THE SAVIOUR

 

Image Credit- ESPN CricInfo.

Venue- Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney [7-11 January 2021].

At the conclusion of the third test in Brisbane, Indian Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from International Cricket. It was an emotional moment for everyone as Ashwin has been a huge servant of the game for more than a decade. Furthermore, he has given innumerable winning performances for his team throughout his cricketing career. So, it will be hard to fill his shoes. However, in this post we will talk about one such performance which did not get us a win, but its value is more than a win. Yes. You got it right. We will be talking about the famous Sydney Test of 2021. 

It was the final day of the third test wherein the Indians needed 309 to win the test and take 2-1 lead in the series. On the other hand, the Aussies needed 8 wickets to win the match. So, the game was evenly balanced. Unfortunately, in the second over of the day, Wade caught Rahane at short leg off Lyon's bowling with our scorecard reading 3/102. The match was surely in a precarious situation. This was when Pant joined Pujara in the middle. The duo stitched a massive partnership of 148 runs and brought the visitors back into the game. However, the Aussies struck back in quick succession and the Indian scorecard was reduced to 272/5. There were 43 overs left in the play with Indians still 135 runs behind the target. Hence, one can say Australia were in the driver's seat. To make matters worse, Ravindra Jadeja got injured. Thus, the pair of Vihari and Ashwin were under extreme pressure. One more wicket and the game would have been done and dusted. 

However, this is when the pair of Ashwin and Vihari stood strong. The Aussies went on an all-round attack, but the duo stood strong like a mountain. They took blows after blows but did not give their wicket. They did have a fright in the 123rd over when Vihari's bat edge was caught by Starc, but Captain Paine dropped the chance. It looked tough for Australia to pick up five wickets and the same appeared for India as well in chasing down 88 runs. At the end of the hard-fought day, Ashwin concluded with 39* (128) and Vihari with 23* (161) as the match ended in a draw. 

It was a draw which is equivalent to a win because this draw kept us alive in the series. However, the same would not have been possible without the monumental effort of Ashwin and Vihari. Today as Ashwin retires from the game, this knock of him remains for me at the top of all his performances. Happy Retirement Ash Anna. You will surely be missed. 

 To watch the Highlights of that Day's Play, Click Here.