At Brisbane in 2020-21, India pulled off one of the greatest heists of all time. Here are five less-remembered moments from that game.
Bumrah and Ashwin stayed back
India fielded 20 cricketers over the course of the 2020-21 tour of Australia – still a world record for any team in an away series. From the third Test match, they had to make at least four major changes. Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin, who famously kept the Australians at bay to save that Test with a three-hour stand, were both ruled out of the fourth Test, as was Ravindra Jadeja. But the most vital blow was the absence of Jasprit Bumrah.
In fact, there had been uncertainty over Rishabh Pant as well, after he had copped a blow on the glove, but he was fit enough Cheteshwar Pujara, too, played with an injured thumb.
India went in with an attack consisting of two men who had debuted in that series (Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini); one, who had bowled ten balls in Test cricket (Shardul Thakur); and two uncapped cricketers who were there as net bowlers (Washington Sundar and T Natarajan).
The greenhorn bowlers needed guidance, and Bumrah and Ashwin stayed back. Every now and then the cameras would pan on the duo, positioned outside the boundary, chipping in with words of advice.
The rookies got their fields
The best team managements typically plan their fields well ahead, but the Indian bowling attack was not one they knew. The quintet, after all, included two net bowlers. Captain Ajinkya Rahane decided to let his youngsters call the shots. The bowlers would bowl to the field they were comfortable with.
It was an unusual thing to do in a Test match, but it was perhaps logical. The bowlers repaid the trust by taking 20 wickets.
Natarajan survived!
In the documentary Bandon Mein Tha Dum, Pant recollected his astonishment when he found out that Natarajan had never batted in his entire life going into the Test match. While not strictly true, it was not far away from the truth either.
Natarajan had batted. He had, in fact, come out to bat 22 times in first-class cricket until then – for 28 runs. But all that had been until 2018. At that point he had been coming off a streak of 10 consecutive scoreless innings, two short of the world record. Few had their hopes pinned on him when he walked out to face Mitchell Starc at the Gabba.
But when Starc bowled the first ball short, Natarajan survived. He later admitted to have done that without actually seeing the ball. He even got a run with an unconventional flat-batted shot to mid-off, off Josh Hazlewood, but this meant he had to face a full over from Starc.
The slowest ball of this over was clocked at 146.6kph, but astonishingly, Natarajan survived the full thing. When the wicket fell, it was not him that got out but Siraj. He does not have a Test average.
The five-for that was, and the one that wasn’t
India’s incredible chase in the Test match often overshadows how well Siraj and Thakur bowled in the third innings. After securing a 33-run lead in the first innings, Australia looked safe at 89-0, but the duo brought them down. Barring Marcus Harris, who fell to Sundar, the other eight were shared by Siraj and Thakur.
This meant that they raced each other for the five-wicket haul, and Rahane kept them on in tandem. The moment came when Hazlewood uppercut Siraj straight to deep third. The fielder was... Thakur.
As an emotional Siraj – he had lost his father during the series – led the Indian team off the ground, Thakur followed with a smile. They were greeted by Bumrah.
Read more: Hundreds on ODI debut, full list: West Indies’ Amir Jangoo creates history against Bangladesh
No one stopped Saini
Staying in tune with the rest of the series, Saini broke down during the third innings after sending down five overs with a groin strain. His Test match was done... almost. India needed 10 when Sundar attempted a bizarre reverse sweep and bowled. Seven runs later, Thakur mistimed a slog and was caught.
Two balls remained in Hazlewood’s over. The batters had crossed, so Pant would be on strike. Unlike Siraj and Natarajan, Saini had some batting credentials, but it was unlikely to be needed. He still walked out.
By the time it dawned upon Rahane that Saini, given his injury, was the worst choice of the three at that point, it had been too late. It is not clear why it had not occurred to Saini either.
Pant played out the fifth ball. Off the sixth, perhaps the most logical thing would have been to play to the deep and take a comfortable single. Instead, Pant sprinted, wanting to secure the match in one go. He later admitted to have forgotten all about Saini’s injury. Thankfully, the ball crossed the ropes...
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