What a terrific day for Test cricket!!
Team India survived the best bowling attack of the World and drew the test at Sydney Cricket Ground.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari have done the miracle, batted for more than three hours to save the team from defeat.
After a fiery start on Day 4, Gill and Rohit Sharma departed by the end of the day. Rohit Sharma was brilliant until he threw away his precious wicket.
The onus was on Captain Rahane and Pujara. Rahane fell to a Nathan Lyon delivery quite early and Pant came in.
A terrific Pant smashed the Aussie bowling attack
Pant played an exceptional inning of 97, a blitzkrieg consisting of 12 innings and 3 biggies. Nobody was spared from the scathing attack. Australian bowling strategy was in absolute turmoil with the ball finding the fence quite often.
Pant fell on 97 while attacking Lyon in a haze. Jadeja, ruled out for at least six weeks due to a broken thumb while batting in the first innings, was seen gearing up in the dressing room.
With Pant gone, India goes defensive mode with Hanuma Vihari and Pujara until Pujara got bowled by Hazelwood. The bails were rattled by a brilliant hazelwood delivery. With that, India’s chance of escaping the defeat was unavoidable, as per the experts.
Ashwin & Vihari : Resilient Duo
To take everyone by surprise, Ashwin came in instead of an injured Jadeja. What follows then is history now.
Hanuma Vihari and Ashwin showcased absolute resilience despite nasty blows and physical injuries.
Vihari has hurt his right hamstring and was seen limping. Ashwin survived some blazing Aussie bodyline attack with one such Cummins delivery hitting his chest.
Ashwin’s wife, Prithi, has tweeted about the severe back pain that he is suffering from. That did not deter him from producing the classical display of perseverance.
Today, 11th January, is also the birthday of Legendary Cricketer, Rahul Dravid, one of the greatest test batsmen in the World. He has earned the name ‘The Wall’ for his extremely resilient efforts in test cricket. What Ashwin and Vihari pulled off today is a true testament to the legacy left by the veteran, the best birthday gift Rahul Dravid could have asked for.
Team India Strategy
The strategy of Team India was very appreciable as they did not complicate things with unnecessary dilemmas. They eyed win initially as the openers and Pant played aggressive cricket. After Pant’s dismissal, they go for defensive mode. Vihari was once 7 not out from 124 deliveries faced. Can you believe this in the era of T-20 cricket?
crass Aussie strategies to pull back the game
The final day also sees some verbal altercations between Ashwin and Tim Paine, the latter being slammed for using cuss words. Stuart Broad, the British pacer, has slammed Paine for using such unruly words in cricket.
The controversy and Steve Smith go hand in hand. Smith was seen scuffing off the guard mark of Pant purposefully, which was completely against the spirit of the game.
India will play the final test at Brisbane from 15th January onwards. India will miss the all-rounding performance of Jadeja. The injuries of Pant and Vihari are being checked upon.
