Ravi Shastri, the coach of the Indian team during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2021/21 recalled an interesting occurring during the tea interval on Day 5, which confirmed his belief that India was going to go for the jugular. India’s three wicket-win against Australia at The Gabba in January of 2021 will go down as arguably their greatest Test victory of all time.
With most major stars missing, chasing a stiff odd target of 328 on the final day at a venue where Australia had not lost a Test match since 1988, Rishabh Pant led India to a memorable win that will go down in history and perhaps be talked about in the same breath as VVS Laxman’s 281 and Harbhajan Singh’s hat-trick from the famous Eden Gardens Test at Kolkata in 2001.
Ravi Shastri Said Rishabh Pant And Shubman Gill Were Having A Chat Before Their Respective Innings Of 91 And Unbeaten 89 Saw India Breach The Gabba Fortress
A documentary about the famous series might well be on its way, but there is nothing more fascinating than hearing the inside stories of the events that transpired from the horse’s mouth. Coach of the Indian team during the series, Ravi Shastri recalled an interesting occurring during the tea interval on Day 5 of the Brisbane Test, which confirmed his belief that India was going to go for the jugular.
“I thought that was unbelievable, especially on that last day. I always knew at tea time, when we were three down, that it’s pointless telling Rishabh anything. I can’t tell you what the conversation was. From upstairs I went to the loo. These 2 young boys were having a chat – Gill, and Pant. Gill had batted magnificently to set it up with a brilliant 90,” Ravi Shastri said on the ‘Bold & Brave The Ravi Shastri Way’ show on Star Sports.
India’s win at ‘The Gabba fortress’ earned them a second consecutive Test series win in Australia, having won the earlier Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 in 2018/19. Shubman Gill’s 91, Rishabh Pant’s 89*, Cheteshwar Pujara’s 56 handed Australia their first defeat at Gabba in 32 years
Rishabh Pant’s Unbeaten 89 Saw India Win At The Gabba To Win Series 2-1
After putting a fine stand with half-centurion Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant batted brilliantly with the tail and remained unbeaten on 89 en route to giving Indian cricket one of its most cherished moments under the sun.
Rishabh Pant’s match-winning unbeaten knock took India home with three overs to spare on the final day. With fickle weather predicted for Brisbane and a cracked-up Day 5 pitch on offer, conventional wisdom suggested that either a draw or a defeat were the only two possible scenarios for Team India. 324 runs from 98 overs in the final day’s play at the Gabba looked like a mountain to climb. India managed 4/0 in 1.5 overs on Day 4.
Shubman Gill and a defiant Cheteshwar Pujara took India to lunch at 83/1. Rishabh Pant, the wicket-keeper batsman walked in at No.5 ahead of Mayank Agarwal at the fall of stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane’s wicket and scored an unbeaten 89.
With India needing 49 runs from 42 balls, Washington Sundar (22 off 29) played his part as India won in the 97th over of their innings. A bruised and heavily depleted Indian team recovered from being shot out for 36 in an embarrassing defeat in the opening Test to win the series 2-1 in Australia.
India 329 for 7 (Gill 91, Pant 89*, Pujara 56, Cummins 4-55) and 336 beat Australia 369 and 294 by three wickets