It is one of those matches where India will be proud of themselves when they look back after years as the team showed some character to take the match to a draw.
When Australia declared in the 2nd innings, all the three results were possible at that time. In fact, the momentum was with the home team as they had more than a day in their hands. It was certainly one of the biggest challenge for the Kohli-less India and the team stood up to the occasion and went to produce a brilliant draw, thanks to Vihari and Ashwin. The pair went on to bat for more than 250 deliveries to save the Test.
The pair joined hands on the fifth day when the team had lost two quick wickets, the wickets of the set batters- Pujara and Pant.
Pant was the first man to go after Rahane on day five. The stand-in captain lost his wicket early in the innings and Pant took the centre stage to entertain the crowd with some powerful hits. He got out for 97. Pujara, on the other hand, had the best seat of the match as he was enjoying the Pant show while keeping the scoreboard ticking in his own way. He made 77 before misjudging Hazlewood’s seam delivery.
When Pujara got out, it seemed like Australia were cruising, but Vihari and Ashwin had different ideas. Of course, they were lucky on multiple occasions too. Having said that, India would have gone for a win if not for Vihari’s injury. The all-rounder pulled his hamstring still stood tall for the team while Ashwin had multiple hits on the ribs but still, showed up for the team. In fact, Ravi Jadeja was ready to take the field with a broken finger. Such was team India today. Vihari ended with 23* from 161 deliveries while Ashwin had 39* from 128 deliveries.
Australian bowlers had a rough day in the field as nothing went their way right after the fall of three wickets on Day 5. Hazlewood and Lyon had two wickets each while Cummins had one in the innings.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma, who came back from the injury and was playing the first Test of the tournament provided the platform for the team during the chase. He made 52 runs before throwing his wicket away. He added 71-run partnership for the first wicket along with Shubman Gill, who made 31. India ended with 334 for 5 in their 2nd innings.
Australia began the Test with 338 runs on board in the first innings with Will Pucovski playing a beautiful innings on debut where he scored 62. He replaced underperforming Burns in the match and David Warner made his appearance for the first time in this series after recovering from a groin injury. He replaced Head in the match.
Australia then had their middle-order pair of Labuchagne and Smith coming good at the right time for them. Labuchagne fell 9 runs short of the target while Smith made 131 runs before getting out to Jadeja’s stunning run-out. Jadeja was also the leading wicket-taker for the team in the 1st innings with four scalps.
India then collapsed after a bright start in the 1st innings of the play. After half-centuries from Pujara and Gill, the team went on to lose quick wickets and made only 244. Cummins was the antagonist in India’s play as he grabbed four wickets.
In return, Australia declared at 312 for 6 setting up a target of 407 for India. Australia once again saw Labuchagne and Smith adding the vital runs. Both had half-centuries to their name. Later, the team witnessed brilliance from Green who got out for 84. Right after his dismissal, Australia went on to declare the innings.
On the whole, India certainly will be proud of the way they had batted on Day five. If not for the injury of Vihari, we might have seen a different result today. Nevertheless, it is one of the Test to remember for a long time to come. Also, the Test witnessed something that it shouldn’t be witnessing, racism. India’s Bumrah and Siraj were abused by a few fans at the stadium and they were removed from the field immediately after Siraj’s complaint. Well, the match will be remembered for this poor incident as well.
Before moving to the next Test, India will be looking to address their poor fielding performance where the team went on to drop multiple catches. These chances could have changed the game’s result as well. In the end, the series is still hanging in balance with one win apiece.
