Border Gavaskar Trophy 2021 : " Key Life Lessons and Learnings from the Indian Cricket Team's Performance Down Under."

PART 1 - " THE SETBACK": Horrendorous Start For Team India

India were scheduled to play 4 Test Matches after their ODI and T20 Leg of the Australian Tour got underway with scores of 3-3 with Australia taking the ODI Series and India taking the T20 series, the longest format of the game was set to be a complete thriller with India bouncing back after their heavy defeat in the first two one day internationals and then winning the last game and taking the T20 series 2-1 with Aussies winning the last one, it was going to be an uphill task for Team India especially against this Australian Team comprising of superstars such like Marnus Labuschagne (who is considered as the next big thing for Australia after Steve Smith), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and the return of Steve Smith and David Warner after a year of banishment from international cricket as this looked to be an full strength Aussie team with all their bases covered while India too was not too far from behind, as they also have some of the world class batsmen and bowlers who are ruling the world cricket around the world currently with Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Jasprit Bumrah and not to forget Ishant and Shami in their ranks.

This was going to be a blockbuster series and an enthralling one as the Pink Ball Test Match got underway at the Adelaide Oval with India winning the toss and electing to bat first on the Day 1 of the first session's play, but little did they knew what was coming as they got off to a disastrous start with Prithvi Shaw getting bowled on a duck against the second delivery of the new ball from Mitchell Starc which set the tone for Prithvi Shaw as his outing was not at all staisfying as he only managed to score a meagre 20 odd runs in the two innings combined, they then lost Mayank Agarwal, a promising start but succumbed under the pressure and then the Aussies had a huge scalp in wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara, the highest run getter in the last edition of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19, also known for tiring out the fats bowlers and then scoring runs on the loose deliveries, but alas it was not going to happen this time as Pat Cummins bowled a "jaffa" of the delivery to get a thick outside edge only to be taken by the opposing skipper Tim Paine after dropping three chances of Pujara with Australian slip catching being the culprit here.

Then came the fight from the Indians with skipper Kohli and his Vice Captain Rahane managing to hold on and keep the Aussie attack on the bay which helped India to reach 107-3 on the verge of a tea break. Kohli was getting along nicely with his patient and gritty knock of 74 with Rahane taking the strike to see off the last session's play when he drove the ball to mid on for a single only to run Kohli out after Nathan Lyon whipped the bails off courtesy of a brilliant throw from Hazlewood after a huge chaos with the latter being the victim of poor coordination and communication from Rahane's end that brought to an end a very composed innings of Virat Kohli's 74 of 180 deliveries which gave India a sniff in this first encounter and ended the day's play at 233/6 at stumps with Vihari being the latest victim of Hazlewood.

The second day's play saw the fall of the seventh Indian wicket with no runs added to the overnight score when Ashwin was dismissed cheaply by Cummins on the third ball of the day's play. Saha too could not last for long as he slashed a wide delivery off Starc to Paine, which was taken comfortably, India were then bowled out for 244 in their first innings with Cummins and Starc claiming the last two wickets to put a last end to the nail in the coffin for the Indians. Australia like India started slowly and cautiously as they were up against Jasprit Bumrah, who started the proceedings but Yadav got the better of Burns with a beauty and soon Wade fell after a cautious start only to get a leg before against Jasprit Bumrah, what a start that was from India ! then came Marnus Labuschagne, the highest run getter in the last year's test format with a brilliant home series against Pakistan and New Zealand backing up with an excellent Ashes Campaign of 2019 and to accompany him was Steve Smit, the potential threat to India. As the fear was just becoming a reality, Smith and Labuschagne were rebuilding and looking to bat India out of this game. However Labuschagne rode his luck as he got away with three missed chances created by the Indian Seam Bowlers. India persisted with a tighter line and length to Smith and Labuschagne, which eventually paid off with Smith edging Ashwin to slip, only to get caught by Rahane.

What a wicket that was to get the informed wicket of Smith and the reactions from the Indian Fielders, bowlers and captain said it all as they knew that this wicket was going to bring India right back into the game but the real danger for them was Labuschagne. Head and Labuschagne got to them at 47/3 with Travis Head failing to get going and soon followed the much needed wicket of Marnus Labuschagne, who was dismissed for 43 which saw them reduced to 92/5 at tea. India surely had an upper hand and could sense a huge innings lead. Tim Paine and the Tail wagged which saw the score to 92/5 to 195 all out courtesy off Paine's knock of 73, giving India a lead of 49 runs.

