Fairytale win

Brisbane 2021 should not be dismissed as a fluke but as an outcome of hard work and ambition to be global leader in the game

India’s triumph at Brisbane is the stuff that the fairy tales are made of; a bunch of raw and fearless young men fighting against all odds, humbling a mighty rival and emerging as heroes. The Test series-clinching victory in Australia will go down in cricket history as one of the greatest series ever played. What made the win special was that almost the entire mainline bowlers and batsmen were out of action because of injuries and the responsibility fell on a bunch of inexperienced players. And, they pulled off a miracle with the finesse that was a treat to cricket lovers. The sensational three-wicket win, chasing 328 on a crack-ridden, fourth innings pitch, ended Australia’s 32-year invincible record at Brisbane’s Gabba. The performance of young players like Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Siraj, Natarajan, Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar has come to define a generation of Indian cricket that is fearless, aggressive and gritty. The remarkable outing marks India’s finest hour in cricket and one of the greatest Test matches in the history of the game. The series win is truly historic because this time Australia had their full-strength team while India was bogged down by injuries with potential match winners being unavailable. Bowled out for just 36 in the first Test, the visitors roared back to win against all odds. Needing only a draw to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Indians boldly chased down an imposing target on a cracked last-day pitch to triumph by three wickets, with Rishabh Pant scoring the winning boundary.

Brisbane 2021 should not be dismissed as a fluke. It was the outcome of hard work, sustained planning and an ambition to be the global leader in the game. The fact that a largely raw talent, constituting a second-rung team, could produce such a remarkable victory is a testimony to the efforts of the young players and also strength of domestic cricket culture and the opportunities being provided by the IPL, which has encouraged millions of Indian youth to dream and aspire to become professional cricketers. For subcontinental teams, Australia, with its hard pitches, big grounds and world’s best fast bowlers carrying an aura of intimidation, offers the toughest challenge. And nothing amplifies this challenge more than the Gabba ground, where the pitch yields bounce and movement, and where the cracks lengthen as the match wears on, making the fast bowlers even deadlier; where Australia had not lost a Test since 1988, and India never won one. Despite being the toughest tour ever—prolonged quarantine, spate of injuries, racial taunts by spectators, suffering the humiliation of the lowest score in the first test—India scripted a timeless epic, lifting the nation’s mood in the gloomy times of the pandemic.

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