India’s tail wags defiantly to avoid follow-on on yet another stop-start day in Brisbane | Cricket News

Akash Deep (L) fist bumps with Jasprit Bumrah on Day 4 of the third Test between Australia and India at the Gabba in Brisbane. (AP)

Indian batting struggling, fighting and striving to survive against Australia in Australia is not new. It used to be a regular feature in the 90s and 2000s. It was the definining characteristic of India’s historic win in 2020-21 as well. Hanuma Vihari provided the rearguard alongside R Ashwin in Sydney. Navdeep Saini didn’t score a run at the Gabba but bravely stood at the other end as Rishabh Pant created history.
It was the turn of Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep to provide the heroics this time. When Ravindra Jadeja departed, India were on 213/9 in response to Australia’s 445, which meant they were still 33 shy of avoiding follow-on.

It had been a while since India had been made to bat again by an opposition. For that you have to go all the way back to 2011 when an MS Dhoni-led India fell 291 runs short and eventually collpased to an innings defeat.
The odds of a follow-on looked possible once again. The Aussie bowling attack looked good despite the absence of Josh Hazlewood – who had walked off the field early in the day with a calf issue. So the bowling effort was being rotated between Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon with Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head providing brief support.
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It did help the Australian bowling that they were getting intermittent breaks courtesy rain for a fourth day running. There were fewer interruptions than Monday but only 57.5 overs were possible by the end of the things, with players walking off due to bad light.
All of Starc, Cummins and Lyon tried their best to see of Bumrah and Akash Deep but didn’t succeed. Instead of cornering themselves, the Indian tail went into attacking mode.

Highest Score at No. 11 at the Gabba

Cummins, who had done plenty of damage from around the wicket at Adelaide Oval, tried the same approach this time but was hooked away for a six by Bumrah. There was luck involved, too. Akash Deep sent a cut shot over wide gully to exacerbate Australia’s frustration.
In the 75th over, Akash Deep brought on four more, evading a jumping gully fielder, and that was the moment that could define this series. As the ball raced off to the third man boundary, India had avoided follow-on. The significance of it was not lost in the Indian dressing room as an animated and charged Virat Kohli celebrated and high-fived coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Rohit Sharma.

Those celebrations got bigger and Kohli‘s expression turned from joy to sheer surprise a ball later when Akash Deep cleared his front leg and pummelled a massive six over mid-wicket. You could tell this was not an effort to buckle, but to go down with a serious crack at the hosts.
No wonder then that Akash Deep and Bumrah walked off the field all smiles. They were duly applauded and deserved every bit of it.
KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja’s fifties have largely been the reason India avoided follow-on but the tail’s fight, worth an unbroken 39 runs, was equally decisive.

Highest 10th-Wicket Partnership for India at the Gabba

The numbers tell their own story: The stand between Bumrah and Akash Deep is the highest 10th-wicket partnership for India at the Gabba and the second-highest overseas last-wicket partnership since 2020. Interestingly, Bumrah was involved in the biggest stand as well (worth 50 runs, alongside Mohammed Siraj, against England).
Akash Deep, who remained unbeaten on 27, with India 252/9, registered the second-highest score for a No. 11 Indian batter in Australia and the third-highest overall at the venue.
When Bumrah and Akash Deep come out to bat again on Wednesday, they will do so in the knowledge that the biggest hurdle is past them. Now, they have to chip away as much as possible with a draw the most likely outcome.