The 3rd Day was an un auspicious one for Team India as the were reduced to 6/19 in the first hour of play, with the big three Pujara, Kohli and Rahane failing to even score in a double figure and the rest following the suit. They were undone by brilliant bowling of Hazlewood and Cummins, with latter picking up 5/8 and India getting dismissed for 36, their lowest score ever in the Indian Cricket History. The worse was going to come when Shami was injured by a rising Cummins delivery and ruled him out of the first test and Virat Kohli was going on a paternity leave left India to answer a lot of questions about their chances to win this series and even to qualify for the World Test Championship final was getting difficult for India. In a Remarkable Turnaround, Australia only had to chase 95 to take the first test, which they did with Burns hitting Umesh Yadav for a six to bring up his fifty and winning it by 8 wickets. Australia leads the series 1-0 up with three tests to play, India were completely " Down, Broken and Dusted" to make the matter even worse they were without their Skipper Virat Kohli and their best pace bowler Mohammad Shami.

PART 2 : " THE COMEBACK": Broken and Down But Never Short Of Character

Even before the second test had started, the Indian Team had to face a lot of criticism and backlash from former Legendary Australian and English Players like Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Shane Warne and Michael Vaughan, as none of them gave a chance for an Indian win and also went on to predict the series 4-0 in the favour of Australia, Some of them even wrote them off stating that India had no chance of even competing against Australia without their start batsmen Kohli after their abysmal outing in the first test. India barely had a chance with Kohli leaving for a paternity leave and Mohammad Shami getting an elbow injury, it was all going downhill for team India, all were against them but someone had to stand up, and that's what the Vice Captain, Ajinkya Rahane did when he was handed the captaincy in the absence of Kohli he had an added responsibility to handle a young Indian Outfit and at the same time make crucial contributions to the team's total as he was short of form and needed that confidence to bounce back.

Once again the luck went in favour of Australia as they won the toss elected to bat first on what looks to be a nice batting track, Rahane and his troops were ready to fight it out and though the luck was not in their favour India managed to reduce Australia for 8/1 with Burns being set packing for a 10 ball duck by Bumrah. Wade and Labuschagne got into the act of taking the innings further from slipping. Until the 13th over of Ashwin, Wade and Labuschagne were in total command, then Wade miscued and pulled shot only to be caught at mid off for well made 30, whereas Marnus Labusachgne continued his supreme form with the bat from where he left from and the wicket of Wade bought Steve Smith to the crease lasting for barely 8 balls, surprisingly he again gifted his wicket to Ashwin an dismissed him for the second time in 3 innings with Ashwin again getting the better of Steve Smith. A 86 run partnership was stitched between Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne before head was dismissed off Bumrah edging the moving ball to the slips. Indian bowlers again were proving too hot to handle by the Aussie batsmen as apart from Labuschagne no one played Bumrah or Ashwin better than him, thus top scoring with 48.

Rest all of them fell like a pack of cards and were eventually bowled out for 195, this being the second time that a home team has managed to score less than 200. India began on a poor note with Agarwal being dismissed for the sixth over of the first innings with 15 runs on the board by Starc. Which bought in India's new Batting Sensation Shubman Gill, who showed his batting prowess as he raced off to a counter attacking 45 off 65 deliveries and gave India a brilliant comeback, but then got dismissed which bought Pujara to the crease, after playing a patient knock of 70 deliveries he too lost his wicket with both the set batsmen getting out to Cummins. India were 90/3 at this stage after which India again lost a wicket in the form of Vihari, this time it was Lyon, which paved the way for the skipper Rahane and Pant to stabilize the middle order and paved their way to given India a chance to get closer to Australia's first innings. Pant did play a counter attacking knock of 29 off 42 balls but was eventually dismissed by Mitchel Starc trailing first innings total by just 6 runs.

But Rahane and Jadeja had other plans as they defied the Aussie attack and played it out sensibly. Rahane was as "calm as a cucumber" and his partner Jadeja was playing the supporting role. Rahane thus completed a brilliant century which will be counted for ages as he not only helped India out of the tricky situation but also gave them a chance of winning this historic test. Jadeja too completed his half century in style by swaying the attack to all parts of the MCG, as it is generally said, " Good things don't last so long", so did the innings of Rahane, but nevertheless it gave India the best chance to level the series and fulfill their redemption, after all it has been a remarkable comeback by the Indian Team and have shown their "power of steel". India were eventually bowled out for 326 giving them a lead of 131 runs. The second innings of Australia again started on a poor note as their batting woes continued to haunt them throughout the series, reason being the lack of runs from the Test No 1 Batsmen in the world Steve Smith as he yet again fell in the single digit score, but this time Green, Labuschagne, Pat Cummins and Tim Paine showed a positive intent but that was not enough as Green was the top scorer this time in his only debut match with Labuschagne being the second, Australia did manage to to put India into bat again but the lead was only 69, which meant that India had to make 70 runs to level the series. There were umpiring errors throughout the test match which meant, the decision against Tim Paine was held as controversial and the home side could only manage 200 runs on the board.

