Glory at Gabba

After the Indian cricket team pulled off a sensational win at The Gabba, Brisbane, today, the feeling was as if the team had won the World Cup! Not without reasons.

This India tour of Australia has been like never before. Not because of the pandemic, but because of so many cricketing reasons. 

The series saw India's lowest moment (when the team got out for a paltry 36 in the 1st Test at Adelaide on Dec 19) and the highest moment (registering today's unexpected 3 wicket win after notching up 329 for 7 when only three overs were remaining).

Here are the highlights of the breathtaking final day's play.

When the day's play began, India resumed at 4 for no loss, needing as many as 324 more runs to win, or bat through the day to ensure a draw, which would suffice for them to retain the Borer-Gavaskar Trophy that India had won against all odds during the previous Aussie tour.

The Indian team has been known to perform poorly in away tours and also crumble in the face of pressure while chasing to win. So, the prayer was not for a win, but for a draw - ironically, even when the gritty batsmen were going full blast aiming for a victory.

The odds were all stacked against India. That's why the victory is so sweet.

• The highest score a team has managed in the 4th innings till now was 236 for 7 by Australia way back in 1951.
  
  
• The last time Australia lost at The Gabba was to the mighty West Indies in 1988. 
  
  
• Most of the members of the Indian team that scripted this brave chase were standing in for senior players who are out of action because of injury.

This match, especially the final day's play, will be remembered forever.

One similar ending to a cliffhanger was on August 25, 2019, when Ben Stokes scripted a breathtaking 135 not out to snatch an unexpected one-wicket victory for England against Australia at Headingly. I blogged about it here.