Gabba - a year ago

"It ain't about hard you hit. It's about hard you can get hit and keep moving forward" - Rocky Balboa  

Date: 19th January, 2021 – one year ago. 

Location: Gabba, Brisbane, Australia (a.k.a the Gabbatoir) 

Result: India won by 3 wickets

Usually, it is the losing team which looks for excuses. Here the winning team had them all and more – alien conditions, long tour, lost 4 tosses, ravaged by injuries, inexperienced players, covid threat, and yet they came out winning! 

Just one single stat exposed the gulf between the two teams. Going into that Test – India had a collective experience of having taken 13 Test wickets while the Aussies had 1,033! And there was a small ask of chasing over 300 on the 5th day. Somehow, none of this mattered as the trio of Pujara, Gill and Pant, blocked and bludgeoned past the target taking numerous body blows but never yielding. 

The last day was crazy. Still get goosebumps a year later, thinking of how that day went. All superstitions were put in place lest I somehow jinx the team – avoid posting anything on social media, folllow/watch the game from same website etc., stay in position, even avoid breathing at times! Such was the adrenaline rush at the winning moment that felt like running out in the streets to celebrate (not an advisable thing to do in covid times). Social media felt like being part of a collective celebration with its toxicity drastically reduced for a while. 

What all India overcame – bio bubbles (it gets crazy after a while), covid restrictions, injured players, 36 all out, off field controversies, racial abuse! Yet we came out tops, because someone always came in and put in their finger in the dyke and saved the city! 

What the win also did was put into context the previous 2-1 victory in Australia (2018-19). Given how depleted the Indian team of 2020-21 was, Aussies can’t keep harping about missing Smith & Warner in previous tour!

The Gabba bastion had been well and truly breached after 32 years! Or in the immortal words of Vivek Razdan, "toot gaya Gabba ka ghamand"

We remember not the scores and the results in after years; it is the men who remain in our minds, in our imaginations" - Neville Cardus 

And that’s how Rahane, Pujara, Vihari, Ashwin, Jadeja, Pujara, Gill, Pant, Siraj, Thakur, Sundar, Bumrah, Natarajan will be remain in our collective imaginations. 

P.S. The win also led to an essay writing competition on the internet. Everyone had a say on the win (and why not). And they did have their say. And it is a year later and yet I felt that I had to post my thoughts!

Ranji Trophy 16-17: Jharkhand vs Delhi

Match Summary: Jharkhand (473) drew with Delhi (334 & 484/ (f/o)) 

Points: Jharkhand 3, Delhi 1

After the previous game against Vidarbha, I had posted that it would be interesting to see the side-battle between two 19-year-old left-handed wicketkeeper batsman. And Boy! was I right. The Jharkhand vs Delhi game was reduced to a Ishan Kishan vs Rishabh Pant affair.

Delhi won the toss and put Jharkhand into bat. Jharkhand were soon 80 for 4 before Ishank Jaggi and Ishan Kishan joined forces. Kishan put up big stands with Jaggi, Kaushal Singh and Nadeem to take the score to 404 for 7. At the fall of Nadeem's wicket he opened and smashed 86 of the last 89 runs to take Jharkhand to a formidable 493. In the process breaking many Jharkhand batting records.

Delhi replied with Unmukt Chand and Rishabh Pant scoring 100s but there wasn't much support from the others as they folded up for 332. Jharkhand imposed the follow-on but Delhi easily cut into the deficit. The match was heading towards a draw when in walked Pant. And smashed a 67 ball 135 for his second century of the game with 13 sixes. Delhi decided to bat on and the game ended in a draw with Jharkhand getting 3 points on virtue of the first innings lead.

Highlights

• Team Changes: In - Sunny Gupta. Out - Ajay Yadav. 
• Ishan Kishan's records
• 273 - Highest first class score by any Jharkhand batsman.
• 14 - Joint most sixes in a single innings in Ranji Trophy
• 3rd first class century and during the course of the innings completed passed the 1000 run mark as well.
• Meanwhile Rishabh Pant blazed a faster than run-a-ball 100 in both innings and broke the record for fastest first-class century by an Indian in just 48 balls. And as for his first-class numbers his average is Bradmanesque and Strike Rate Sehwagesque.
• Ishan Kishan received the Man-of-the-Match award.

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Ishan Kishan 459 @65.57

Most Wickets: Shahbaz Nadeem 24 @35.67
Player Count: 15

Points Tally - 19 after 5 games to retain 2nd spot behind Karnataka (23 from 4). Meanwhile Delhi remain in 3rd place.

Coming Up Next - Saurashtra, who are at the bottom of the Group.

Ranji Trophy 16-17: Jharkhand vs Karnataka

Match Summary: Karnataka (577/6d & 162/3) drew with Jharkhand (374)

Points: Karnataka 3, Jharkhand 1

The kind of game where one team decided that it doesn't want to win. Otherwise there is no obvious reason for Karnataka not enforcing the follow-on on the last morning and giving themselves a shot at earning 3/4 additional points.

Karnataka batted first and rode Samarth's double hundred to overcome an initial wobble and pile on a big score. Jharkhand were in trouble but managed to extend their first innings just enough to ensure that Karnataka did not enforce the follow-on. Ishan Kishan played a blistering innings to spare Jharkhand the blushes and secure one point from the game.

Highlights

• Team Changes: In - Samar Quadri. Out - Ajay Yadav.
• 2nd first class century & career best score for Ishan Kishan. Comparisons with another Jharkhand keeper will become a norm if such performances continue. 

Season Stats

Top Scorer: Ishan Kishan 163 @81.50

Most Wickets: Ashish Kumar 9 @19.78 

Points Tally - 7 after 2 games. Currently lying in 4th place in the group, well in hunt for a knock-out berth.

Coming Up Next - Rajasthan, who are currently at the top in the Group.

Elsewhere
Swapnil Gugale & Ankit Bawne put on an unbeaten 594 stand before Gugale declared, leaving themselves just 30 short of the highest partnership record in first class cricket. Apparently they were not aware of the record! Although not similar but reminds of the BB Nimbhalkar's first class epic where he missed out on the highest  first-class score at the time because the opposing Kathiawar team refused to take the field anymore!!!

Coming back to the game, even this huge score almost did not prove enough because young Risabh Pant hammered a triple hundred at near run-a-ball but Delhi just fell short.