India won by 75 runs
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : KL Rahul
Bowler
That is it from this ripper of a test!! Tests like these keeping the format alive and kicking. Not a single team has scored 300 so far in the series and the bowlers have ruled the roost so far. But who is complaining? All hail Test cricket. This is Kumar Abhisekh Das, leaving you with memories of this tremendous game of cricket along with my mates - Vineet Anantharaman, Raju Peethala, Sagar Chawla and Naga. Of course, the grand old man of our team was there as well.
KL Rahul, MoM: Absolutely, no better place for me to come and perform like I did. Especially, when team India needed it after being down in the first Test. That loss really hit us hard. We have achieved a lot in the last couple of years. But this victory would be the best victory for the young Team India. The way we performed was a proud moment for us. I have played my cricket in Bangalore. I told Virat yesterday, if we get 150 runs as a lead, we will win by 30 runs and that's what exactly happened. We spoke in dressing room that day 3 is the best to bat on. We had clear intent and plan. Ajinkya and Pujara batted really well. I think the approach was brilliant in the second innings. There was a time, when they said I get past 20, I get a hundred. That was a problem. And now, I get a fifty and not a hundred. Now that's a problem. I was very disappointed. Yesterday I got a good start and was looking comfortable and I should have capitalized. That is what the team expects from me, the opener. All that disappointment is gone after the win. We are going to enjoy the win tonight. It gets quite sore. I can't quite dive on the field. There are a few shots that I will have to restrict. I will play within myself. Even I do, it's not that I can't score, I have all the shots in the book. That is what I spoke to the management and the captain. I will have to focus more with the problem in my shoulder. I am still enjoying batting with that problem.
Virat Kohli: Well absolutely yes. Specially after the way we lost the first Test, we wanted to bounce back hard. Not show anyone but prove ourselves how well we can play. They showed the intent, they showed the belief that we can win from any situation. The snake didn't fall off eventually. There are many important players in the team and they took the responsibility. Today the boys showed their heart and character along with the crowd. A couple of sessions in Test cricket are game changing. The first session on day 2 was game changing. 47 runs only for the loss of 2 wickets. We stopped the momentum for them. From there on we knew, one or two mistakes and we will pick up wickets in every session. The moment they did not get big runs in the first innings, we knew we had a chance in the second innings. Historically, teams have chased down totals on this ground but since the wicket has been relaid, we know what the totals have been in first-class cricket. 120 is what a team has done as the best in the fourth innings. We knew if we get 150, one or two wickets we can get them under pressure. It exactly panned out the way we thought about it. After conceding the lead, it was a champion partnership. The only hundred run partnership of the series so far. Two guys stepped up. The two of our best Test players applied themselves. They showed character, technique and heart and pulled us out and then consolidate. The knock from Wriddhi and the way Ishant batted was a bonus as well. Every run was important. We would have liked anything over 200. 225 and we knew there could be only winner on this kind of wicket. The game cannot go on for two days on this sort of wicket. But as soon as we got 188. We decided the game has to finish today. Let them score singles, not concede boundaries and the odd ball will bounce to make life difficult for them. Ranchi is going to be very competitive. I can't wait to go Ranchi. From here on we are going to push the momentum and the team is not going to look back from here on.
Steven Smith: Yeah, it was a great Test match. Certainly ebbed and flowed throughout the whole Test. It was a good one. I am proud of the way the boys competed. We were outplayed on the last day or so. The partnership between Rahane and Pujara really hurt us. I think they played particularly played well. But I am proud of the way we came out today, hit good areas and picked up some wickets. This afternoon didn't go to plan. Ashwin did what he has done well for a long time. He hit good areas and challenged our boys and we were not up for it. It was quite hard to play on. It was a bit and up down with the quicks throughout the Test. There was a reasonable amount of rough outside the right hander's off stump. It was quite difficult and Test match cricket is not supposed to be easy. It was quite a challenge. A wicket like that and the umpire have to make a lot of calls. They are there to do a job to the best they can. Everyone makes mistakes. Not that I am saying they made any. It is a difficult pitch to umpire on. You have to be smart with your referrals as well and something I need to think as we go forward. It is well and truly alive. It has been a great two Test matches. One all now. Certainly a lot to play for as we go to Ranchi. We hope we can keep competing like we have in the last two days and in the first Test. Hopefully some good times ahead.
Time to listen to the skippers..Any guesses who would be the MoM?
Umesh: "We just tried hard to hit the deck. Every time we bowled our aim was just to hit the wickets hard. Always pleasure to play with him (Ishant), he is the senior bowler and he told me how to bowl on this sort of wicket. The wicket was a little bit up and down, so we concentrated on hitting the deck hard."
