Winning a draw: Hanuma Vihari is the new ‘wall’ to breach for the Aussies
Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin played out of their skin and made the Aussie bowlers toil hard in an incredible display of defensive batting.
So they say offence is the best defence but such is the beauty of this game of cricket that at such rare occasions it turns the saying over on its head. Defence is a priceless commodity and every team playing a Test match needs to have a pack of at least one or two solid defenders. The import of it came to a full mouth watering and heart thumping exhibition today in Sydney. It happens rarely but when it does it takes your heart away. It’s when these scintillating and secure defensive strokes are played and the most spectacular of bowling attacks are stifled for success that the stage gets set for a superb day of Test cricket action and the viewers spectating the spectacle receive sheer satisfaction and pleasure.
Defeat was staring India right in the eyes as Ravichandran Ashwin walked out with bat in hand and 40-odd overs to be negotiated, five wickets already back in the hut and world cricket’s best bowling attack back in torrent to tear away the middle and lower batters of India. Many Indian cricket lovers had abandoned the live telecast, remorsefully preparing themselves for a humiliating defeat. Only a few waited for that rare possibility of someone rising up to not let that happen. And those who did got what was one of the rarest of batting performances of recent times.
No one and least of all the Aussies imagined that the unassuming, quiet and pressured Hanuma Vihari will be the spanner who will keep building the wall of defence and not relent, and snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat. This was high class defensive batting. Nothing was to disturb Vihari’s concentration and temperament. He remained stoic till the last ball was bowled and slowly kept drilling the anchor deeper. Ravi Ashwin, who occupied the crease with Vihari, had a higher score and strike rate than him, even though he faced fewer deliveries. Vihari completely took his mind off scoring runs and put up an amazing display of resilience. It was unimaginable and truly stunning as the duo played out six consecutive maidens overs on one occasion. Putting the thought of a victory behind them, Vihari and Ashwin joined hands to orchestrate one of the greatest escapes in Test history. Ashwin, batting with a tweaking back and Vihari with a troubled hamstring, exasperated the Australian bowlers as they simply blocked everything that was thrown their way. With an injured Ravindra Jadeja sitting in the dugout, Vihari and Ashwin stuck around at the crease for 258 balls. Ashwin surreptitiously managed to sneak in a boundary here and there but Vihari was adamant on only playing at the balls that were aimed at the stumps, which were not too many.
The Aussie bowlers were so infuriated by this approach that they tried bouncer after bouncer to get the batsman to lob one up to forward short leg or silly point, but brave boy Ravi Ashwin copped them on his ribs and shoulders, not giving away his wicket at any cost. On a day where there was bounce, swing and visible movement off the surface, Vihari finished off on 23 off 161 deliveries, with Ashwin ending his marathon on 39 off 128 balls. It was an exhausting job to stay out there at the crease and negotiate such baneful bowling by the Aussies. Ashwin is in reality a much better batsman than he is projected to be. He’s got more than 2400 runs in the Test format with four centuries at an average of 27.71. Vihari, on the other hand, is still rather new to the international arena but has got a century to his name already. But this particular partnership was not about runs or boundaries, it was about defence. Vihari and Ashwin had the approach clear in their mind, they were not attempting to even get close to the target, they were trying to see the match off and take minimal risks. Vihari, 27, showed great maturity in particular. He did not panic and at one point was batting on 6 off 100 deliveries, tiring the opposition to great lengths.
The Indians played out a total of 131 overs in their fourth innings, their highest ever in this century. This resistance was reminiscent of the one back in 1979, where India played out 150.5 overs to secure a draw against England at the Oval courtesy some Sunil Gavaskar heroics. It was an unexpected yet inspiring show of grit and discipline by the two Indians, but it did not come without its hardships. Ashwin was repeatedly struck on all parts of the body by bumpers from Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc but the seasoned off-spinner hung in there. There will undoubtedly be some ice packs being used in the dressing rooms to tend to the wounds of bravery of both these batsmen. Both players effortlessly tackled Lyon’s wily spin bowling too, moving onto the front foot and blocking the ball down to the ground, much to the dismay of the Aussies who seemed to want to catch the ball as soon as it hit the bat. This desperation sometimes resulted in both Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Wade lying face first on the pitch as a bemused Ashwin looked on. Oops.
Like any closely contested Test match, this one had its fair share of banter and sledging too, but like on the field, the Indians fought back here as well. Australian captain Tim Paine, over the last three years, has developed a reputation of being a chatterbox behind the stumps to try and distract the batsman, only this time his words of wisdom were returned by Ashwin. The constant attempt to divert the batsman’s attention had a reverse reaction on Paine as he ended up spilling a chance off Mitchell Starc to send Hanuma Vihari on his way. He could have easily let the ball carry to David Warner at first slip, but he decided to risk it and his cluttered mind couldn’t take any more as it slipped out of his right glove and onto the ground. This wasn’t the only opportunity that Australia failed to hang onto, Paine was the culprit behind a couple more drops and substitute fielder Sean Abbott spilled a sharp one at midwicket too to give Ashwin another life. On an unforgiving day, Nathan Lyon bowled 46 overs to try and get Australia back into the game, but Vihari and Ashwin denied him the pleasure.
Vihari’s unrushed innings brought back memories of Yashpal Sharma’s 157-ball 13 against Australia in 1981. Though he was dismissed, he made sure that India managed a draw. Another similar partnership that pops up in mind is the Jacques Kallis-Jacques Rudolph marathon against the West Indies in 2005. Both the Jacques’ got together and scored 51 runs off 239 balls. Though Rudolph was eventually dismissed on 24(152), Kallis, 109*(346) stuck on and guided the Proteas to a draw. Such rock solid and assured batting is now endangered material in the cricketing world. Batsmen nowadays tend to unnecessarily slash at anything around or outside the off stump, but Vihari and Ashwin displayed the patience and awareness to not commit that mistake. Cheteshwar Pujara would be pleased to see that he is not the only one who is capable of defending to such high extents. The ball was regularly stroked to all parts of the ground but the batsmen didn’t run any pointless singles or doubles. Instead, they stood their ground and watched the Australian fielders desperately run after the ball. Vihari and Ashwin single-handedly brought the whole Australian team down on their knees, much like Ben Stokes did in the third Test of the Ashes in 2019. The much feared pace attack of Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood bowled a combined 74 overs between them, and towards the ending stages of the match, it was just about running in and bowling a ball only to see Vihari tap it onto the ground.
The duo batted together for almost four hours, making the Aussies sweat like they were playing in the Sahara desert. The Indians had their piece of luck as catches were either dropped or fell short of the fielders. But luck favours the brave, and the Indians were definitely the braver side in this encounter. The Aussies, though, would be disappointed to share honours with India in this contest as they were the team with their noses ahead throughout the match. This was Test match cricket of the highest standard, and it’s always good to see such old-school batting spring up once in a while. The fourth and final Test at Brisbane will decide the outcome of the series, and both sides will have their eyes set on that trophy. A team of Australia’s calibre would surely want to bounce back to win the final Test, while India will be looking to crawl back to winning ways as well. A wonderful Test awaits at the Gabba.