It was a great chance for India to level the series and throw away their inner demons of the last match, they were at one stage got reduced to 35/2 with Agarwal and Pujara being dismissed early against some high quality pace bowling by Cummins and Hazlewood. India went on to win the test match by 8 wickets as Ranane and Gill managed to hold on and made a lightwork of the target which ensured there was no hiccup at the end. India's win at the Boxing Day Test Match meant that the series was 1-1. Rahane whose brilliant contribution helped India put on a healthy first innings total was given the Mullagah Medal. Rahane and his boys have made it happen when no one expected it could, when all of them had a doubt about Rahane's Captaincy and his place in the team, he yet again with calm and composed mind went onto hand India a historic victory and also what the have managed to do successfully was to put away the demons of the last match after they got bowled out for 36. It was a win " Against All Odds". Rahane's captaincy in this match has truly shown us the way to progress in life despite the setbacks, failures and constant bogging by outsiders, the way he had managed to put all the noise, pressures and the demons and draw the series was truly what motivated me to do the same, especially during my MBA Preparation journey and also all of us in some point of time. This teaches us a life lesson of not "giving up" and standing up against all odds that are being put against as naysayers will always try to put you down but one must only believe in doing his hardwork and success will eventually get paid off with determination.

PART 3 : " THE FIGHTBACK": Test Of Determination, Patience and Resistance

The series was drawn 1-1 and coming into the Sydney Test India were high on confidence after their scintillating comeback against the home side after faltering to their lowest ever test total of 36. Ajinkya Rahane's Captaincy was lauded so was Mohammad Siraj's performance, as in his debut match at MCG he picked up 2 crucial wickets to give India the much needed morale boost from what was a debacle at the Adelaide Test, replacing the ace pacer Mohammed Shami he had impressed all of us and showed the courage, determination and passion for the game despite loosing his father a month or so. It was never going to be easy for the pacer as he had been completely broken down but despite that he got his backing from the former skipper Rahane and all the Indian teammates, that motivated him to step his game up at the crucial juncture.

The series was evenly poised but India unluckily suffered another setback in the form of Umesh Yadav, as he too suffered a groin injury and was ruled out for the rest of the series. It was a huge blow to team India, Navdeep Saini replaced him and for Aussies their star opener David Warner returned back from the injury, he suffered in the second one day internationals with Will Pucovski making his debut, there was something for India to cheer when they got to know that Rohit Sharma was being deemed fit to lay the third test. The toss again went in favour of the home side as they decided to bat first and as a result the openers played the bowlers cautiously with the debutant scoring his maiden international half century after loosing David Warner cheaply and went on to make 62 runs before getting leg before against a rising delivery from Navdeep Saini. The wicket of the debutant meant that, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were at the crease to see them through as they made a staunch improvement from losing 3 wickets in just 50 runs to loosing 2 wickets for 80. Labuschagne was having a series of his life as he was the only batsmen to score in the 40's and 50's, but was not able to convert, while his partner in crime Steve Smith was having a nightmare as he got out to Ashwin twice and could not dictate his term as usually does against other opposition. It was said that. " Ashwin has got a wood over Smith" but he was ready to prove his naysayers wrong, and surprisingly he was actually dictating terms against Ashwin by stepping out of the crease and lofting him over his head, he also used his sweep shots to his good effect and went onto support Marnus in what was proving to be a dominating first and second half session for Australia, as they put 130 runs for the third wicket and continued to frustrate the Indian bowlers.

