Podcast: 324 Runs Stand Between India and a Historic Series Win

[00:00:00] India needs 324 runs to win the border Gavaskar Trophy and they have all their wickets and

[00:00:17] an entire day to accomplish what will truly be a historic and memorable achievement.

[00:00:23] But even as I dream big, let me return to day 4 of the Brisbane Test that saw the last

[00:00:28] hour of play called off due to rain.

[00:00:30] India were 4 for none at Stumps after Australia were bowled out for 294 with Siraj completing

[00:00:35] a 5-4 and Shardul Thakur taking 4 wickets.

[00:00:39] So much to talk about today with my guest Ayaz Memon.

[00:00:41] Ayaz for every day and every session that this team has stepped up and surprised us

[00:00:46] with the fight back that they have shown we will be very unfair if we expect anything

[00:00:51] less than a victory tomorrow, right?

[00:00:53] Yes, Menra.

[00:00:54] I think it would be being unfair to think that only if India wins have they played well

[00:00:59] because this has been much right as we have seen through the series after the first match

[00:01:04] debacle at Adelaide.

[00:01:06] The fight back put up by India in every situation, every time you felt that they were cornered

[00:01:11] and they would be in a crisis somebody has stood up and kind of turned things around

[00:01:15] and I think that the fact that this match has gone into the fifth day everybody there

[00:01:20] was so much brouhaha about what might happen at Brisbane including in the chat between

[00:01:26] Tim Payne and Ashwin in the previous test match come to Brisbane and we will show you etc.

[00:01:31] For the match to be so tantalizingly poised I think irrespective of the result and I

[00:01:36] have said this earlier the moral victory is India's for the manner in which they

[00:01:41] fought back heroically losing so many players, key players and then going on to put up

[00:01:46] such a stirring fight I think for my money India this has been India's series

[00:01:53] irrespective of what happens on the last day of this test match but of course

[00:01:57] a win would be extra special.

[00:01:59] I am Menrad Hoji and I am Ayaz Meenu and you are listening to the Aussie Challenge

[00:02:06] podcast on the Gwent powered by Palm EZ and Medi Buddy.

[00:02:10] Before I go to Ayaz with some more of my questions I want to take you through

[00:02:16] the scores for the day Australia were 21 for none at the start of the day and

[00:02:21] the Openers added another 60 age runs before India made their first break

[00:02:25] through Shardul Thakur sending back Marcus Harris.

[00:02:28] The very next over though David Warner got out on 48 Manus Labushen and Matthew Wade

[00:02:33] 2 lost their wickets in the first session as Australia went to lunch at 149 for

[00:02:39] 4th St Smith and Cameron Green then stitched together a 73 run partnership

[00:02:43] but Thakur struck and sent back Green Smith was the only half century in

[00:02:48] the Aussie liner but he got out on 55 to Siraj Pat Cummins then

[00:02:52] collaborated with Lyon to add 27 runs and Hazelwood to add another 20 as

[00:02:57] Australia were bowled out on 294. Siraj claimed his career's first fiver in his

[00:03:03] third test match. Shardul picked 4 wickets Rohit and Shubman batted 11

[00:03:07] deliveries before rain stop play India now need 3 24 runs to win the test and

[00:03:13] here's what I bring in Ayaz. Ayaz we must start by talking about Siraj's

[00:03:17] fiver completed with the catch by Shardul Thakur who's also on 4 wickets it

[00:03:22] could have been the one with the fiver but I'll talk about him in a bit. Let's

[00:03:26] talk about Siraj suffered a major setback at the start of the torch also

[00:03:29] still stay on with the team in Australia made his debut during the series

[00:03:33] I mean found himself being the senior most baser in the ranks for this

[00:03:37] test picked one wicket in the first inning didn't really let that you

[00:03:40] know setback sort of affect him so much came back much stronger in the

[00:03:45] second innings and picked up that big fiver and with some big wickets

[00:03:48] Manus Labushin, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade. There have been so many performers for

[00:03:53] India who are not original choices as or at least in the playing level if I

[00:03:57] might list them and of course Siraj heads that list.

