On Sunday, in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, India secured a 2-1 triumph after the fourth and final Test concluded with a dull draw at Motera. Australia commenced the day at 3/0, having surrendered a first innings lead of 91 runs.
Despite battling through the hot and humid weather for 72 hours, they only managed to achieve a score of 175/2. As there was little chance of a definite outcome, both team captains agreed to call it even. Matthew Kuhnemann, a tailender, who batted as a night watchman for the injured Usman Khawaja the previous evening, was dismissed early on the next day by Ravichandran Ashwin after being caught plumb in front of the stumps.
Subsequently, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne took over and formed a partnership of 139 runs, with both players achieving their respective half-centuries. Although the South Australian opener appeared to be on track for his sixth Test century on the flat deck, he was eventually undone on 90 by Axar Patel’s outstanding delivery.
The left-arm spinner pitched a ball at a good length on the fifth stump, enticing Head into a booming drive, only for the SG ball to spin sharply and destroy the batter’s off-stump. Interestingly, this was Axar Patel’s 50th Test dismissal, making him the fastest Indian to reach the feat in terms of the number of balls bowled, surpassing Jasprit Bumrah by over 200 deliveries.
As usual, the incoming Steve Smith appeared to be a model of solidity, facing 59 balls for his 10 runs and hitting two boundaries in the process. He formed an unbeaten partnership of 22 runs with Labuschagne, which encountered some hilarity late in the day when Rohit, the Men in Blue skipper, handed the ball to Shubman Gill for the first time in the specialist batter’s career.
The opener restricted the duo to just one run in his over with some off-spinners. Cheteshwar Pujara then added to the spectators’ amusement by taking the red cherry in his hand next. The Saurashtra-born cricketer was the first to bowl leg-spin in the game and had enthusiastic support in the dugout from his Ranji skipper Jaydev Unadkat, who excitedly clapped after each delivery.