Australia had reached 210/2 before rain played the spoilsport, but Australia were considered ahead in most of the sessions, Labuschagne was at 50?while Steve Smith was playing at 40 when they were cruising along. but suddenly after the rain stopped Labuschagne's long innings came to an end at 91 after getting caught at slip by Rahane off Jadeja's bowling. Smith continued his merry form as he rode his way to 27th Century in Test Cricket but he got little support from other players as Green, Cummins and Lyon were dismissed in quick succession, while managing to score a century he was eventually run out for his masterclass innings of 131 after a brilliant throw from Jadeja. which meant Australia were bowled out for 338 in their first innings, it was a brilliant comeback by team India after what was looking to be a score of 450-500.?India came with a positive intent with Gill and Rohit playing without any fear and putting on 70 runs for the opening wicket, after the latter being caught and bowled by Josh Hazlewood for 26 in the 27th over. Gill managed to score his maiden international half century and Pujara too chipped in with some valuable contribution of his 50 runs from 176 balls. Gill fell shortly after making a 50 and Rahane and Pujara were in complete control of the innings which saw India ending at 96/2 from 45 overs, at stumps.

Rahane then soon fell for 22 of 70 deliveries while Pujara anchored the innings before he was caught behind on the bowling of Pat Cummins, to decieve him with slower and bouncy deliveries before getting his wicket. Pant, Ashwin and Vihari could not withstand longer and India after being at 142/3 ended up getting 244, which meant that the home side had a lead of 94 runs. Indian tail could not last long and were warming for what was going to be a gruelling day for the Indian bowlers, as Warner with positive intent scored some heavy runs for the team after the dismissal of Pucovski earlier and to accompany him was Marnus Labuschagne. The lead was only getting bigger and bigger before Ashwin trapped him in front of stumps for a patient 13 runs with as many deliveries he faced. Marnus once again raced away with a half century with Steve Smith on 29 not out to give them a lead of 197 runs. Labuschagne was making the major bulk of runs as he raced away with 73 of 106 deliveries, to be dismissed by Saini, as he missed out on yet another century while his partner Smith began to find his touch he was looking after as he raced away to a quick fire 81 and there were contributions from Cameroon Green and Tim Paine with 84 and 39 not out respectively taking Australia to a lead of 416 runs.

It was a Day 5 track and one would expect that the pitch could detoriate and make it tough for the batsmen to survive while the team had to face racial abuse from the crowds, Mohammad Siraj and Bumrah being the victim while the issue was sort out immediately, the Australian Team also did not back away from using their?age old technique of sledging and playing mind games on the opposition which eventually led to the downfall of the opposing team, but Rohit Sharma and Gill had other plans as they responded to those sledges in a courageous manner and survived the first hour of play against the like of Halewood, Cummins and Starc. As Cummins claimed the wicket of Rohit in the 33rd over and Gill trying to up the ante fell for a beauty from Hazlewood. India survived the play then with no other wicket to fall other than the openers as Rahane and Pujara sailed them through as India finished with 98/2 at the stumps on the 4th day. The real challenge for the Indians now was to hold on and manage atleast a draw with Day 5 approaching nearby.

But that was not to be as Rahane lost his wicket to Nathan Lyon off Paine, which bought Rishabh Pant to the crease. " The combination of ice and fire".?India had an uphill task but Pant was going to play to his natural instinct like always and swayed the attack to all part of the SCG while Pujara on the other hand was playing the game of survival, but the story does not end over here as Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc employed the infamous and dangerous " Bodyline Bowling Technique" to get the better of Pujara, in the process he got struck on his helmet, chest, back and on his gloves, the aussies were not sparing any body part of Pujara, but he bravely tackled all the blows and did not give his wicket away, while Pant was in his dashing mode and as if India were going to chase the target down while the way he was batting, but as it was unfortunately Pant fell to a trap set up Nathan Lyon and fell short of 4 runs to get to a brilliant counter attacking 97 runs. Then came the real steel from the Indians as Ashwin and Vihari saw them through with 39 off 128 balls and 23 from 161 deliveries, that too with Ashwin suffering from a backache with Vihari being pelted with bodyblows saw India end the Day 5 on 334/5, meant that the test match was as good as won by the Indians as they had survived the onslaught by the Australian Bowlers. It was an icing to the cake with this draw was nothing other than a win. The Indian Team especially Pujara, Pant, Ashwin and Vihari were the heroes that emerged in this test as they batted out valiantly, has been the feature of the Indian Team. " Broken, Abused, Down but never short of character ".?With the absence of Kohli, Jadaeja, Shami and Bumrah, India found new hereos in each session.

