Indian cricket team overcame numerous challenges on their tour of Australia and pulled off a monumental Test series victory as they defeated the hosts by 2-1. One of the heroes of that series, Cheteshwar Pujara received heaps of praise from Australia batter Marcus Harris.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy went into the series decider at the Gabba, known as Australia’s fortress. Pujara scored 25 and 56 in the two innings but it was his sheer grit that left Harris, cricket experts and fans completely awestruck.
With the target of 328, India needed to survive a whole day on the fifth day at the Gabba against a quality bowling attack. Pujara faced 211 deliveries and did the job of grinding the bowlers down to perfection. He copped some brutal blows on the body in his innings full of resilience and courage.
“The final day was amazing to watch. We were thinking the whole day if they would go for the runs or not. I think Rishabh played the best innings that day, but for Pujara to be copping an absolute barrage from everyone, it felt like he batted a bit like an Australian, taking everything on the chest and getting on with it. The rest of the team just batted around him,”
Harris told.
Marcus Harris, who scored 5 and 38 in that match, also showered praises on Rishabh Pant, who scored unbeaten 89 runs in the innings and played a massive role in breaching the fortress. Pant was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’ for his incredible innings.
“Rishabh Pant’s innings was unbelievable. Everyone says he has magic in him, and he has shown that a few times now. It was disappointing to lose the series but sometimes in cricket you just have to tip your hat and say they were too good for us,”
Harris concluded.
Another youngster, Shubman Gill, had also played a crucial role in India’s victory by top-scoring in the fourth innings. After losing Rohit Sharma in the 9th over when only 18 runs were on the board, Gill partnered with Pujara and put on a 114-run stand, setting the chase up for India. Gill missed out on his maiden century by nine runs, but the innings were full of class.
Rishabh Pant was pushed up the order at number 5 when India were 167-3, a long way from winning or saving the Test. Australia had no answers to Pant’s calculative assault. His madness and an important cameo from Washington Sundar took India over the finishing line.
With multiple injuries and key players missing out, India did something that no other team had managed to do in 32 years – beating Australia at the Gabba.
This series victory was also their second consecutive series win in Australia, after having beaten the hosts in 2018 previously. However, the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy was quite an incredible achievement for India considering the circumstances they were in.
India were without the services of Virat Kohli, who took a parental leave after the first Test. Their ace pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, along with the all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were unavailable for the majority of the series due to injuries. In the events of the crisis, they found new heroes, be it Mohammed Siraj or Washington Sundar or Shardul Thakur.
