Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari battled pain, verbal volleys and a hostile bowling attack on the fifth and final day of the third Test to keep India at level with Australia in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar trophy. Both Ashwin-Vihari displayed largely extinct art of Test-saving batsmanship and played nearly four hours – 259 balls to be precise – to snatch a remarkable draw for India after Rishabh Pant raised visions of an improbable win in Sydney on Monday.
Lauding his team’s outstanding show, stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane congratulated his teammates for putting a resolute against the Aussies. He had a special mention for Ashwin and Vihari in his post-match conference. “Our talk coming this morning was to show character and fight till the end. Not to think about the result. Really happy with the way we fought especially today but also throughout the game, even in the first innings when Australia were 200 for 2 and getting them all out for 338 was really good,” Rahane said.
“There are few areas we can improve on but special mention to Vihari and Ashwin. The way they batted in the end and showed character was really good to see,” he added.
Chasing a herculean target of 407, Pant played a blinder as he scored – 97 off 118 balls and knitted a crucial 148-run stand with Cheteshwar Pujara – 77 off 205 balls – for the fourth wicket. But after the dismissal of both set batsmen, India were forced to down the shutters finishing on 334 for 5 in 131 overs when players shook hands.
Rahane also spoke about the importance of Pant’s knock, he said: “Credit to him (Pant). We made that strategy but in the end it is all about the player executing the plan.”
The series stands at 1-1 going into the fourth Test in Brisbane but an Indian team that has turned into a ‘mini-hospital’ would be walking away with a lot of pride. They put up a proper fight in adverse circumstances already soured by racist chants and abuses from the crowd here during the course of the game.
Pant’s innings will be remembered for a long time but none can forget that Ashwin – 39 no, 128 balls – and Vihari – 23 off 161 balls – put their bodies on the line to save a game which could have been lost in a jiffy after their two best batsmen were gone on the day.
Pat Cummins – 26-6-72-1, Josh Hazlewood – 26-12-39-2, Mitchell Starc – 22-6-66-0 – and Nathan Lyon – 46-17-114-2 – threw everything they had, peppering them with short balls, hitting the patches with a few jumping from the spot.
The duo, in 42.4 overs, scrapped their way for a 62-run stand, which certainly would have made Rahul Dravid proud on his 48th birthday.
Vihari hobbled with a torn hamstring but defended dourly, Ashwin got hit on the ribs but carried on manfully while also engaging in some chatter with Tim Paine and close-in fielders.