Nowadays, Rishabh Pant is only making cameo appearances as his Indian teammates continue to juggle crickets's multiple formats. But on Friday (January 19, 2024), his name, along with the very creative 'Happy Gabba Day,' was one of the top trends on all social media platforms. For the unversed, on this day in 2021, Pant orchestrated one of the greatest wins in Test cricket, helping India breach the Gabbatoir, the so-called fortress of Australian cricket. (More Cricket News)
As things stood, Australia were unbeaten at The Gabba for 32 years. The West Indies were the last side to beat Australia at this venue, in 1988. But in 2021, an injury-ravaged India, fielding a second-string team, chased down an improbable fourth-innings target of 328 runs against a bowling attack led by Pat Cummins for a three-wicket win. And how?
The four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series started on an ominous note for India. They lost the opener in Adelaide by eight wickets after managing just 36/9 in the second innings, Outlook reported back then. But the visitors fought back to win the second match in Melbourne by eight wickets and settled for a draw in Sydney.
An injury-ravaged India entered the series decider with a make-shift team led by Ajinkya Rahane as Virat Kohli returned home for the birth of his first child. Depleted by injuries, the Indian attack featured Mohammed Siraj, T Natarajan, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini and Washington Sundar. The visitors, as warned by Aussie captain Tim Paine, looked certain to suffer a humiliating defeat in the absence of match-winners like Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, etc.
Batting first, Australia scored 369 in the first innings then dismissed India for 336 to take a 33-run lead. Siraj took a five-wicket haul in the Aussie second innings to restrict the hosts to 294. But India still needed to chase a target of 328 runs against a bowling attack that had the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Cummins and Nathan Lyon.
Shubman Gill laid the foundation with 91. It was followed by a gritty 211-ball knock from Cheteshwar Pujara, who took body blows to compile 56 runs. Pant then finished the job with an unbeaten 89 off 138 with the winning runs, a four off Hazlewood, coming in the 97th over. India, thus, breached the 'Fortress Gabba'.
"The courage, the resolve, the spirit, that you guys have shown is unreal. Not for once you were down, injuries, 36 all out (in the first Test), you had the self-belief in you," Ravi Shastri, the then India head coach, said following the sensational win. "It doesn't come overnight but now that you have this self-belief, you can see where you have taken a game as a team. Today forget India, the whole world will stand up and salute you."
Still recuperating from a career-threatening road accident in December 2022, Pant had missed the home ODI World Cup, India's failed attempt to conquer Test cricket's final frontier in South Africa and the recent T20 Internationals against visiting Afghanistan.
But the 26-year-old was there in Bengaluru to witness Rohit Sharma's epic knock and the subsequent double Super Over against the Afghans. The wicketkeeper-batter is expected to make his much-awaited return during the Indian Premier League 2024, with an eye on the ICC T20 World Cup.
