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V.K. SANTOSH KUMAR
There is no concept of a draw in American sports. Win is the result.
So, whether it is baseball, basketball or football, the goal is to get past the opponent and whoop in joy.
In cricket too players want to win. But sometimes they have to dig in and fight doggedly to save their side from defeat. There is great thrill in watching them earn a draw against all odds.
India produced one such heroic feat on Monday, after they were in a difficult situation.
The visitors had to score 407 runs in their second innings on the final day against a mean Australian attack to win the third Test in Sydney.
Early in the morning, after play started, most pundits declared their task impossible when they were reduced to 102 for 3, with captain Ajinkya Rahane getting out for 4.
Few reckoned the rest of the batsmen, among whom were two with a badly bruised elbow and a broken thumb, could tackle the fearsome Australian fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins on a pitch that that had varying bounce.
Indian batsmen traditionally have a weakness against quality fast bowling - mainly because they are brought up on benign tracks at home. But on Monday they showed tremendous pluck, character and courage which was a treat to watch on television.
Rishabh Pant, who could not keep wickets during Australia's second innings because of a bruised elbow, went in at the fall of Rahane's wicket and smashed 97 off 118 balls.
His explosive approach encouraged the usually dour Cheteshwar Pujara (77 off 205 balls) to speed up and at 250 for 3 it looked like India would pull off an improbable victory.
But then, in going for a boundary to post his century, Pant got out. Soon after, Pujara too was bowled by Hazlewood to leave India on 272-5.
The pressure was on the Indians when Ravichandran Ashwin, predominantly a bowler, joined Hanuma Vihari at the crease. It became worse when Vihari pulled his right hamstring and could not run between the wickets.
The duo had to play out 41.2 overs as the Australian bowlers breathed fire. India's only other recognised batsman Ravindra Jadeja had a broken thumb and would bat only if necessary.
In the best rearguard action seen in Australia since 1971, Vihari (23 not out off 161 balls) and Ashwin (39 not out off 128 balls), held the Australians at bay for more than three hours to give India a draw. Together, they battled for 256 deliveries, the fourth-longest partnership recorded for the sixth wicket in the fourth innings of a Test in a win or a draw, as India finished on 334 for 5.
Commendably, they took several body blows, but never flinched from their task. Ashwin was suffering from back spasms too.
Australian gamesmanship was also at a high. Captain Tim Paine tried to unsettle Ashwin with verbal barbs (for which he apologised after the match), while other players constantly complained that the Indian batsmen were wasting too much time at the crease.
It also came to light later that Steve Smith erased Pant's batting guard - a mark made at the crease to know where the batsman's feet are in relation to the wicket - though the senior Australian player claimed that his action was inadvertent.
The Indians had to bear the Australian side's "under-hand tactics" on the back of the alleged racial abuse of fast bowler Mohammed Siraj a day earlier by a section of the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Creditably, India braved all the missiles hurled at them to draw the match and keep the series tied at 1-1, after Australia won the first Test in Adelaide and India the second in Melbourne. They were also without regular skipper Virat Kohli, who went back home after the first Test for the birth of his baby girl, and key players Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and K.L. Rahul who are injured.
"Even a half-strength, battered, bruised, injured, ridiculed, abused, bio-bubble fatigued India is difficult for a full strength Australia to beat at home. No praise high enough for this herculean effort," tweeted former India batsman Wasim Jaffer.
Australian cricket writer Daniel Brettig said: "India... called out racial abuse and batted 131 overs against Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon for a draw so they can still retain the trophy. I'm not sure there's ever been a salvage job to match that."
What possibly cost Australia a win was jittery captaincy and over-dependence on the fast bowlers.
Paine, who appeared preoccupied with unsettling the Indian batsmen verbally, dropped three catches, including a crucial one of Vihari's, while the fast bowlers persisted too much with short-pitched bowling.
Experienced off-spinner Nathan Lyon could not produce the breakthrough. And Paine again appeared to miss a trick as he did not give enough overs to part-time leg-spinners Marnus Labuschagne and Smith.
India's defiant display has made the final Test in Brisbane, starting today, interesting. Both sides have injury worries and Australia have not lost at the Gabba since 1988.
"India... called out racial abuse and batted 131 overs against Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon for a draw so they can still retain the trophy. I'm not sure there's ever been a salvage job to match that."
- Australian cricket writer Daniel Brettig
