WATCH: On this day in 2021, Rishabh Pant’s heroics, Shubman Gill’s brilliance, and Cheteshwar Pujara’s defiance helped India to win Gabba Test

Three years ago on this day, India clinched a terrific win at The Gabba, a venue where Australia had not lost a test match in 32 years. Even to date, India remains the only team to beat them at The Gabba in the last 35 years. It was possible due to the collective efforts of the team which was very inexperienced and did not experience the pressure enough.

Before the match, the series was levelled 1-1. India were dismissed for their lowest Test total at Adelaide. They made a comeback at Melbourne and clinched a fighting draw at Sydney. But the Gabba was a different challenge. India had to play the match without some of the key players like Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Watch the video of India’s win at The Gabba here –

The Indian attack had the likes of Mohammed Siraj, T Natarajan, Navdeep Saini, and Washington Sundar. Of all the bowlers in the lineup, Siraj was the most experienced with a total number of 3 Test caps to his name. Australia pounced on the attack and scored 369 runs in the first innings. Marnus Labuschagne scored a hundred and put Australia in the driver’s seat.

A comeback for ages from India

Replying to the score of Australia, India were reduced to 186/6. That was when the pair of Shardul and Sundar helped India to make a comeback in the Test with their fifties. Australia in their second innings scored 294 runs. the target for India was 328, which was never achieved till then at the venue. India lost Rohit Sharma early in the innings while chasing a huge total.

What followed it was a brilliant performance from Shubman Gill, who scored 91 runs with his aggressive batting. The young batter made a world-class bowler like Mitchell Starc look ordinary. Pujara copped many blows and stayed in the middle. His resilience was coupled with the aggression of Rishabh Pant. The duo helped India to win the game with their batting. For the first time in 32 years, a Test side won a match at The Gabba.