Aus vs Ind 4th BGT Test – No Gabba 2021 at MCG 2024 as India lose a Test they don’t need

There were already 50,000 people in the morning to watch the final day’s replay of the Boxing Day Test.

Four outcomes were possible.

It was AUD 10 entry for adults and free for children under 15.

A man had come in with a sign that said “Chase master Kohli” and on the back it said “All the way from Canada”.

India needed 340 to win. 92 overs to play. This was a day made for India’s two celebrated senior players. A day to atone because it was a day of life. By the end of it, they were in a tortured place.

Rohit had come through a very disciplined, hour-long examination of the three Australian fast bowlers. Twenty two without loss after 15 overs. Seven balls after the drinks break, however, Rohit went for a big shot. A flick over the line and the ball went 180 degrees in the opposite direction into Mitchell Marsh’s hands at gully.

“When you come here to chase 340 – we did that last time, so there’s no way we didn’t think about the target,” Rohit said. “But to reach that goal, you have to lay the foundation.”

India were 33 for 3 in the 27th over. They had lost three wickets for 11 runs on a pitch where Australia’s no. 10 and 11 had a fifty partnership. “The wicket slowed down quite a bit,” said Rohit. So if you wanted to sit in, you could. If you wanted to support your defense, you could.

Kohli fell to the sucker in the over before lunch.

“They bat, sometimes they perform, sometimes they don’t. But it’s much more painful if you don’t get the results you want (as a team). But why don’t you get the results? It happens when you have the opportunity to get hold of a game, you must”

Rohit Sharma

Mitchell Starc was the bowler. He wasn’t 100%. “He’s a warrior,” gushed Pat Cummins at last.

But it was a point of vulnerability. Australia’s batting on day five was partly to get themselves as big a score as possible and partly because their batting frame of a left-arm quick needed to be managed a bit. Cummins was seen putting his arm around Starc as he began another spell.

India did something really cool at the Gabba in 2021. But the coolest thing about it is that it helped them win that series and that was only possible because they were able to come out with a draw in Sydney. They lasted five overs longer (97) than they should have here (92), even though they had only eight wickets to work with. Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin held a full-strength Australian attack – one including their regular all-rounder Cameron Green – and pretty much waited for ever. There were three no. 11 under them: Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. They could all have put their feet up.

Pant showed such restraint. Of all his innings that have lasted more than 15 balls, only three others have seen him forget to score as much as he did today. And they lasted no longer than 33 balls. This one went up to 104. India took time out of the game. They put overs into the legs of the Australian bowlers which, had the series remained 1-1 and considering the short turnaround to Sydney, would have been a tangential advantage. They were getting closer and closer to safety. They had seven wickets in hand to negotiate the last 38 overs. They failed.

“The pain of losing a Test match is more,” Rohit said. “They bat, sometimes they perform, sometimes they don’t. But it’s much more painful if you don’t get the results you want (as a team). But why don’t you get the results? It happens when you have the opportunity to grasp a game then you must have bowling or batting, batsmen or bowlers, both have the same role.

Cummins bet that Pant and Jaiswal, having seen off the main bowlers, might try their hand against a part-timer. Travis Head entered. Pant took over the long square boundaries at the MCG even though Australia had three men stationed there and was caught at deep midwicket. Jaiswal, who ended up as India’s last recognized batsman, went for another aggressive shot, trying to pull a slower bouncer from Cummins and running behind to the wicketkeeper. Ravindra Jadeja received an unplayable ball. Earlier, KL Rahul had received an unplayable ball. The other batsmen fell to shots that weren’t really conducive to what they were trying to achieve – what an injured batsman and an injured bowler who could bat achieved in Sydney.

“Today we had the option to win or draw the match,” Rohit said. “We tried, but a lot of the guys that you’re talking about, the ones that have scored runs, could have played longer. But they’re new, the more they play, they’re going to learn.

“Sometimes I know you want to reach the target, you want to chase the target, you want to be positive and stuff like that. But you also have to be realistic sometimes. And get six overs (India needed 228 in off 38 overs) on that track, it seems a bit harsh.”

Cummins rated this win as his best. Certainly something to rival Edgbaston 2023. Three hundred and fifty thousand people came through the gates and created a raucous atmosphere. The game ebbed and flowed. Both teams had periods when they were under the pump and struggled through. And really, in the end it went to the one who made the fewest mistakes. Australia had no confusion between the wickets. India did so and 153 for 2 – a position from which they could at least fight for a first innings lead – suddenly became 159 for 5.

Rohit and his men played catch-up from that point and try as they might, it just wasn’t going to happen. In the end, they were stuck in the dressing room watching their bowlers, who have given everything on this tour, get raked over the coals. Washington Sundar had so many close catchers that Mitchell Marsh, who had been asked to join them, did not know where to go because there was no room. Eventually, Steven Smith moved out to the right and pretty much became a second wicketkeeper to facilitate a field that had a silly mid-off, silly point, two gaps, a slip, short leg and leg slip.

Bumrah’s wicket – the penultimate one Australia needed to win – produced such a visceral roar that the seagulls perched atop the MCG roof scattered as a group; fleeing from the scene of danger. Eventually they took over the land. Dozens of them were in the outfield as day turned to night. The MCG had become peaceful. However, India looks far from peaceful. They have to digest a loss that need not have happened.