beat. Pant batted as if there was no tomorrow and just a boundary away from a century, held out to Nathan Lyon, bringing to an end a 148 run partnership. He made 97 of the most fearless, roller-coaster test runs you will ever see. There was an enviable freedom and fearlessness on display. He lived by the sword and died by it. All his follies behind the stumps were forgotten. A star was born, regardless of the outcome of the match. Australia breathed again. In came Hanuma Vihari. Pujara was finally bowled by Hazelwood. He had scored 77 runs but more importantly, ate up 205 deliveries. That’s 34 overs! With Pujara, India’s resistance also seemed to end. On top of that, Vihari had teared his hamstring while taking a quick single but he decided to carry on. Ashwin came in suffering a bad back, so bad that he could not get down to tie his shoe-laces. Two wounded soldiers were now at the crease, trying to hold fort as we watched with bated breath and nervous resignation, every ball of those 42 overs that they negotiated. Yes, with virtually one leg and no back, they survived 42 overs against the best pace bowling line up and a very experienced off break bowler on the final day of a test match. India saved the game. It was a draw, a draw that pumped as much confidence as very few victories could. This was already stuff of legends and it was not over yet.
It was unbelievable that the series was still poised at 1-1. This came at a cost of losing 4 more players to injuries. By now, you would be forgiven for not remembering how many players we had to replace. Ashwin, Jadeja, Bumrah and Vihari were out and were replaced by DEBUTANTS Washington Sundar, T. Natarajan, Shardul Thakur (1 test old) along with Mayank Aggarwal. Think about making an unplanned test debut gainst Australia, in Australia in the final test of a series that hung in the balance at a venue in which the Aussies last lost a test in 1988. Yes. Australia were undefeated at the Gabba for 33 years at the time this test was taking place. The emotions, you would think, would almost be overwhelming. But not this team, not these debutants. They seemed to be made of something different, something which allowed them to face the fiercest of situations with an attitude that said ’bring it on’. To put things in perspective the total test experience of our entire bowling line up was 4 matches. With these unbelievable numbers and impossible odds, we took the field at Brisbane.
The defining quality of this team in this series was that it took all that the opposition threw at them and kept swimming against the tide. If ever there was a team effort, this was that. Newbies, oldies, batsmen, bowlers..somebody or the other always came to the rescue! And it was the same in the 4th test. Shardul and Sundar got together with India at 186/6, still trailing by 193 runs. The game was almost over but then they put up an unbelievable 123 run stand. Reminder: Washimgton Sundar is 21. In the Aussie second innings, each time there was a partnership and nothing seemed to be happening, Shardul took the ball and somehow produced a breakthrough. Not once, but thrice. Only in his 3rd test, Mo’ Siraj went on to take a fifer.
95 overs. 10 wickets. 324 to get on the final day against the best bowling attack in a ground where they have been invincible for more than 3 decades without your best (and 3 other first choice) batsman. Yes. That just about sums it up. But this was “New India”. While I was thinking of surviving the day and safely retaining the trophy, the ’boys’ were looking to get their names etched in history books. The greater the odds, the grander the victory. And this was the grandest. A scintillating 91 from Shubhman Gill. A browsed and battered Pujara holding fort like his life depended on it. And another magical innings by Pant. It was like witnessing a symphony. There was a point in the game where I felt ’old’, I felt the shifting of the mindset of a generation taking place right before my eyes. There was no fear of loss, there was just a pursuit of greatness and glory. At a crucial time when Sundar walked out to bat and straightaway hooked Pat cummins for a six, I let go. I told myself there is no point wanting these guys to “first avoid the loss” simply because they were operating from a different mental plane- a superior plane. And hence, I did not scream my lungs out when Sundar got out trying to play a reverse sweep. I undertood that greatness requires you to tread that fine line on the wrong side of which is madness, callousness. But that is a risk this team was willing to take and me as a fan simply had to come to terms with it. As Rishabh Pant hit the last scoring shot (a boundary), there was realization along with disbelief, realization that the fortress Gabba had been breached and that this might be the beginning of the era of Indian dominance on those 22 yards.
The author is a research scholar at Department of Physics, IIT Roorkee