Interestingly, minus the conditions and the opposition, there are uncanny similarities.
The Indian team displayed strong character after going down in the opener of the ongoing IND vs ENG Test series to pull themselves back and wrap up the series with one more match left to go. Following Rohit Sharma and Co’s fightback heroics, India legend Sunil Gavaskar drew parallels to India’s comeback victory against Australia in 2020-21.
Interestingly, minus the conditions and the opposition, there are uncanny similarities. During the Australia tour, India suffered a drubbing in the first Test in Adelaide, getting bowled out for their lowest-ever Test score of 36.
Next, then skipper Virat Kohli flew back home for the birth of his first child while multiple injuries weakened the Indian team.
First, it was Mohammed Shami, then Umesh Yadav followed by Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari. But India scripted a miracle of sorts. After losing the first Test miserably, they drew the next Test in Melbourne, won the third in Sydney before breaching the Gabba fortress to win the series 2-1.
Now if we replace the Australian conditions, exchange Pat Cummins with Ben Stokes and Steve Smith with Joe Root, similar conditions are repeated.
Just like the Australia tour, days before the England Test series, Kohli pulled out of the first two matches citing personal reasons. It was later known that Kohli’s wife (Anushka Sharma) was due with their second child.
Speaking on the similarities, Gavaskar said to Sports Tak, “India missed a lot of big names in Australia but they still managed to pull off a fantastic win not just in Gabba but also in Melbourne. They came back after being bowled out for 36. Winning in Melbourne then they battled hard to save the Sydney Test match. If Rishabh Pant stayed on the crease for half an hour then India could have won that match as well. But the courage, stamina, grit and determination that the young Indian players showed during that Australia tour was visible even this time around against England.”
Also, India had five debutants in Australia – Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Washington Sundar, and Natarajan. Notably, there are four debutants already against England – Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, and Akash Deep with Devdutt Padikkal expected to be the fifth.
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