Drab Ahmedabad TestAn aberration to thrilling season finals of Border Gavaskar Trophy

By Saurabh KumarThe fourth and final Test between India and Australia was billed as one for the ages with India’s reputation as an impenetrable fortress at stake at the world’s largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.

Rohit Sharma’s men had already retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by winning the first two Tests. However, the reversal in the third Test in Indore sparked new life into the contest. Australia had fought hard despite going 0-2 down and being plagued by injuries. Steve Smith, who stood in for regular captain Pat Cummins in the final two Tests, led admirably to script a remarkable comeback.

Smith was determined to repeat an Indore-Esque performance in Ahmedabad and level the series while India’s journey towards another World Test Championship final had again reached the Ahmedabad junction. The Rohit Sharma-led side needed nothing but a win in the fourth and final Test to make it the fourth successive BGT series triumph and to secure a place in the World Test Championship final.

Also, a win for Australia in the Ahmedabad Test would have tied the series 2-2 and produced one of the greatest comeback performances by a visiting team in India in recent memory. Australia in 2004 and England in 2012 claimed series victories against India in India. In short, the Ahmedabad Test had all the ingredients to be one of the most memorable BGT series finals with both India and Australia fighting tooth and nail for pride and prize. However, a fantastic series filled with high-quality spin bowling, incredible batting, a spectacular batting collapse, and plenty of discussion about the surfaces used ended with one of the drabbest draws Test cricket has seen in recent memory.

After the pomp and ceremony surrounding the arrival of the respective Prime Ministers on Day 1 of the fourth Test, Australian captain Steve Smith won the toss and opted to bat first. After opting to bat first, Australia produced a pretty good batting performance in the series, but the runs came at a not-so-healthy rate on a pitch that appeared to be ideal for batting. Usman Khawaja maintained his superb form, scoring a massive century but falling short of a double century, finishing with 180 runs off 422 balls (strike rate below 50).

While the spotlight was on him, Cameron Green did his job on the other end, scoring his first Test century and those runs came at a brisk pace. They had a huge total of 480 runs but it took them 167.2 overs and almost two days to post this total. Indian bowlers struggled to pick up wickets on Day 1, but Ravichandran Ashwin shone on Day 2, picking up a six-wicket haul to keep the visitors at bay, while Mohammad Shami also contributed with two crucial wickets early in the innings.

Australia would have believed that they had a genuine chance of putting pressure on the hosts and coming close to a win, but that belief was quickly dashed as India batted better than the hosts. On Day 2, the openers batted for 10 overs, and it was the in-form Shubman Gill who set the tone with a stunning century.

The star of the show, however, was Virat Kohli, who completed his 28th Test century, the last of which came at the end of 2019. They have six partnerships of 50 runs or more, with the highest being 162 between Kohli and Axar Patel, with the latter missing out on a century. After nearly two days of batting, India had a 91-run lead and would have thought they had a real chance of a favourable result given the Aussies’ recent collapses.

In fact, while India and Australia were seeing out the final day of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Ahmedabad, New Zealand and Sri Lanka played a thrilling final day of the first Test in Christchurch on Monday. While New Zealand needed 285 on the final day in Christchurch, Australia had just begun their second innings at the start of Day 5 in the Ahmedabad Test, which was heading towards a draw. However, the wicket did not deteriorate significantly, and Australia were able to easily see out the final day to secure the draw.

The Ahmedabad Test ended in a dab draw, a rather dull conclusion to an otherwise exciting BGT series that saw three 3-day Tests. There was no fairytale story at the end of the BGT. Australia and India drew the final match, allowing the Rohit Sharma-led side to win the BGT trophy for the fourth time in a row. India had to rely on New Zealand, who played a role in helping the Rohit Sharma-led side confirm their berth in the World Test Championship 2021-23 final. This has to be the most boring final Test in the last four Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, considering how India secured an emphatic win in the Dharamshala Test in 2017, forcing Australia to capitulate in the Sydney Test in 2019 if not for the rain and breached the Gabba fortress on the final of the series in 2021.

Test cricket has seen many draw matches but the lack of intent to force a result in Ahmedabad from both India and Australia was baffling. Especially in times when England under the able leadership of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum have completely changed the way the traditional five-day games are played with their ‘Bazball’ approach, the Ahmedabad Test will be remembered as an aberration to all recent season finals of the last few BGT series.