Australia’s surprising tactics, Ashwin’s shocking decision to retire

In the end, they scored 89/7 in 18 overs and the Indian openers batted 13 balls before the ground was inundated by relentless rain, forcing an early abandonment of the Test.

A more sensible approach could have been to bat in normal fashion and allow their openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney some time and score some runs to boost their confidence. Instead, Khawaja continued his shots and unsurprisingly lost his stumps when a Jasprit Bumrah angler from close to the stumps sneaked through the bat and pad gap and bounced off the back leg onto the stumps.

McSweeney chased a short and wide ball from Akash deep to release his wicket. Marnus Labuschagne had already departed with a similar attempt from Bumrah and Australia were still trying to fend him off, albeit as slightly drunken men.

Mitchell Marsh got a lovely hit from Akash, a kicker just outside the off-stump that was edged and Steve Smith, demoted to allow batsmen in front of him, fell for the second time in the series and was caught on the leg side. India had initially even earmarked a leg slip for him, but had just removed that fielder when Mohammad Siraj hit him on the hips with an inward curler. And Smith, as he would in Adelaide, couldn’t turn in time to escape his gaze and hit him down the leg so Rishabh Pant could execute a sharp diving shot to his left.

Travis Head landed a few punches before going down trying to throw Siraj up, with Pant fending off the failed spin. And soon Australia declared 89 for 7, leaving many confused about their approach.

On the fourth night too, they had confused many with their drawn-out sacking tactics against Bumrah and Akash, even as it turned out that the ploy didn’t work. The ball had become very soft and no longer bounced as quickly, allowing Akash to get behind it quite confidently. Perhaps longer length balls could have been mixed in more often, but the expansive pitch coupled with the barrage of short balls allowed India to avoid the follow-up. Players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir celebrated in the dressing room. Nathan Lyon found the celebration strange and said: “Some of us talked about it after the game too and were surprised by some of their reactions, particularly the way we approached that game.”

On Wednesday evening, Rohit had a meaningful smile on his face when Lyon’s comments were mentioned to him. “I’ve played here enough to know about mind games and who the chatterers are. From our personal perspective, we were behind the game. Of course, avoiding this episode is a small victory for us considering how the weather would develop and where the game would lead.”

In the end, the game was one that both teams would be happy with. India because they managed the jailbreak and drew the game from a position where they could have lost.

Australia will feel like they have been ahead for extended periods and may feel they could have achieved the result they wanted without the rain. They could have done it, but there were also some questionable decisions from them, from their decision not to declare early in the first inning to the way they batted on the final day.

From the moment Ravindra Jadeja came to bat and joined KL Rahul, India could certainly draw a lot of heart from their performances.

In the end, the Brisbane Test would be remembered for the last-wicket partnership between Akash Deep and Jasprit Bumrah that averted follow-on and Ashwin’s decision to retire.

In 2021, Australian captain Ashwin had said, “Can’t wait to see you at Gabba, mate”; Ashwin didn’t play that game but saw India claim a famous victory. Three years later he was unable to play in another Gabba Test, but ensured that India avoided repercussions. More importantly, despite playing just one Test here in 2014, his association with the Gabba will forever be enshrined in a sled that went terribly wrong and as the place where he shocked the cricket world , when he quit midway through the series.