India shine in Brisbane, seal Border-Gavaskar series 2-1: Records broken
A counter-attacking inning from Rishabh Pant guided India to one of the greatest Test victories at the Gabba. The Indian wicket-keeper pulled back the momentum in the final session on Day 5 after the defiant Cheteshwar Pujara departed. Earlier, a blistering 91 by Shubman Gill bolstered India's innings. With this, India registered their first-ever Test win in Brisbane. Here are the records broken.
Batting first, Australia put up 369, riding on a magnificent ton from Marnus Labuschagne (108). In reply, Team India fired 336, with Washington Sundar (62) and Shardul Thakur (67) being at the helm. The tourists bowled out Australia for 294 as Mohammed Siraj took his maiden five-wicket haul. It all went down to the final hour of the Test, wherein India chased down 328.
India have yet again retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by winning the series 2-1. The tourists have scripted history by winning their maiden Test at the Gabba, having played their first Test here in 1947. Prior to this Test, Australia had been unbeaten at the Gabba for almost 22 years. The last team to beat Australia on this venue was West Indies (1988).
On Day 5, Pant surpassed the long-standing record of legend MS Dhoni. He became the fastest Indian wicket-keeper to complete 1,000 Test runs (27 innings). Meanwhile, Dhoni had taken 32 innings to do so. The other Indian wicketkeepers to have scored 1,000 Test runs are Farokh Engineer (36), Wriddhiman Saha (37), Nayan Mongia (39), Syed Kirmani (45), and Kiran More (50).
Pujara yet again proved his mettle as India attempted to chase 328. He suffered quite a few blows to his wrist and head against the Australian bowlers, but continued to fight anyhow. He showed terrific resistance, and eventually got dismissed for 56 off 211 balls. Notably, Pujara has now faced 200+ balls in Australia the most number of times (6) among Indians.
Australian middle-order batsman Steve Smith reached a special milestone in the Brisbane Test. With a half-century in the second innings, Smith became Australia's eighth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket. He (7,540) surpassed the tally of former batsman Mark Taylor, who aggregated 7,525 Test runs in his career. Smith amassed 55 off 74 balls, a knock studded with 7 fours.
Sundar and Thakur rescued India from what could have been a humiliating batting collapse in the first innings. The duo staged an astounding fight-back after India's middle-order perished. They added 123 runs for the seventh wicket, the third-highest 100+ seventh-wicket partnership for India in Australia. This also turned out to be the second-highest seventh-wicket partnership by a visiting team at the Gabba
Debutant Sundar slammed his maiden half-century in his first Test innings, after taking three wickets with the ball. Interestingly, he has become the second Indian to record a 50+ score and take three-plus wickets (each in debut innings) after Dattu Phadkar (51 and 3/14 vs Australia, 1947/48). He is the fifth Indian to do so overall (each in either innings).
Mohammed Siraj emerged as India's standout bowler in the second innings. He bowled in tandem with Thakur, disarraying the Australian middle-order. Notably, he made the most of the cracks that proliferated on the Gabba track. This made him remove the dangerous Smith with an absolute ripper. Eventually, Siraj scalped his maiden five-for in Test cricket, having registered his career-best bowling figures of 5/73.
Top-order batsman Marnus Labuschagne slammed his fifth Test ton in the first innings. His blistering knock steadied Australia's ship after the two openers David Warner and Marcus Harris departed in quick succession. With a 204-ball 108, he registered his third consecutive 50+ score in the series. His scores in the series read as - 47, 6, 48, 28, 91, 73, 108, and 25.
Fast bowler T Natarajan was handed his debut Test cap in Brisbane. Natarajan made it to all formats in mere 44 days, the fewest an Indian has ever taken. He finished with figures of 3/78 in the first innings, the second-best figures in debut Test innings by a left-arm pacer after RP Singh - 4/89 vs Pakistan, 2005/06.
