Brisbane Test. Day 5. 19/1/2021.
When play began not many thought India could win the Test. History was against it. West Indies in 1988 was the last visiting team to win a Test at Brisbane. Highest score by a winning team batting in 4th Innings was 219 by Australia against West Indies in 1951. There was rain during the Test and possibility of rain on fifth day leading to draw. India had to score 328 to win the Test.
India began the day on 4/0. For most of five hours of play the match was evenly balanced between India and Australia. Shuhman Gill was out on 91 and missed century. During the sixth hour Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar swung the Test India’s way. When Washington Sundar was out after scoring 22 runs of 29 balls India were 318/6 and close to victory. Rishabh Pant remained not out on 89 off 138 balls.
After losing Adelaide Test India went on to win the series 2-1. It is a remarkable achievement. India won a Test series in Australia for the second time in succession.
Before the series, India had not won a Test series after losing the first Test of a series outside Asia. Previously, 31 times India had lost the series and thrice it was draw.
India were 36 all out in 4th Innings of Adelaide Test. India scored 329/7 in 4th Innings of Brisbane Test. Virat Kohli was captain at Adelaide. After the Test he went on paternity leave. Other players were Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Prithvi Shah, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. Ajinkya Rahane was captain at Brisbane. Other players were Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Mayank Agarwal, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj and Thangarasu Natarajan. Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Mayank Agarwal are common to both teams. Injuries rendered some cricketers out of action and that led to Test debuts of others.
There is praise for Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy and question mark over Timothy Paine’s captaincy who was also captain when Australia lost the series to India in 2018. Ajinkya means invincible. Virat Kohli is captain for next series against England.