A Test with a historic display of endurance and grit

It was an incredible show of endurance, grit, determination, tenacity, resilience and what have you. The script for the last day of the third Test against Australia was written by an injured Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin, who took many blows to his body. It was an epic unbeaten partnership of a mere 62 runs but made of 289 balls in nearly four hours, in the face of adversity, a last-day pitch and the world’s most fearsome bowling attack.

In the end, the third Test at Sydney - somewhat India’s lucky ground – went the distance ending in a draw, leaving the series level at 1-1. But of course, that would not have happened without contributions from almost all the batsmen, save Ajinkya Rahane. And who knows? With the electric batting of Rishabh Pant, and had Vihari not been injured, the script could have even been different and resulted in an unlikely Indian win.

The match had all the drama that any historic Test would have witnessed – rain to start with, Steve Smith returning to form with a chanceless ton, a half century from debutant Will Pucovski, another debutant Navdeep Saini taking four wickets, Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round show, catches dropped by both teams (captain Tim Paine being the main culprit in the last innings, having dropped three) and injuries to several players mainly from the Indian squad – to name some. Added to this are the condemnable incidents – two days in a row – of racist abuses hurled by Aussie spectators at the Indian players.

India's Ravichandran Ashwin embraces his teammate Hanuma Vihari at the end of the third cricket Test match between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney on January 11, 2021. Credit: AFP Photo

However, most will remember this Test because of the standout performance by the Vihari-Ashwin duo for whom this would be etched in memory. Suffering a hamstring injury in the early part of his innings and unable to run, the 27-year-old Vihari survived to make it to the Indian eleven for the Sydney Test because of injuries to others – a string of low scores in the four innings of the first two Tests had brought him to the brink of being dropped for the third.

He failed again in the first innings of this Test, getting himself run out. But what a way to get back into the reckoning. With the patience of a saint, this native of Andhra Pradesh dug in, blocking every ball that the Aussie pacers and spinner Lyon hurled at him. The runs the right-hander, who was part of the 2012 Under-19 World Cup-winning Indian side, scored (23*) may not signify much in the match statistics but the 161 balls he faced with an injured leg for nearly four hours speak volumes of a solid innings constructed with huge patience. Come to think of it – we don’t know if Vihari will play the next Test or not because of the injury. Or, even if fit, if he would be picked for the Tests against England to be played in India next month as India normally sticks to five batsmen while playing at home.

Ashwin is by no means a tail-end batsman. A player having four Test centuries to his credit, played an enormous part in India saving the match, at times lofting short-pitched deliveries nonchalantly to the boundary line. At the end, his 39 of 129 deliveries was worth its weight in gold for the team that had lost hopes when the play ended on the fourth day yesterday and again when the wickets of Rahane, Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara fell today.

Now, on to the 'Gabba' – Australia’s happy hunting ground.