🏏India vs Australia - 4th Test: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on 9th March 2023 at 9:30 AM IST🏏
All to play for in Ahmedabad as fascinating series reaches climax. India's reputation as an impenetrable fortress at stake as resurgent Australia look to draw level
There was an air of one-upmanship even when the final rights of the Indore Test were being read. Despite complaints about the changed ball, Ravichandran Ashwin stood atop his mark at the CK Nayudu end, from where he'd bowled unchanged through the morning even as Axar Patel limbered up hopefully. At the other end, Marnus Labuschagne re-marked his guard. With only two runs left to get, the No.1 Test batter skipped out to finish the game with an emphatic, statement-making stroke off the No.1 bowler. He was beaten by the dip and reprieved with the ball hitting his back leg. Two balls later, Labuschagne's attempts at an encore had something more of the desired effect and his celebratory roar was in keeping with the magnitude of what he and his team had achieved. It was 2-1 now, with a game to go.
Entering Ahmedabad, there is a similar sense of the scoreboard not reflecting how the two sets of players see themselves. Australia, their confident strut restored, are a team in the ascendant. India aren't downbeat but they are increasingly looking towards their batters, many of whom have had the onerous task of finding the right balance between attack and defence on surfaces that don't make the task easy. But there might be respite coming their way.
It would be tempting to place the Ahmedabad pitch on the centre stage. But that, like the pageantry involving the two Prime Ministers on Day 1 of this Test, would be distracting from the lead actors themselves who will square off with so much to play here. For starters, India do not want to leave their qualification for the World Test Championship final in New Zealand's hands. They also have a proud record of having won 15 consecutive home series to protect.
For the visitors, Indore was a big win, but it was also a rare one. While it may be 1-2 right now, it is also 2-12. That's the ledger in India for Australia since 2004. More broadly, Australian sides have struggled to win consecutive Tests away from home. This though is a different team, and back-to-back wins in Lahore and Galle are a testament to that claim. The next step is to do it in the same series for the first time since New Zealand, 2016. And there are ingredients falling into place. Their batting, save for a couple of hiccups, is clicking into gear slowly, and their spin attack has seldom looked as consistently threatening as it did at the Holkar Stadium.
Even so, Australia have had to come back from behind to get to a point where levelling this Test series is a big possibility. And they will know, in all honesty, that they could have even been 2-1 up at this point with a little luck. Having let India off the hook in Delhi, Steve Smith & Co. will be itching to end the series with a win, and show that they have become an even better team for the bruising experiences they have suffered on the road, with greater staying power and adaptability.
Anupamaa
Current Affairs
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