PART 4 : "CONQUEST OF AUSTRALIAN FORTRESS" : The "Gabbatoir"

Going into the 4th Test India were facing multiple injuries with Jadeja, Shami,Bumrah, Ashwin being ruled out while Kohli missed the rest of the three test matches due to Paternity leave and Ishant ruled out before the test series even started, India were struggling to make their best playing eleven into the fourth test and to the worse the team was isolated due to strict bio bubble restrictions in Brisbane, even though the cases were under control while the Indian Cricket Management decided to pull of the tour in between as it was proving difficult for the players to isolate in as strict as bio bubble as this, to top it up the Aussie Media, former and current players lashed out on India while the Captain had already started to play his mind games even before the 4th test started as he provoked Ashwin to beat him at the GABBA, a venue where they have not been defeated by any team since 1988 for 32 years and have a proud record at this venue.

The Venue was as similar as the "WACA" which was an another successful venue for Australia where visiting teams often struggled to even draw a match and no team had won over there, reason being the bounce, pace and swinging pitches which they offer brought the downfall of the opposition. History reckoned that there was only 1 team that was going to put an end to their proud home record , and that was going to be India, Remember the 2008 WACA Test where India where the only team to defeat Australia at WACA thereby ending their 16 consecutive test match wins after the SCG controversy or their historic win at the Kolkata Test in 2001 as a result stopping them form 17 consecutive test wins, but the real question was can the current crop of players do the inevitable with so many young bloods in the team with half of their players as net bowlers and only two of them have a first class experience with no previous instance of even playing for India A Team, the combined wickets of India comprising of net bowlers were just about 13 as compared to 1000 international wickets of the pace trio of Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon ? They were short of experience and also were considered a " B - Team" .

But this Indian Team has surprised a lot of us in this series and have time and again shown their character and resillience on the field who believed that they can take on against best of players in the world and beat them in their own den. So the 4th test was about to start with Australia winning the toss and choosing to bat again, for them Marcus Harris replaced Will Pucovski, who was injured in a net session before the 4th test starts. David Warner was retained in the side and for India Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar and Natarajan making their debuts in this match. The opening pair of Marcus Harris and David Warner made their way while Mohammad Siraj started the proceedings for India, the start was not what Australia was hoping for as what was known as a B String Indian Bowling Lineup dismissed Warner and Harris which did not deter to their reputation.

The reliable pair of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne again pulled out Australia out of the trouble as they both had a terrific partnership with both looking determined and set for a huge score, but surprisingly Sundar who came in as a net bowler came out as a surprise package for Smith lofted him uppishly just to find the mid on fielder taking the catch, thus ending his dtermined innings while Labuschagne continued in his merry form to put on a batting masterclass to score the only the third century of the border gavaskar series. As the home team reached 274 for 5 with the end of day's play. India's injury woes did not end as another casualty in the form of Saini, gotta be kidding me ! another setback for team India, but they fought hard on the second day as they got the middle order in the form of Cam Green, Head and Matthew Wade, but Tim Paine with the help of the tail reached to 369 runs. In reply India lost Gill early as he edged a Pat Cummins delivery to Tim Paine, proving to be a powerhorse for the team. Rohit and Pujara steadied the innings for India as they reached to 50/1 at the end of the first session. Lyon who was playing his 100th Test Match dismissed Rohit Sharma, who paid the price for playing an attacking shot against him on a flighted delivery, which bought Rahane to the crease as rain wiped out the remaining session India could only manage 62/2 at the end of day's play.

The 3rd day at the GABBA paved way for the players to resume the day's play that saw Rahane and Pujara seeing off the Cummins and Hazlewood threat by safely negotiating the deliveries. only to be dismissed by Hazlewood, Rahane lost his defences and gave his wicket away while Mayank Agarwal departed for the very next ball by Cummins and Pant fell thereafter reducing India to 186/6 and landing them into big trouble. Then came the miracle of Washington and Thakur who were playing at an international level for the first time and was their 1st tour to Australia played with utmost maturity and kept the aussie bowlers at the bay. They than took almost every bowler to the cleaners and even Cummins and Hazlewood lost their line and lenghts against the way the two youngsters were batting, the highlight being the six off Lyon by Sundar with his heads down. Sundar and Thakur stitched an unbeaten 123 run partnership which saw them out of the trouble and yet again India found out a new hero in each of the sessions as even the absence of Jadeja, Ashwin, Vihari and Kohli were not being felt in this match, shows the bench strength of the Indian team as everyone stepped out when it was needed. As a result India were bowled out for 336 with Hazlewood picking his 5 wicket haul, giving the home team a lead of 63 runs which looked to be much more than this, had Sundar and Thakur not played those blinders.