[00:03:59] Manus Siraj didn't play in the first test match when Shammi was there and

[00:04:02] Umesh Yadav supporting Bumrah and then of course there's Keenat Rajan

[00:04:07] there's Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill you know and so many of them

[00:04:13] who were not original choices Navdeep Saini you know to be playing automatically

[00:04:19] for India they were senior pros and then to go out there and perform the way that

[00:04:24] they have done all these guys is a story in itself I think it's a saga and

[00:04:28] something that will be written about for many many years but to come back to

[00:04:31] Siraj I think he's had a you know he's had a terrific series he's got

[00:04:36] 13 wickets already in this series I mean he can't get more now there's

[00:04:40] now that you know Australia won't bat again but 13 wickets in three test matches

[00:04:44] is fantastic including his first five-week at Hall and the archive look at the

[00:04:49] trajectory he lands in Australia he hears about his father's death and then

[00:04:54] you know stays back which I think was a sensible thing to do and then waiting

[00:05:00] for an opportunity gets the opportunity picks up five wickets in his first

[00:05:03] match what I like about him is he's a he's an eager beaver he's wanting to

[00:05:07] be always involved in the game he loves to bowl he loves to field which is a very

[00:05:13] good sign and he works up you know good spells when the chip seem to be down

[00:05:20] he's got that you know what what they call a golden arm he's got that wicket

[00:05:23] taking ability whenever he comes on to bowl he picks up a wicket or two but I

[00:05:28] thought today he bowl extremely well in the first few spells including in

[00:05:32] the latter half also of the day but you know getting the ball to jag away

[00:05:36] from the batsman or into the batsman the extra bounce that he was getting by

[00:05:40] bending his back all these are signs of a bowler who's ambitious and who's

[00:05:47] skillful and look at the wickets that he picked up today it's Marne's

[00:05:50] Labushain Steve Smith and Matthew Wade I mean you can't get you can't do

[00:05:55] better than that I also we've talked so much about the fighting spirit of this

[00:05:59] team and the bowlers came into this match with you know the collective

[00:06:03] test match experience of four matches. Saini got injured in bold bout I think five

[00:06:07] over students just down to Siraj Sundar, Shardul and you know Natarajan again

[00:06:13] some of the best batters in the world and they still managed to you know allow

[00:06:16] only 297 allow them to score only 294 runs Shardul in fact taking the

[00:06:21] catch to complete Siraj's 5-5 you know just enjoy that you know the

[00:06:25] visuals on the screen showed you just how happy they were all for each

[00:06:29] other I mean there's already been so many wins for this team you know and

[00:06:33] despite whatever the result is tomorrow. Yes I think you're absolutely right when

[00:06:38] you look at the bowling attack which we which we which India had in this in

[00:06:42] this match it was a bunch of complete rookies you know well if not in age

[00:06:48] because Natarajan and Shardul were both are both you know in the late

[00:06:52] 20s but even so in terms of experience Siraj, Saini, Washington Sundar

[00:06:58] Natarajan, Shardul what collective experience of four matches and you know to

[00:07:03] go up and put up such a sterling performance getting Australia out

[00:07:06] bold out twice and even within the match Saini got injured couldn't be of much

[00:07:11] helped to the other bowlers but look I think you know there is a what I found

[00:07:19] extremely admirable and riveting is how these players have rallied around

[00:07:24] each other and they've been helping each other you expect that of course from the

[00:07:28] senior pros because they've been around for too long they know or so long and

[00:07:32] they know what needs to be done at the highest level for the rookies to do it

[00:07:35] so it suggests to me a strong culture within the squad itself and that is

[00:07:41] something which is which is highly you know I think a lottery because you

[00:07:46] can be sitting on the bench and saying yeah my mokaan maya and you

[00:07:49] know shoulders sag or be unprepared you drop your guard you're not ready

[00:07:53] for the big occasion when it comes and you may go and make a hash of it no

[00:07:56] here in this case if you look at all these players you're talking about who

[00:08:00] came in and were really nearly forced to play because the others got injured

[00:08:04] they've all put up innings or played innings or put in bowling performances

[00:08:09] which have been consequential so even if Saini hasn't got too many wickets

[00:08:13] you know in the third test match he bowled really well Siraj of course

[00:08:17] we've talked about Shardul Thakur in this match you know seven wickets

[00:08:21] 62 runs I mean he's been in my opinion is the frontrunner for the man of the

[00:08:26] match awarded respectable what happens on the last day and also Washington Sundar

[00:08:31] you know getting into the big boats of Ravi Ashwin and coming up with such a

[00:08:35] sterling all-around performance I think it's been fantastic just to watch

[00:08:38] these guys in action. Also I asked the matches now poise quite interestingly now

[00:08:42] isn't it Australia need nothing less than a win to win the series a draw

[00:08:46] will help India still retain the trophy as their defending champions but to

[00:08:50] win here we'll go down in history as one of India's greatest achievements you'd

[00:08:54] say I mean considering the last time India won the series back here I mean a

