On 19th January 2021 at Gabba in Brisbane, the last moments of the fifth and final day of the fourth test cricket match between India and Australia, India pulled off the most incredible thing by defeating the shocked hosts by three wickets. Setting a daunting target of 328 runs to win, the visitors responded with 4/0 on the stumps on day four, meaning India had to get 324 runs on the final day to win. The Indian team, already ruled out by many pundits after the catastrophic 36 races in the first test in Sydney, which conceded an easy win for Australia, had a tough job ahead of them in an unpredictable final day field facing arguably the best attack bowling of the world. Most importantly, the soil is popularly known as Gabbatoir for Australia, where the home team has never lost a test match against any cricket team for the last 32 years with an incredible 24-0 win tally. Therefore, at best, most cricket pundits and fans hoped that India would somehow save the match by highlighting the day and drawing the Series even. Against a forecast of rain, the weather cleared up in the morning, perhaps to witness a competition of immense proportions.

Cricket lovers from all over the world would be witness to one of the most incredible chapters of world test cricket. Mixing caution with aggression, Indian batsmen launched an outright victory campaign, despite losing star starter Rohit Sharma early on. Solid Cheteshwar Pujara (56) acted as anchor at one end, while other starter Subhman Gill (91) and captain Ajinkya Rahane, albeit briefly for 24 runs, continued to attack the Australian bowlers from the other end. Pujara held the fort until the arrival of man of the match, Rishabh Pant, whose talent has been widely discussed by cricket pundits and fans for over a year with almost no attendant results, delivered, after a glorious 97 runs in the draw. third test in Sydney, the final blow hitting the four winners with only 2 of the compulsory overs remaining in their unforgettable individual score of 89 unexhausted runs.

And India violated the Gabbatoir, after 32 years, more than proving that Australia is never invincible even in its favorite strengths. They had retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by winning the Test Series 2–1 after Virat Kohli’s first Test Series victory in Australia against Australia on their 2018–19 tour. Shocked, in fact, is the word that described the reactions of the Australian team, the Australian media and their cricket pundits. We have already seen the tremendous importance of this victory for all stakeholders. However, there are several other crucial points of this memorable match which we mention below:

• Gabba’s win coupled with the four Test Series win marks one of the toughest comebacks for any team in the history of world Test cricket. All odds were against India after losing the first Test in Sydney and making those 36 runs in their second innings. Then the departure of regular captain Virat Kohli, described as disastrous by most Australian pundits/commentators, put the team in the tightest possible corners as they had to overcome the ignominy of the all-out 36-run syndrome and had to lead without its captain who defines history. Defying all predictions, Team India rallied under calm but aggressive and strategic deputy captain Ajinkya Rahane: he gave a fitting response to the hosts who won the second round in Melbourne convincingly by 8 wickets, and went on to stage the historic salvation from the third test in Sydney by holding off the fierce Australian bowlers for almost a day and a half.

• Before the start of the final test in Gabba’s chips, India continued to go downhill with almost half of their team members injured, mainly from body shots they took in that save from Sydney, which included top bowlers. . They recruited their youngsters, most of them only appearing in one or two test matches before and some downright rookies. and violated the Gabbatoir.

• India have discovered their incredibly talented bench force who would not have been in the spotlight without the injuries sustained by their prop. This is likely to define an era for the future of Indian Cricket, giving the national selectors the chance to pick the ‘best’ team. This would also come in handy considering the fact that players tend to get injured in fiercely competitive international cricket.

• The win also marks a significant move away from having players on the national team mostly from mega-cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata or others, because most of the talented rookies like Mohammad Siraj, Natarajan, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar and others hail from small towns or villages with humble backgrounds, often from the clutches of poverty.

• India has shown time and time again that super teams like Australia, England and the West Indies are never invincible, even on their own turf, once the team has the resolve and self-confidence in their abilities under any circumstances. Particularly in regards to Australia, Sourav Ganguly’s India ended Australian skipper Steve Waugh’s world record streak of 16 consecutive test wins at the Kolkata test in March 2001 on Australia’s tour of India and the Anil Kumble’s India ended Australian skipper Ricky Ponting’s run of 16 Test wins without a single loss at Perth in January 2008, on his 2007-08 tour of Australia. Not to mention the away Test series victories against the West Indies and England in 1971, and stopping the giant called the West Indies at the 1983 ICC World Cup.

• The India team has also suffered racial abuse from some of the stands during this tour and the sledding of Australian players desperate to win. However, they have also managed to emerge triumphant in this regard.

• It has been shown again how strong the game of cricket is as a unifying force in times of divisive strategies around the world and the horrors of the year-long pandemic. Quite simply, there is not a soul left in the Indian Republic that has stopped smiling since that unforgettable day on the 19th.^the January 2021, and they will smile a lot for a long time.

Long live the game of cricket! May the competitive spirit of cricket conquer us again and again from the narrow horizons of division and communalism!