The perfect Test: The bat, the ball and 'The Wall'

Dec. 19, 2020: India registered their lowest-ever Test score of 36 in the first Test against Australia.

Jan. 11, 2021: An injury-ravaged India batted for 131 overs to draw the third Test match against Australia.

And in those interim 21 days, India also managed to win a Test match, the second in the series.

A turnaround that hardly anyone foresaw. Shane Warne famously predicted that Australia would blow away India, an opinion supported by England's Michael Vaughan. A host of other experts backed by an army of disappointed Indian fans and upbeat Australians donned the hats of fortune-tellers and stacked the odds against India.

Were they wrong to predict an Indian collapse? No. India were battling not only a lack of form but were also climbing the steep wall of misfortune.

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The 36 all out is an aberration and tragedies like that are dealt with effectively in this modern professional era. Yes, a colossal defeat can effectively crush the team's morale but a formidable side can pick themselves up, dust off the dirt and charge forward.

And what if the side is depleted right after the loss? What if the side needs massive reinforcements to field a decent first XI, let alone put up a fight and dream of a turnaround?

It is then that the narrow stream of a tragic but one-off collapse broadens into the river of survival, where one needs to swim against the tide. Virat Kohli, who is not just the captain but also the best batsman of this Indian team, headed back home on paternity leave. Mohammad Shami, the frontline fast bowler and among India's best, was out injured. Suddenly, India were without two important Test players, and to add to their woes, Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal were hunting for form in the opening slots. A hobbling batting department shook hands with a depleted bowling line-up over the expected misery that awaited India.

In the second Test in Melbourne, India fielded two debutants, Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj. Ajinkya Rahane, searching for redemption with the bat, took his position as the stand-in captain. That India won the match is more than a simple tale of a comeback. It is a testament to their mental strength, to the hunger to fight with their backs to the wall and the courage to attack relentlessly.

If the second Test showed India's attacking prowess, the Sydney match highlighted their defensive solidity. Since the advent of T20 cricket, defence has become a forgotten art in the game, abandoned to the past. Batsmen have improvised an arsenal of shots with heavier bats and boundaries seem to welcome the assault. This evolution put the game into top gear and did not spare Test cricket. The pace of scoring runs increased as strokeplay and attack became the norm of the age.

ALSO READ: Pant, Pujara fall but Vihari 'The Wall' stands tall as India draw Test against Australia

That is why, when Cheteshwar Pujara departed for 50 after playing 176 balls in the first innings at Sydney, critics slammed him left, right and centre for slow batting and a lack of intent. It was, one could say, the generic treatment meted out to those deemed to be misfits in cricket's fast lane. In the second innings, it was the same Pujara who consumed 205 balls, the most by any Indian batsman. When the need of the hour was to survive, the defence suddenly seemed became a celebrated art and patience once again reared its head as a significant element of batting in Test cricket.

Rishabh Pant slaughtered the Australian bowling while batting with Pujara, keeping the laws of binary intact. He muscled his way to a breathtaking 97, raising hopes of an unlikely victory. When he fell, however, more than 50 overs were still left to play. Pujara made the long walk back nine overs later.

It was time for a classic Test match scenario. Almost 45 overs are left on the last day, the lower middle-order batting is exposed and the bowling side is looking for a decisive breakthrough. For the next 259 balls, Ravichandran Ashwin and a limping Hanuma Vihari launched an unbreachable rearguard action that staved off defeat. It is a tale of carving out an almost impossible draw. One wicket would have meant that another injured player Ravindra Jadeja would have to come out to bat to safeguard the tailenders from facing the Australian fast bowling. The 131 overs that India batted is their fourth-longest innings in a drawn Test in the fourth innings, and the magnitude of the feat places it on par with the Oval Test against England in 1979 or against Pakistan in the same year.

Incidentally, this performance comes on the birthday of Rahul Dravid, the 'Wall' who was known for his impregnable defence. In a way, Pujara, hamstrung Vihari and Ashwin crafted the perfect tribute to the great man on Monday, fending off the bodyline volleys of the Australian pacers. The serenity that prevailed in Sydney after the silence of the chin music revived memories of the Dravidian era when steely resolve and a dead-bat defence halted many fiery fast bowlers.

Sceptics can point out that the pitch was slow, that the Australian bowlers bowled straight on the middle stump, seldom attacking the line outside off stump and dropped catches when chances were created.

Nothing, however, can take the sheen off India's effort. It is worth mentioning that Umesh Yadav was also knocked out of the series with an injury, leading to Navdeep Saini's debut in Sydney. Rohit Sharma, who has a poor overseas record, replaced the faltering Agarwal, a move that seemed more desperate than anything else.

India are likely to be without the services of Vihari and Jadeja in the fourth Test in Brisbane. If finishing the series on a positive note seems to be too big an ask, one can find comfort in the fact that this team, however down they might be, are never out. The welcome habit of forming a great wall of resistance against adversity can plug the gaping holes in the much-depleted and injury-rife squad. Irrespective of the result in the final showdown, India's show of gritty determination against Australia in their den, can pave the way for a new dawn in the team's cricketing consciousness.