On January 19, 2021, India defeated Australia on the final day of the fourth and the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to register their second consecutive Test series win down under. Although, this wasn’t the first time that India won a Test series in Australia as they already broke their 71-year drought in the BGT 2018-19. However, the 2020-21 BGT series win turned out to be one of the most memorable for the Indian fans, as India were playing without most of their key players that year including skipper Virat Kohli.
India received a major setback in the first match of the 2020-21 BGT as they were bowled out for just 36 runs in the second innings of the Day-Night Test in Adelaide. Despite taking a lead in the first innings, India suffered a humiliating defeat in the first match and were written off by many cricketing experts to win the Test as many believed that the Aussies would white-wash them by 4-0. Apart from that, India got another setback as their skipper, Virat Kohli, who led the Indian team to a historic Test series win down under in 2018-19, wasn’t available after the match due to personal reasons. In his place, Ajinkya Rahane took charge as skipper for the next three games.
India scripted one of the greatest comeback to register historic BGT win in 2021
After a setback in the first game, India needed to win the second game at Melbourne Cricket Ground to make a comeback in the series. After that, stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane led from the front and went on to play the captain’s knock of 112(223) runs as India defeated Australia by eight wickets to level the series by 1-1. After that, the visitors showed great resilience in the third Test in Sydney as the match ended in a draw. Now, the series decider was set to be played at Gabba, Brisbane, where Australia haven’t a single from the last 32 years at that time.
With the help of half-centuries by Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar, India went on to overcome early fall of wickets as India left just 33 runs from Australia’s first innings total. After that, playing his debut Test series, Mohammed Siraj took a five-wicket haul in the second innings as Australia gave a target of 328 runs to India. On a final day of the Test match, Shubman Gill top scored with 91(146) runs, while Cheteshwar Pujara scored 56(211) runs. After that, Rishabh Pant remained unbeaten on 89*(138) runs and scored a boundary with three overs to spare as India registered one of the greatest Test series wins.
