Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar went all guns blazing in the final session to help India chase down the mammoth 326-run target set by Australia. Wicketkeeper-batsmen Rishabh Pant kept the momentum going for India after Pujara’s dismissal and held his nerve to get the visitors across the line. With the win at Brisbane, the Indian team now finds themselves within visible distance of reaching the World Test Championships finals scheduled to be held at Lords, England.

Pant showed why he is one of the most dangerous batsmen, never leaving the focus and keeping the pressure on Australia who needed nothing less than a win to stop India from retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

Pant smashed 89 not out, stitching a crucial 61-run stand with Cheteshwar Pujara. Washington Sundar, on debut, played a blinder hitting 22 before Pant gave the finishing touches.

In the absence of Virat Kohli and their first-choice bowling attack, India has pulled off what will be remembered as one of their greatest game in Test history.

It was the young guns, who led the show. Mohammed Siraj, playing his 3rd Test, picked up a 5-wicket haul. Washington Sundar, on debut, hit a fifty and came up with an all-round performance. Shardul Thakur picked up 7 wickets and hit a first-innings fifty as India cut down Australia’s lead to 33 after being 186 for 6. T Natarajan picked up 3 crucial first-innings wicket as youngsters stepped up in the absence of the old guards.

“It means a lot to us. I don’t know how to describe this, but our boys showed a lot of character and determination after the Adelaide Test. I’m really proud if each individual. The conversation between Pujara and me was that he would bat normal, and I would take it on. Credit to Pujara, the way he handled the pressure was magnificent. Rishabh and Washington were very good at the end. Taking 20 wickets was the key, so we opted for 5 bowlers. Sundar brought the balance in place of Jadeja. The intention was clear to play five bowlers. Siraj played two Tests, Saini just one, so it was inexperienced but the character shown by the bowlers and everyone else was incredible”, Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane said in the post-match presentation.

After the historic win at Gabba, PM Modi tweeted, “We are all overjoyed at the success of the Indian Cricket Team in Australia. Their remarkable energy and passion was visible throughout. So was their stellar intent, remarkable grit and determination. Congratulations to the team! Best wishes for your future endeavours.”

We are all overjoyed at the success of the Indian Cricket Team in Australia. Their remarkable energy and passion was visible throughout. So was their stellar intent, remarkable grit and determination. Congratulations to the team! Best wishes for your future endeavours.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 19, 2021

Dubbing India’s Gabba win as the greatest ever, Google CEO Sundar Pichai also congratulated Team India.

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Mumbai Indians were crowned the champions of Dream11 IPL 2020 after they defeated Delhi Capitals in a one-sided match in Dubai on November 10.

Mumbai chased down the 157-run target set by Delhi in 18.4 overs with five wickets in hand to claim their fifth IPL title. MI skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front with a superb half-century (68 runs off 50 balls) while Ishan Kishan remained unbeaten on 33.

The captain had three good partnerships – first a 45-run opening stand with Quinton de Kock followed by another with Suryakumar Yadav, and thirdly a 47-run stand with Ishan Kishan (33 not out).

Earlier, DC won the toss and opted to bat first. It had a bad start, losing Marcus Stoinis in the first ball of the match. Trent Boult (3-30) brought Delhi to 22/3 taking the wickets of Stoinis, Ajinkya Rahane and Shimron Hetmyer.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer (65 off 50) and Rishabh Pant (56 off 38) then had a 96-run third-wicket stand that gave Delhi a fighting total of 156/7.

MI brought in off-spinner Jayant Yadav in place of leg-spinner Rahul Chahar while DC had an unchanged XI. Jayant Yadav took the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan (15 off 13) to strengthen MI’s position in the match.

Trent Boult was adjudged player of the match and Jofra Archer of Rajasthan Royals the player of the tournament. Archer, the  England fast bowler, took 20 wickets in 14 matches, five catches and some excellent batting cameos with his five fours and 10 sixes.

Delhi’s Kagiso Rabada won the Purple Cap for the most wickets (30) in the tournament. Kings XI Punjab batsman KL Rahul took the orange cap for leading run-scorer, amassing 670 in 14 matches, including a century and five half centuries.

Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Devdutt Padikkal won the Emerging Player award. The 20-year-old scored 483 runs and scored five half-centuries.

This was the toughest and most evenly contested IPLs in the history of the tournament. The 13th edition of Indian Premier League saw all 8 teams winning six matches each for the first time.

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Finally, Sunrisers Hyderabad had their first win in the T20 IPL season in the UAE. SRH won by 15 runs in the match in Abu Dhabi against Delhi Capitals, which ironically had its first loss this season.

Tabletoppers DC, which won the toss, had elected to bowl. Jonny Bairstow (53), David Warner (45) and Kane Williamson (41) put in good displays with the bat for SRH while debutant Abdul Samad (12 not out) opened his batting account in the IPL. Kagiso Rabada and Amit Mishra took two wickets each for DC.

After SRH set a target of 162, DC could only cobble up 147 in 20 overs. Wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant’s batting prowess (28 off 27) came too late for DC. SRH deserved the win as they were better in both bowling and batting departments.

For Sunrisers, Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar shone with the ball. Rashid won the Player of the Match for his brilliant 3/14 while Kumar bagged 2/25.

For SRH skipper David Warner, leading an IPL side for the 50th time, the day turned lucky.

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