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India vs Australia: How 'humble' boys tamed Aussies at Fort Gabba!

India vs Australia: How did these 'humble' boys tame Aussies at Fort Gabba! Cricketers like Mohammad Siraj, T Natarajan and Shardul Thakur stood up ultimate test.

India beat Australia by 3 wickets in the fourth Test at Gabba to win the series 2-1

Brisbane, January 19: T Natarajan. Mohammad Siraj. Washington Sundar. Navdeep Saini. Shardul Thakur. In some other time, these cricketers could have been watching on TV India battling Australia in an away Test series. Or could have been playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 in some empty stadium away from camera.

After all, they are the T20 boys. And Test cricket is for real men, as we have been told by our elders.

It is a form of cricket that is generally played by cricketers who have seen and endured hardships on the field, holding a rather philosophical attitude to the game and belong to the top most echelons. But circumstances were such that these 'boys' were pushed into the 'men's world.' That too at the Gabba. No! it is the Gabbataoir. Australia have never lost a Test match there since 1988 and 30 Tests have been played at that venue in the last 32 years. It's an insane streak by any standards.

Natarajan, who hails from a fringe town in Tamil Nadu, Chinnappampatti in Salem, and Washington Sundar, another young TN cricketer, made their debut at this imposing venue. Imagine, someone staying inside the suffocating bio-secure bubble since IPL 2020 in the UAE without even seeing his new born daughter. Natarajan has done that. No complaints. No breach.

Shardul has the experience of playing for Mumbai in domestic cricket but Test cricket at Gabba is a different beast. His story too is not less impressive. Shardul battled obesity in his younger days and a word from Sachin Tendulkar helped there too and learned the fine art of fast bowling from no less than the legendary Jeff Thomson.

Saini too was brought up in a modest household. His father, a government driver, could not afford cricket gears and the pacer played tennis ball cricket for Rs 300 per match to fund his cricketing journey. Saini also has to thank former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir for noticing his talent and bringing him to Delhi to play red-ball cricket. A late bloomer but not short on talent or determination. However, a groin injury limited his bowling effort at the Gabba to just 12.5 overs across two innings.

Siraj, son of an autorickshaw driver, too offers a remarkable tale. Back in 2014, he approached B Arun, then the coach of Hyderabad and now the bowling coach of India, to get some opportunity to play higher level cricket. Arun let him play at the nets and was duly impressed and gave him more chances at various levels. But in Australia, he had to tackle more than just the opposition on the field.

The fate dealt him a grim blow as his father passed away when the pacer was in Australia, and could not travel back to India to see him one last time. It was no wonder Siraj invoked his dad every time he picked up a wicket or during a media interaction. "Had my dad been here....' It was the common sentence and emotion. But Siraj never let that personal loss affect his performance, but if anything, he channelled the sorrow in the right direction.

Siraj also saw the ugly side of Australia's spectators when a section abused him racially on the second and third of the third Test at Sydney which ended in a draw. But it did not deter him but called out the offenders in a remarkable show of mental strength.

When they entered the field there was no tinge of nerves or stage fear. But calm assurance and belief in their ability. Natarajan took 3 wickets, Siraj 6, Sundar 4 and Shardul 7. Sundar and Shardul also made fifties in the first innings and shared a hundred-stand that helped India close in on Australia's first innings total, cutting the lead to a mere 33 runs. It made a world of difference to the eventual match situation.

Some young names with no real experience at such high-level cricket tamed a formidable force at their own den. This is dream right? No! Just an unreal reality!

Story first published: Tuesday, January 19, 2021, 15:57 [IST]
Other articles published on Jan 19, 2021