
New Delhi: A young Indian cricket team, led by Ajinkya Rahane, defied all odds Monday to win a Test match at the Gabba in Brisbane, otherwise called the Australia’s ‘fortress’. Unsurprisingly, Twitterers in India erupted with joy. And congratulatory messages poured in from all quarters. Here are some of them.
Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian politicians showered petals of praise on India, hardly able to contain their excitement over the historic win. Here ares some reactions by Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and NCP President Sharad Pawar.
We are all overjoyed at the success of the Indian Cricket Team in Australia. Their remarkable energy and passion was visible throughout. So was their stellar intent, remarkable grit and determination. Congratulations to the team! Best wishes for your future endeavours.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 19, 2021
Hats off to Indian Cricket Team for registering a historic series win. Entire nation is proud of your remarkable achievement.
Well played Team India!
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) January 19, 2021
Congratulations #TeamIndia for this fabulous victory!
Historic moment for Indian cricket as India beat the Australians in Test Cricket at the Gabba, Brisbane after 32 years. Well done! #IndiavsAustralia— Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) January 19, 2021
Time to celebrate.🇮🇳#TeamIndia achieves a historic win at the Gabba & clinch the series!
Young members of the team are all legends in the making.
Congratulations boys.
Keep the winning habit👍#INDvsAUS @BCCI @ajinkyarahane88 @RishabhPant17 @imVkohli @GautamGambhir pic.twitter.com/4w1TwBTvJ5— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) January 19, 2021
The Indian team was busy celebrating its famous victory, but Ravichandran Ashwin, who missed the Brisbane Test due to an injury in the Sydney Test, took time out for a dig at Australian captain Tim Paine, who had sledged him in Sydney.
Good evening from Gabba!! I am sorry I couldn’t play here but thanks for hosting us and playing some hard cricket during these tough times. We will remember this series forever! @tdpaine36 @CricketAus
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) January 19, 2021
And there were words of appreciation as well as some generous gifts from the BCCI bosses.
Just a remarkable win…To go to Australia and win a test series in this way ..will be remembered in the history of indian cricket forever ..Bcci announces a 5 cr bonus for the team ..The value of this win is beyond any number ..well done to every member of the touring party..
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) January 19, 2021
The @BCCI has announced INR 5 Crore as team bonus. These are special moments for India Cricket. An outstanding display of character and skill #TeamIndia #AUSvIND #Gabba
— Jay Shah (@JayShah) January 19, 2021
Likewise, legends like West Indies cricketer Sir Vivian Richards didn’t give this match a miss — and applauded the entire series.
You don't just play & love test cricket for nothing.
Brilliant game. Congratulations India on the win, & Australia for a great series! #Testcricket #AUSvIND
— Sir Vivian Richards (@ivivianrichards) January 19, 2021
This is the tweet-prediction that former English cricket captain Michael Vaughan will never live down — at least not as long as we remind him of it.
Told you all India would lose 4-0
If they lost in Adelaide … 😜😜😜— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) January 19, 2021
But he has taken it on the chin….
I seem to getting a lot of tweets from #India !!! 😜
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) January 19, 2021
Australian spin wizard Shane Warne, a TV commentator throughout the series, was among the first from the Australian cricket fraternity to congratulate the Indian team.
Congrats to the Indian cricket team @BCCI That’s one of the best series wins I can ever remember on Aust soil & to do it after being bowled out for 36, plus a depleted squad-shows tremendous character, resilience, courage & belief. Just fantastic @RaviShastriOfc @ajinkyarahane88
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) January 19, 2021
As for India’s legion of great players, from Sachin Tendulkar saying we discovered a hero in every match to inimitable Virender Sehwag singing out ‘Spiderman, Spiderman’ to Rishabh Pant and the likes of Anil Kumble, V.V.S. Laxman, Gautam Gambhir in between, man, were they proud or what?
EVERY SESSION WE DISCOVERED A NEW HERO.
Every time we got hit, we stayed put & stood taller. We pushed boundaries of belief to play fearless but not careless cricket. Injuries & uncertainties were countered with poise & confidence. One of the greatest series wins!
Congrats India. pic.twitter.com/ZtCChUURLV— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 19, 2021
Historic series win for Team India! Youngsters delivered when it mattered, with Gilll and Pant in the forefront. Hats off to Ravi Shastri and the support staff for their part in this turnaround! So so proud of this bunch, this is one for the ages👏👏👏 #AUSvsIND
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) January 19, 2021
Many congratulations Team India for the fabulous show of character and skill. A wonderful test series with the perfect result. Hopefully the end of discussion of 4 day tests for a while. #INDvsAUS
— Anil Kumble (@anilkumble1074) January 19, 2021
This is what a billion goosebumps feel like! Proud Indian! 🇮🇳 #INDvsAUS
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) January 19, 2021
India had many players injured, but what has been injured more has been the Australian arrogance & pride.
The test series has been like a movie with every member of Indian Team being a hero & some of them Superheroes.
Spiderman Spiderman tune churaya dil ka chain @RishabhPant17 pic.twitter.com/5psVFjp5Ww— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) January 19, 2021
People of Indian-origin across the world were bleary-eyed watching the live stream. These included Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak.
One of the greatest test series wins ever. Congrats India and well played Australia, what a series #INDvsAUS
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) January 19, 2021
What a match! Congratulations India on a historic win.
Can we sleep now? #AUSvIND https://t.co/a8M7L4JWTx
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) January 19, 2021
As for Bollywood, two superstars, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, echoed the sentiment of every cricket fan in the country.
T 3787 – INDIAAAAA .. INDIA !! INDIAAAA .. INDIA .. 🇮🇳
THOK DIYA .. Australia ko .. 💪💪
INCREDIBLE VICTORY .. badhai badhai badhai .. !!
Body blows ! Injury ! Racist abuse !गले ते हथ ना रक्खीं , ठोक देयाँगे !!!!
INCREDIBLE INDIA !!Don't ever underestimate INDIA !! pic.twitter.com/TPFxNbODU8
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) January 19, 2021
What an absolutely marvellous victory for our team!!! Stayed up all night to watch it unfold ball by ball. Now will sleep peacefully for a bit and savour this historic moment. Love to all our boys and greatly admire their resilience to power us through to this win. Chak De India!
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) January 19, 2021
Some people took an unusual view of the game, like comedian Akash Banerjee who perfectly describes how Indian bowlers destroyed the Aussies.
This one was the best from @ICC
Last time #Australia lost a #GabbaTest..
Baby #ViratKohli was 16 days old 🤗👶
This win by #TeamIndia is indeed EPIC pic.twitter.com/4jSbuNkFRQ— Akash Banerjee (@TheDeshBhakt) January 19, 2021
And here’s how an Australian decoded Team India’s big win.
They had more scans than runs in Adelaide, used almost every professional player who'd been in quarantine and overcame a full-strength Australian bowling line up to win at the ground no one wins at by chasing over 300. Put them on the walls of every school in India.
— Jarrod Kimber (@ajarrodkimber) January 19, 2021
And finally, listen to Sunil Gavaskar speak moments after India won the game, the series – and every cricket lover’s heart.
Stop everything and just listen to Sunil Gavaskar
The celebration!pic.twitter.com/GcvdPGnWPg
— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) January 19, 2021
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it
India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.
But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.