Everybody remembers this iconic line penned by Kadar Khan for Amitabh Bachchan in Amar Akbar Anthony (1977). I’ll only make a small modification to it by adding a third instance, which is celebrating the wicket of Travis Head, a man who inflicted generational trauma on Indian Cricket Fans “that evening” in Ahmedabad.
The tables turned on Monday, 370 days later, 4,500 miles away in Perth, when an inspired Jasprit Bumrah, after a perfect set up of good length balls, softened Head with a bouncer and had him knicked off on the next. By the time Head was dismissed for a counter-attacking 89, the game was nearly done and dusted, but the way the Indians celebrated, showed the significance of the wicket and what the man had done to destroy 140 billion dreams that night.
If anybody tells you that going into this test match, they expected India to come out on top, as convincingly as they did, in a manner as bossy as this and in an effort as collective as this, is lying through their teeth.
Just three weeks ago, the team was in tatters, having suffered a 3-0 humiliation at home at the hands of a second string New Zealand side, their first series defeat at home in 12 years. Batsmen looking woeful against spin, bowlers jaded and out of sorts and one of the two premier strike bowlers out injured, there was nothing that provided consensus with any meaningful upside to this team.
But then, the Indian cricket team is known for dishing out performances when you least expect them to. They did in 2021 at the Gabba with half the squad having never played a test for India and never went on to play another. They did it at Adelaide in 2003 Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman proved to be the bogey men for Australia yet again, just 18 months after pulling off a similar miracle at the Eden Gardens. They did it at Perth in 2008, in what was almost a grudge match after the Monkeygate incident, when the tour was nearly called off, but they let their performance talk.
The numbers may not tell you the exact story. This is only India’s 10th test win on Australian soil, since they first toured the continent in 1948. Five of them have come after 2018.
For now, the team heads to Adelaide, a happy hunting ground for Virat Kohli, but also a ground that carries the scars of 36 all out, where Kohli batted like a dream before Ajinkya Rahane sold him down the river and he was never the same batsman after that.
However, India would want to go back to their performance in 2003, or even 2014, when they went down fighting courtesy of carrer defining centuries from Kohli on his captaincy debut.
Does this rank as one of India’s greatest test wins? Absolutely. At par with Gabba in 2021? Absolutely again. A rank above Adelaide? Definitely. Perth, 2008? At par if not better. But that is strictly my opinion. A win is a win, be it by a run or by 295, it gets equally raucous cheers from the optimists of the game.
An Indian test win overseas or any win for that matter changes the perception of fans in a jiffy. What was locked in a lower circuit at the end of the first session on Day 1, has now gone into an upper circuit, with fans hoping for an encore every single game.
I was among the many had joined the chorus calling for heads to turn after the New Zealand disaster and even went to the extent of writing that the next win seems even more distant than the 4,527 miles that separate Mumbai from Perth. Today, all of those, including me, are eating humble pie, at least for now. However, if this result is a bargain, I’m happy to eat such humble pies day in and day out.
Onwards and Upwards, Team India!