Ashwin: "25 **Chuckles** - 5 wicket haul. I thought it wasn't releasing properly from the hand. I was trying to spin it a little too hard. Having said that, when wickets come things start to fall in place. In Pune as well, I stuck with my lines, I wasn't giving too many runs. I had a chat with Virat and told him to keep us bowling in short spells and keep changing over which gave me the window to attack really at that particular point of time. He (Jaddu) obviously does that always well. What worked for me today was the short spells which gave me the window to try and bowl the top spinner and extract some bounce. It's been some time and it's come pretty quickly."
Rahane: We just wanted to play session by session, not thinking far too ahead. We knew chasing 200 will be difficult on this innings. We wanted to unsettle the spinners, especially Lyon. We wanted to dominate him. Sweep was a very good shot on this wicket.
Pujara: "It is a great feeling to beat Australia. After the way things went in the first innings, the way we came back in the second innings was very memorable for all of us. It was a tough wicket, we wanted a partnership. Some balls were staying low and that was very difficult. We had a game plan to counter Nathan Lyon after we saw the way he bowled in the first innings. We looked to fetch it from outside the line of off-stump from the rough and it paid off. We knew anything above 200 was always impossible to chase. Once we crossed 150 we knew that it would be a good total and 189 was a winning total. When I went in to bat, we never thought about scoring runs. We just wanted to take the singles and rotate the strike. It sets up the series beautifully and the batsmen have got their tempo back now. We have the momentum as well with us. Looking to put up a good show (in Ranchi)."
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Plenty of records created in this match. Here's the round-up, courtesy Deepu Narayanan
* R Ashwin now has 25 five-fers for India, joint second most with Harbhajan
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Now, about the notable performances of the Test..Nathan Lyon on day 1 picked up 8 for 50 with some traditional off-spinners. The seam pointing inwards, over-spin imparted and that was enough to skittle the Indians out for 189. India had an under-used Jadeja as answer to it, who ended up picking 6 for 63. Renshaw and Marsh made hard fifties on a track, where it can be celebrated as hundreds. Hazlewood and Starc showed what pace and swing can do even on a slow, low, turner. And Ashwin putting the icing with another fantabulous show. For India it was Rahul's twin fifties which helped them to stay competitive and not to forget Pujara's second innings 92 - which gave his side a chance to win the game.
A target of 188 was never enough. That is what the experts believed. India though believed in themselves and Kohli and his boys ensured 188 seemed too far a cry for the Aussies. Warner got a raw deal from DRS and Shaun Marsh failed to trust himself to take a review. Umesh roared with pace and accuracy and Ashwin came back for his second spell to pick up a 6-fer and more importantly pick Jr. Marsh before tea to give India the edge. Jadeja and Ishant played suitable allies whenever it was needed and India after tea completed the formalities. A win by 75 runs for the Indians rolling back the clock to day 1 stumps would have made seemed like a joke. But reality can be really funny and on the face at times. This is a huge win! Might be a series deciding one. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy would have been passe, had it been a loss for India. But it was not to be as India crossed the frontier with an able leader backed by skillful soldiers.
India bowled out for 189 on day 1 of the Test Match after winning the toss and electing to bat first. That is what made headlines. Indian bowlers fought back on day 2 with a disciplined show. Australia took a lead of 87 on day 3. India were still on the back foot. But Pujara and Rahane had other ideas. They decided to own the final session on day 3 to take India to partial safety. Day 4, first session and Starc with his ferocious swing and pace picked Rahane and Nair off back-to-back balls. Hazlewood chipped in and India could only manage 187 as a lead. The game of musical chairs for winning the momentum continued..
Ashwin to Lyon, out Caught&Bowled!! India win!! That was a flighted ball and Lyon scoops it back to Ashwin, trying to drive it. The big man was ridiculed in Pune. Even in the first innings as well. Humble pie for the critics and abundant joy for the offie. A 6-fer now. Whatta win for the Indians. This game is for the legends to be narrated. Lyon c and b Ashwin 2(6)
Ashwin to Lyon, THATS OUT!! Caught&Bowled!!
Ashwin to Lyon, 2 runs, gets the outside edge and they will take a couple through the off-side
Josh Hazlewood, left handed bat, comes to the crease
Ashwin to Handscomb, out Caught by Saha!! The man from Chennai is back! He is back with a bang. 7 innings without a fifer. And now a decisive fifer. That was a flighted ball, Handscomb does a tango down the track, looks to get it out of Chinnaswamy but only manages a huge top-edge for the keeper to run back a few paces and take it. 25th fifer for the offie. Kohli has a hand on his lip. Indians are silencing the Aussies amidst the noise from the Bengaluru crowd. Handscomb c Saha b Ashwin 24(67) [4s-2]