The Beauty Of Test Cricket!

 

Test Cricket is dead they said. Reduce test matches to 4 days they said. If anything, all these things were just proved wrong after what we witnessed by the Indian Cricket Team in Australia. Back to back test matches that were played the entirety of their 5 days and then it all came down to the final hour of the final day of the test series, an epic decider. India was down under! After the first Test 36 all out disaster and captain Kohli leaving the side right after the biggest batting disaster in Indian Cricket history made it look like it was done for the Indians. Their own people were ready to write them off and had made their mind that India will have a disaster of a test series. Veteran cricketers like Michael Vaughan were sure that India was not going to recover from the Adelaide disaster. He predicted that India will loose this series 4-0, a complete white wash and even the Indian fans believed that the Indian team was done for and that there was no coming back. And I don't blame them. Indian had a disaster first test, their moral was broken, their captain ditched them and went home between the disaster(to be honest, birth of a child is an important moment so I don't blame him), all their main players were injured,etc. But then happened the greatest comeback in history of cricket. Never have I ever seen a team getting all out in double figures and then go on to chase 328 on the 5th day of the final test which is also a decider and that too at The Gabba, the so called 'fortress' of Australian Cricket where they have not lost a match since 1988. That is 33 years!

First we have to give credit Ajinkya Rahane because he had to do a very tough job of captaining a team that was completely broken and shattered. He somehow and someway managed to pick the team up and somehow managed to do the impossible and won the 2nd test match at Melbourne. His own batting heroics played a big part but when you look at the score card, it was a team effort and an united effort. Almost everyone made runs and all the bowlers took wickets at important intervals stopping Australia from scoring a huge score. It showed us that no matter what, the Indians are united.

Then came the 3rd test at Sydney where we saw a different side of the Indians. They showed the signs of resilience against the top bowling attack in the world. They were in a tough situation in this test having bowled out at 244 in the first innings then having to bat last on Day 5 chasing a huge 300 plus total. It looked bad but what India did in that match shocked the world! It was a hard match for India because it was the match everyone got injured. All the the main bowlers of the side were out for the count, they had lost wickets and it seemed like it was a lost chance but then came Pujara and Rishab Pant. Pujara is the type of Batsmen that keeps on batting and batting until the bowlers die. He showed his importance of standing still like a wall scoring 77 of 205. Yes 205 balls!!! And Rishab was in the zone. He almost took Indians to a victory before falling for 97 and then Pujara went soon too and it looked like India was done for sure now. But then we saw the magic of Vihari and Ashwin. It seemed like they came with the mindset that they were gonna make sure that the Australian bowlers die before they get a wicket. They batted and batted and batted and the time kept on going away from the Australians. They batted 4 hours non stop taking hits and getting hurt. They were injured, their body ripped apart and Vihari had a torn hamstring! He could not even walk properly but both of them kept batting non stop pulled a miracle draw and you could see how frustrated were the Aussie bowlers. Of course it is frustrating to not get a wicket in two sessions while time is against you. They played a combined of 289 balls for 4 hours and saved the match! That was like a proper tribute to Rahul Dravid on his birthday because it seemed like Dravid's spirit had possessed them.

It all came down to the final Test. A team that has most of their experienced players out and even debutants playing! Siraj who just debuted 2 matches ago is now suddenly leading the bowling attack and the worst thing, its Brisbane and the Fortress of Gabba that they have to conquer! Australia a full powered team vs an Indian team that literally only has children playing expect Rahane, Pujara and Rohit. Rohit did not even perform, and there is not even a single experienced bowler in the squad and still against all odds, India won and conquered the Gabba streak. And it had many heroes and all are just children playing their 1st or 2nd match. They have zero experience and here they are playing as if they have played a 100 test matches before. Australia again failing to wrap up India quickly as the lower order players Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur played amazing innings of 62 and 67 each adding valuable runs to the Indian scoreboard and then young Siraj taking 5 wickets in the third innings. But still it looked very difficult for India because they had to score 328 on a 5th day deteriorating pitch and it came down to the wire, the final hour of the match but the combined efforts of a resilient Pujara, aggressive Rahane,Gill,Sundar and watchful Pant took India home to an historic win. And the heroes of the match are all kids.

If One Month ago you told me that India is gonna win the series with Thakur, Sundar, Natarnjan, Siraj, Pant, Saini and Gill, I would have said that who even are they but look how the tables have turned and how the critics have been made quite. What a magical series it was and I watched the entirety of the 5th day of both the 3rd and the 4th test and it had everything. It was a roller coaster of a thriller going down to the wire and in the 4th test, India made sure that are going for the win and not a draw and they had belief that will chase this mammoth total of 328 down and that to on the final day and they did!

This teaches us something about life itself because it has an important life lesson in it for everyone. This series taught us that no matter how badly we are knocked up or how badly we are bruised, it is up to us pick ourselves up and to fight back against all odds. Life is about dedication, hardwork, resilience and belief sprinkled with some fun and this series was a proper showcase for this. In the end I can say that Test Cricket has a greatness in it. It has some different beauty in it and when Test Cricket is in top form, then no ODI or T20I can emulate the beauty of Test Cricket!