Australians wasted no time and started to play aggressively as Warner in the last test match of the series finally got going along with his non striker Harris, who stitched an 89 run partnership for the first wicket to take the lead to 142 runs before the lunch as the man of the moment Sundar turned the match on his head by picking the in form Warner for a leg before wicket while Harris perished soon to Siraj, bringing Smith and Labuschagne at the crease. Siraj bowled his heart out in this innings as he bowled tight line and lengths to Smith and Labuschagne that eventually paid off when Labuschagne played it to the leg side only to be caught by the backward gully region. Smith and Green consolidated the platform laid by Harris and Warner as Australia reached 142/4 at lunch but soon stretched the score past 250 with the lead well beyond 300 runs. Siraj was again the pick of the bowlers as he took the price scalp of the dangerous and in form Steve Smith for 55 runs with a surprisingly short pitched delivery.

Green, Paine and Cummins batted the session out as Australia went past 250 yet again in the fourth innings gaining a lead of 320. Aussies were eventually bowled out for 294 as Mohammad Siraj helped India claw back into this game with a maiden 5-wicket haul in an international test cricket level ending with career best figures of 5/73 runs. India were set a target of 329 runs with 10 overs remaining in the day's play with pitch certainly not an easy one to bat on. In reply India ended the day's play at 4/0 to survive the toughest spell of fast bowling on the fastest cricket pitch in the world. The test match was evenly poised and with a blockbuster last day's play at GABBA, as India were on verge of achieve something which no teams have achieved it in the past two decades at the fortress, but for that to happen India has to bat out of their skins to draw this match, let alone winning this. All of a sudden India were in tatters as Rohit was sent packing early by the ever dependable Pat Cummins on the beginning of the last day's play, but Gill came out all guns blazing as he was in total control of the test and with fearless and confident approach took even the best of the bowlers for a shot as he did not shy away from pulling, hooking and driving the potent pace attack as he went on to score a career best 91, only to be dismissed by Cummins again, which bought Pujara and Rahane together, as the defying start continued and Pujara like the Sydney Test recieved some hostile spell of bowling from Cummins and Hazlewood but continued to take those blows and not give his wicket away, thus tiring them along as Pujara played like a Pujara, but on the other hand the skipper played an counter attacking knock off 22 balls for his 25 runs which propelled India to 183/3 needing another 146 runs off 37 overs.

Then came the "Pant Magic" as he was like playing on a different wicket took no liking to any of the bowlers sparing no one in the process, imagine a bowler playing his 100th test match, chipped down the track and belted him out of the park for most of the time. While Pujara continued to tire the Australian Bowlers, the score went onto 245/4 until Cummins finally able to breach the defences of Pujara, who ends up playing all around it, paved the way for Mayank Agarwal but could not last for long as he gave his wicket away and India were reeling at 265/6 needing further 65 more runs to win with 20 overs still to go and Pant was still on strike. It was certain that as long as Pant is there India still has a chance to chase this down, but he ran out of partners, even Sundar could not get going and fell soon afterwards after playing yet another courageous innings while Thakur supported Pant in the chase. As India lost the 7th wicket, Rishabh Pant took it on himself and went for the kill to reverse scooped Lyon and also drove Hazlewood and Starc showing his audacity and fearlessness. Such was his batting prowess that he made 329 runs look a small one and as billions of fans hoped and prayed, India further needed just 3 runs and 8 balls were left, he drove the Hazlewood delivery down the ground and as the players, coaches, and fans sat on the edge of the seat with fingers crossed and heart beat getting pumped up the ball races away to the fence, which bought in jubiliation, excitement and joy in the dressing room and hence at last the Australian Fortress " The GABBA" was breached on a "Historic Test Match" dated on 19th January 2021 and hence India took the series 2-1 for the second succesive season. India turned it around and in some style when they were been written off and in worse adversities, this win was as huge as a World Cup win for Team India.

Sundar, Thakur and Pant proved to be the new and emerging heroes in this test match and not to forget the valiant and courageous stand between Vihari and Ashwin to save the third test to Rahane's brilliance at Melbourne bringing India back into the series after the Adelaide debacle. This series was nothing less than a fairytale for India with a win for the ages. Such was the level of test match played by the two nations, bought praises from players to politicians to actors all around the globe. The Indian team was a "B- Team" , but certainly not a second string team but the best team that beleived to take on the best in the world, no one believed in them but most importantly they believed in themselves, which is what we as an individual need to learn from the Indian Team's Performance.?