India vs Australia: Meet the Architects of Historic Gabba Breach

Well, India's win over Australia at the Gabba is no ordinary win and the six cricketers who made this possible were no ordinary cricketers. Each one of them overcame several obstacles themselves in their personal lives. Meet the six architects of Gabba breach.

Mohammad Siraj: Nothing came easy to Mohammed Siraj. Be it his IPL contract or be his Test debut with Team India, the 26-year-old had to fend for himself at each and every stage of his life. For instance, he had to overcome several hardships to reach a stage where he was finally noticed and got a contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad and then when he was about to make his Test debut for India in Australia, his father passed away. The poor fellow couldn't visit his funeral due to lockdown restrictions in place. If that wasn't enough, the youngster was subjected to racial abuse from the fans as he was fielding at the SCG during the third Test match. The 26-year-old went onto take a fifer and this made sure India bundle Australia out in the second innings and chase a 328-run target and not a 400-plus target.

Impressive Bowling, Australia's Prolonged Second Innings and Rain Might Help India Retain Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Shardul Thakur: The 28-year-old Mumbaikar had his own struggles to deal with. Thakur is on the wrong side of twenties and didn't have much time on his hands if he wanted to become an India regular. He was also attracting a lot of bad press because of his obesity, even Sachin Tendulkar asked him to reduce weight. But the seamer finally manged to land a place in the playing-eleven and made it count with his bat! He scored a counter-attacking 67 in India's first innings to reduce the first-innings deficit in Brisbane.

Washington Sundar: Sundar is not your orthodox Test-match cricketer. He is a street-smart cricketer who can be a really handy spinning all-rounder. That's what his fans thought until he proved all the stereotypes wrong at the Gabba and that too in style. When the chips were down, Sundar scored a magical 67 runs in India's first innings and with Shardul Thakur shared a 100-plus stand to defy the Aussies. The momentum shifted from there only.

Shubman Gill: Gill has proved that he can be a better alternative to Prithvi Shaw. After Adelaide debacle, he got opportunities in all three games and went onto register scores of 45, 35, 50, 31, 7 & 91. Especially the innings in Brisbane will make people remember him for a long time. After Rohit's departure early in the innings, Gill's counter-punching knock made all the difference and pushed Australia on the back-foot. This really made India believe that they can overhaul 300-plus total with the conditions on offer.

Impressive Bowling, Australia's Prolonged Second Innings and Rain Might Help India Retain Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Cheteshwar Pujara: Throughout the whole tournament, Pujara was likened to the Pujara of 2018-19 tour to Australia. Reason: He wasn't getting the big scores he is known for. But he managed to end the tour on a high, scoring 56 runs where he took a lot of balls on his body. We are sure, he must be nursing those injuries in the dressing room with a warm smile when Pant hit those winning runs.

Rishabh Pant: Last but not the least, Rishabh Pant was the ex-factor between the two sides. He was promoted in Sydney earlier in similar situation, and now he was promoted in Brisbane and didn't he deliver? He stepped out to Nathan Lyon, cut Mitchell Starc and wasn't afraid to eke out quick singles in between. This was by all means a fifth-day pitch but Pant would never pay heed to the warnings. He eventually ended up scoring 83 unbeaten runs to take India home.

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