England finally won a Test match in Australia on Saturday for the first time in 15 years, but not before they had already conceded a series defeat in the Ashes, hardly able to compete in the previous three matches of the series. Similarly, India struggled to compete in Australia last year in the 3-1 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Both of these are indicators of just how difficult it is to beat Australia Down Under, which only makes India’s back-to-back series win there in 2018/19 and 2020/21 look steadily more remarkable with each passing year.
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Among the two, it would be the 2020/21 series that looks more unbelievable by some distance. India started by being blown out for 36 in the second innings of the first Test and being absolutely hammered after that to go 1-0 down. Moreover, their captain and best batter Virat Kohli went back home after that, and they kept losing key players to injury over the course of the series, including Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Despite all that, they went and won it 2-1, sealing it all off by inflicting Australia’s first Test defeat at the Gabba since Viv Richards’ all-conquering West Indies side did so in November 1988.
A number of key players stood up with brilliant individual performances for India over the course of the series and in the first Test after that blow out in Adelaide, which was the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), it was the captain himself. Ajinkya Rahane had spent many a year deputising for Virat Kohli and had never lost the handful of Tests he had led in by that point against opposition India are almost always expected to defeat. But here, he truly stepped out of the shadows and claimed his own legacy.
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One could argue that India’s comeback in the series really began with the clinical bowling performance on Day 1 led by Jasprit Bumrah (4/56) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3/35).
An extremely confident Australia were all out form 195, with Steve Smith in particular falling to Ashwin for a duck. However, India needed a considerable lead to stand a chance at truly getting their noses in front in the Test and for that, they needed at least one big score. It had looked like the debutant Shubman Gill had the bit between his teeth when he fluently went about making 45 in 65 balls but his fall was followed soon by the sturdy Cheteshwar Pujara’s dismissal.
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Rahane then anchored the Indian middle order, putting up partnerships of 52 with Hanuma Vihari and 57 with Rishabh Pant. Finally, though, it is with Ravindra Jadeja that he managed to hammer India’s advantage home. He got to his 12th Test century in 197 balls by cutting Pat Cummins’s fourth ball in the 88th over fiercely to the backward point area for a four.
Riding a sliver of luck
Rahane did ride his luck a bit though, something that one could argue will be seen in almost every Test innings. He was dropped by Smith of all people at second slip third ball of the 81st over off the bowling of Mitchell Starc while he was on 73. It was Starc who was the bowler once again in the 92nd over, this time with Rahane on 104 as Travis Head put him down at gully. That was a snorter of a delivery and it had hit Rahane on the glove, he needed some treatment, in which time a drizzle came in and the umpires led the players off the field.
The sun broke through eventually and Rahane continued sturdily, only to fall while the batters attempted a rather suicidal run. Rahane was at the non-striker’s end and he responded to Jadeja’s call, who had dropped it to short cover and taken off almost instinctively. Labuschagne fired in the throw, it didn’t even take a direct hit for Rahane to be run out on 112 off 223 balls.
India went on to be all out for 326 after which Mohammed Siraj, who like Gill was making his Test debut, led the way with incredible figures of 3/37 in 21.3 overs. It was a team performance from the bowlers though, with Australia finding no respite whatsoever – Bumrah, Ashwin and Jadeja all took two wickets each while Umesh Yadav struck with one. Australia were all out for 200, giving India target of 70 to win. Rahane had to walk out to bat once again, with Mayank Agarwal and Pujara falling inside the first six overs, but saw India over the line with Gill at the other end.
