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India 336 (Thakur 67, Sunday 62, Hazlewood 5-57) and 329 for 7 (Gill 91, Pant 89*, Cummins 4-55) beat Australia 369 (Labuschagne 108, Pain 50, Natarajan 3-78, Sundar 3-89) and 294 (Smith 55, Siraj 5-73, Thakur 4-61) by three wickets
Brisbane: As an injury-ravaged India team retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Tuesday with a 2-1 series win over Australia, Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), announced that a prize of INR 5 crore will be awarded to the team as a bonus.
On Tuesday, Australia's fortress -- The Gabba -- was finally breached. It took 32 years and two months, but the unthinkable was achieved as an injury-ravaged young Indian team beat Australia by three wickets against all odds in the final Test of the series at The Gabba.
The last time a visiting team came out triumphant from the Brisbane Cricket Ground was back in November 1988 when the mighty West Indian outfit under the leadership of Viv Richards thrashed Allan Border's team by 9 wickets. What makes the feat even more commendable is how the Indians fought multiple injuries and mental fatigue - due to the bio-bubble restrictions -- to register a historic win.
Rishabh 'nerves of steel' Pant will be forgiven for all the mistakes he has made through the series with wicket-keeping gloves in hand as each of the 89 runs that he scored in the final hour on Tuesday was worth its weight in gold.
It was only poetic justice that he hit a boundary to win India a thriller.
Coming back to the final day's action, needing 69 to win going into the last hour, any other team might have thought of ensuring a draw first. But not this Indian team which is filled with youngsters who believe in backing themselves till the fat lady sings.
With swashbuckling Rishabh Pant at the crease, Australia skipper Tim Paine had no option but to keep the field open with men at the boundary. The wicket-keeper did take a few chances, but luck was smiling bright and sunny on him and he made hay.
And when Washington Sundar hit Pat Cummins for a six and a four off the last two balls of the 93rd over, it was down to 39 needed off the last seven overs.
From there on, it was a game tailor-made for T20 star Pant. He went for twin boundaries in the very next over off Nathan Lyon and from there on, it was about just not committing hara-kiri.
But it all started with a 21-year-old Shubman Gill and a gritty Cheteshwar Pujara standing ground and stitching a slow yet steady 114-run partnership off 240 balls after Rohit Sharma was dismissed for 7 in the seventh over of the final morning.
The wicket of the experienced campaigner was just the impetus the Australian bowlers needed to begin the day. But the duo of Gill and Pujara had other ideas.
