When Justin Langer (coach of the Australian Cricket Team) during an interview with Matthew Hayden said “Learnt a lesson from the series, never ever underestimate India”, gave me goosebumps and made me quite proud as any other Indian. The fragmented version of “Impossible” – ‘I’m possible’ turned into a reality. History was rewritten on 19th Jan this year when the Indian cricket team were crowned as the Champions in the Indo-Aussies Test cricket series, invading Fortress Gabba. Yesss…we did it – were the words that as a remote spectator came out from my mouth. Decimating the Aussies in their own backyard in the absence of the captain Virat and key bowlers like Bumrah & Ishant and also rising from the ashes post the terrible loss in the 1st Test speaks volumes of the never-say-die attitude of this Indian Team.
Despite
innumerable injuries, this new-generation Indian players of the likes of Rishabh
Pant, Shardul Thakur, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar backed
by their immense self-belief has made it happen. Rahane’s astute leadership
along with a century in the 2nd test itself set the tone for the
series as it seemed that the team had taken a pledge to bounce back. Even
though the team was being bowled out for a meagre 36 in the second innings of
the 1st test, Rahane along with Aswin, Gill, Pujara and Pant were mentally
very tough and stayed positive during hardest of the times while
encountering one of the fiercest bowling attacks. To come back after being
battered and bruised in the 1st Test, it is really difficult to pull
oneself up and needed a lot of character. The team didn’t brood over the past
rather developed the inner quality to rejuvenate themselves and think of the
present and march ahead. This certainly says it all about this cricketing unit
where hierarchy isn’t followed but respected within. The partnership
between Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur in the 2nd test was
another peak moment that kept the team highly energized and optimistic. Cheteshwar
Pujara relatively didn’t score much, but his dogmatic approach and determined
mindset enabled him to hang around 1000 balls taking blows after blows on
his body, thus becoming one of the key ingredients of Indian team’s success.
Rishabh Pant who is very often criticized for his reckless batting, turned it
for his country. The display of his batting prowess coupled with his resolve
to carry the winner’s tag converted a possible draw to a win. The tenacity
and resilience of two injured warriors in the form of Ashwin and Vihari in
the 3rd Test to salvage a draw when the team was on the verge of
loss is no less than a huge victory. Even though both of them couldn’t make it
to the squad in the 4th test, but they ensured that they don’t give it
up at any cost in spite of their excruciating pain. It certainly created a
ripple effect and the morale of the team went sky-high before the 4th
test. The rookie pace attack combined with Ashwin’s supreme confidence deserved
full credit for their relentless perseverance throughout the entire
series, rising up to the occasion whenever the situation demanded.
Certainly, an unreal victory in absolute terms after getting all-out for 36 and
this has become real only because of the deadly combo of self-belief and
teamwork. These lessons would be highly beneficial for every individual and
team irrespective of domain and should get injected to the DNAs.
I would end
here with Joe Paterno’s quote, “When a team outgrows individual performance and
learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.”
