Christmas came early to the Indian dressing room on Tuesday at the Gabba, which witnessed euphoric scenes minutes before close of play on day four of the third Test in Brisbane. India legends Virat Kohli, captain Rohit Sharma and chief coach Gautam Gambhir erupted in joy as soon as Akash Deep hit the boundary that ensured the visitors have saved the follow-on and potentially the third Test as well.
An unbeaten 39-run partnership of 54 balls for the last wicket between Akash Deep (27*) and Jasprit Bumrah (10*) helped India go past the follow-on target of 246 to finish day four at 252 for 9. Although India still trail the home team’s 445 by 193 runs, saving the follow-on has almost decisively moved the match towards a draw as Australia will have to bat now in their second innings.
But the scenes that went viral on Tuesday were of Kohli, Rohit and Gambhir doing the high fives and laughing heartily to watch Bumrah and Akash destroying Australia’s hopes. The ninth wicket fell at the score of 213, when Jadeja was dismissed for a possibly match-saving knock of 77.
But the most important play of the day four came in the last hour. At one stage where Australia were hoping that they could dismiss India, enforce the follow-on and bowl a few overs before close of play, the visitors went to stumps with still a wicket in hand — thanks to Bumrah, Akash and Jadeja.
KL Rahul remains top scorer of India’s first innings with his knock of 84.
Both Bumrah and Akash showed exemplary display of copybook defence and game-awareness to milk the Australian bowlers with ones and twos and move closer to the follow-on target of 246. Once that was achieved, Akash showed his long-handle skills by hitting Pat Cummins for a six over mid-wicket.
The shot brought Kohli on his feet as he ran right up to the glass window at the edge of the dressing room to see how long the shot went, while the rest of his teammates applauded with wide smiles on their faces.
More to follow…
