As the Indians exploded with joy over their cricket team’s historic victory at Gabba Stadium in Brisbane, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar summed up the mood.
“Every session we discovered a new hero,” he said of how an inexperienced, untested team, with so little going for it, achieved one of the biggest victories in test cricket. “Every time they hit us, we stood still and stood taller. We push the limits of faith to play cricket fearlessly but not carelessly. “
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the team for their “remarkable stellar intent, courage and determination” in retaining the Border-Gavaskar trophy and defeating Australia at Gabba Fortress for the first time 33 years.
The celebrations in India were sweeter because the victory was so unexpected. Many Indians waited shortly after Australia won the first test match, in which India was eliminated by 36 humiliating runs, their lowest test total.
Any comeback from that loss would have to be on an epic scale, but the Australian team was in top form. In contrast, the weakened Indian side was missing numerous high-level bowlers. Many players were playing a test match for the first time. The team was beset by injuries.
For sports journalist Jaydeep Basu, the mere fact that India triumphed despite having nothing going for it turned out to be a “coming of age”, not just for various players like Mohammed Siraj and Cheteshwar Pujara, but for Indian cricket itself. .
“The result showed the depth of Indian cricket talent. All the large sums of money that have been spent recruiting small town players and training them are now paying off. We have shown that young untested players can do spectacularly well, ”said Basu.
In line with Basu’s comment, many writers spoke of how “the boy has become a man” with reference to Siraj and Washington Sundar and how the former had beaten the odds (his father was a rickshaw driver) to play in the India.
Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar praised the team for giving India “a magical moment”, saying: “They were not prepared to save the game. They wanted to go out and finish the tour in a blaze of glory. Young India has done it. Young India has shown the way. Young India is showing that they are not afraid ”.
Referring to Pujara’s injuries, several blows to the head and a bent finger, he said: “He put his body on the line for Indian cricket.”
The headlines – “India carries out one of Australia’s biggest heists,” “Plunder Down Under” – were euphoric.
While many Indians saw their team’s victory as the simple result of an impressive display of character and skill, others called it poetic justice for Australian complacency. “India has many injured players, but what has been injured the most has been the arrogance and pride of Australia,” tweeted former cricketer Virendra Sehwag.
The “See you at the Gabba” taunt, which Australian captain Tim Paine threw at Ravichandran Ashwin on the final day of Test 3 in Sydney, was mercilessly mocked on Twitter. “Yes we did Mr. Paine, yes we did!” read a tweet. Ashwin’s wife Prithi, who had to watch her husband play despite severe back pain, settled for: “WooohooooooHAHAHAHHAAHHAAHAHAHAHHASHHAAHAHHA.”
