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India’s series-clinching victory at the Gabba in January 2021 — their first at the venue since 1989 — is arguably one of their most famous Test wins.
India sealed that mammoth 328-run chase against Australia on the final day of the fourth Test to take the series 2-1, thanks to some fearless batting by wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant (89 not out) and some elegant execution by Shubman Gill (91). But the backbone of that triumph, the man who held it all together, was the team’s silent warrior, Cheteshwar Pujara with his gritty five-hour battle at the crease.
On Sunday, Pujara announced his retirement from all formats of the game, thereby putting an end to his gritty and gripping story.
At Gabba, with the visitors 18-1, Pujara stood like a human shield, taking body blows of every kind against a fierce Australian pace attack, comprising Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Cameron Green. The Saurashtra batter took blows on his helmet, ribs and on an already sore index finger. Each time the ball crashed into him, he got back up and took guard again, using his body like a human shield and simultaneously protecting his bat from offering any edge to the slips. His superhuman resistance during that 211-ball 56 drained out the Aussie bowlers, helping Gill and Pant to then go hard at them. Pujara first shared a patient 114-run stand off 240 balls for the second wicket with Gill and followed it up with a 61-run stand, off 141 deliveries for the fourth wicket with Pant.
Later, Pujara explained his mindset on that final day. “If I’m a boxer, I want to see how much another player can punch me. Once he is done, that`s when I want to start punching back. That is my game plan. You can punch me as long as you can. Then I`ll show my punches. That is how I planned it,” the right-handed batter, who accumulated 7195 runs in 103 Tests, including 19 centuries and 35 half-centuries, had told ESPNCricinfo a few days after India’s special conquest of Fort Gabba.
Pujara revealed that he avoided painkillers for his sore index finger as the medication would affect his focus. His idea was to bear the pain while trying to protect the injured finger all the same.
On Sunday, former India coach Ravi Shastri, recalling Pujara’s performance in tough Aussie conditions (993 runs in 11 Tests at an average of 47.28), called him the ultimate warrior. “A real warrior. He was instrumental in my stint as coach for India being the No. 1 side for five years on the trot and the two back-to-back series wins in Australia where he was simply brilliant. Well done, Puji,” Shastri wrote on X.
Former India batter VVS Laxman too hailed Pujara for his brilliance in Brisbane. “His courage, grit and determination stood out and the body blows that he took in the Gabba Test we won against Australia symbolised Pujara, the cricketer, for me, willing to give everything he has for his country. Well done,” he wrote on X on Sunday.
That 56-run might look modest statistically, but it was the perfect platform from which Indian cricket dived into the history books with a victory at the Gabba after 32 years.
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