India scored a historic won against Australia today at the Gabba in Brisbane, considered a veritable fortress for the formidable Aussies. As one critic put it, though, the home team seemed anything but, as though they were writing an epitaph for their cricket.
India’s team was beset with as many as four injured A-listers, and captain Ajinkya Rahane had been standing in for new dad Virat Kohli. Match after test match, though, Rahane proved his worth as India went on to seal the four-match series 2:1. India’s victory in Australia will go down as one of the greatest series played, India’s coach Ravi Shastri said on Tuesday.
The scores were:
Australia 369 and 294
India 336 and 329/7
Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 89, Shubman Gill’s 91 and Cheteshwar Pujara’s 56 helped India reach the 328-run target to win the Brisbane Test and the Border-Gavaskar series. The highlights package of Pant’s battle with Nathan Lyon can be enjoyed repeatedly in times to come as he demolished the bowler in the company of Washington Sundar (22), who will go down in India’s cricket history as the debutant who dared to hook the world’s best fast bowler, Pat Cummins, for a six.
Imaginably, Virat Kohli and indeed the entire cricket-crazy nation were full of superlatives on the social media. The legendary Sachin Tendulkar reminded his fans how arduous the game actually was, as full of ball-hits as there were. Many enthusiasts said this was the best ever test win in their memory. Bollywood stars from Amitabh Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan, politicians of all affiliations, too, joined in the elated chorus.
Some reactions:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an avid tweeter, congratulated the team.