[00:08:58] couple of years back Virat and Ravi Shasi you know both of them said this was

[00:09:02] bigger than winning a World Cup and that times T Smith and David Warner

[00:09:05] weren't even playing for Australia and this time around the tables have

[00:09:09] turned India have you know so many of their first team players not playing

[00:09:13] and if they still manage a victory here or even to retain the trophy I

[00:09:16] mean that's just going to be an extremely historic occasion for Indian cricket

[00:09:20] wanted as I've said the moral victory is you know is India's irrespective of

[00:09:26] what happens on the last day but of course if it's a draw India retain the

[00:09:30] border gavaskar trophy which is you know I mean it before it deserves a lot

[00:09:36] more plots because to retain the trophy with Steve Smith and David Warner

[00:09:43] and Australia you know seeking revenge for 2018 we've seen the kind of bouncer

[00:09:51] attack the batsmen have had to face some sledging etc so we you know one can

[00:09:56] sense how desperate the Aussies are to win so if you draw the series with

[00:09:59] this kind of a you know battered and bruised squad I think it's it's

[00:10:05] heroic and imagine then if you go on to win I mean this would be already

[00:10:09] the series irrespective of the result is going down as one of the greatest that

[00:10:13] India's played in if they retain the trophy it becomes even greater greater

[00:10:17] and they go on to win this match my god I mean I can't even mind boggles as to

[00:10:24] how this would be rated okay now India needs C24 runs to win the match and the

[00:10:29] series Rohit Sharma and Shubhman Gill are at the crease having made four

[00:10:32] runs before stumps how did they go about this now I mean safe to say

[00:10:36] nobody in the Indian dressing room is gonna get much sleep tonight but you know

[00:10:40] I mean they are gonna have a set plan of how to approach the chase tomorrow how

[00:10:44] do the Indian batsmen go about the task on the last day I think they have to

[00:10:47] take it you know in you know kind of in 20 30 minute spells I think that's

[00:10:56] how the approach would be fashion because you can't get ahead of the

[00:10:59] game 324 to get is still a tough tough call on the last day you got

[00:11:05] probably about 100 overs if you add to make up time you know 90 plus the 10

[00:11:10] overs extra that you might get so it's still you still have to score at a brisk

[00:11:14] pace that means taking some risks and that could set you back if you lose a

[00:11:19] couple of wickets very quickly so I think you have to safeguard the

[00:11:26] wickets but also make sure that the run rate doesn't flag so much that you

[00:11:30] are out of contention the only team which can then win is Australia to

[00:11:34] keep the balance right I think you have to keep the runs also coming in you

[00:11:37] can't get ultra defensive unless of course it comes to a situation where you

[00:11:41] know you lost too many wickets and you just have to fight your way out like we

[00:11:44] did in the third test match through Ravi Ashwin and Hanuman Vihari but I think

[00:11:50] the test match is you know is is quite tantalizingly poised because the

[00:11:54] wicket hasn't shown any signs of crumbling yes the oddball has blotted

[00:11:58] off or jumped off the pitch and is caused some trouble in Australia's

[00:12:03] fast bowlers would know this pitch better than you know the Indians did so they

[00:12:07] may be able to exploit it better but it's not like you know seriously

[00:12:13] threatening to the batsman so if they are watchful and cautious at the same

[00:12:19] time ambitious to win the match I'm sure that it can still be done I mean it

[00:12:24] also must be said that you know that a victory here won't be the easiest

[00:12:27] off tasks though right I mean the highest successful run chase at the

[00:12:31] Gabba came in 1951 when Australia finished and made 236 we need almost a hundred

[00:12:37] more tomorrow no certainly the chase won't be easy I mean 324 to get ordinarily is

[00:12:44] it you know is a tall order but also to you know there'll be nerves on both

[00:12:49] both sides in both dressing rooms I think for me the key is how long and how

[00:12:54] well Roach and my bats because he's the kind of guy who can keep this

[00:12:57] go about going and also look extremely solid and he can be very threatening to

[00:13:01] the Australians they all know how good he is what a classy player and of course if

[00:13:06] the Guild-Rohet partnership survives say maybe a session an entire session then

[00:13:11] you're looking at runs coming at a fairly good clip and then it pushes the

[00:13:15] pressure on to the Australian but if you lose a couple of wickets then you

[00:13:19] know there might be a case to downing the shutters for a while and then

[00:13:22] trying to rebuild and that could take away the momentum of the innings and

[00:13:25] put Australia in a you know in a more dominant position but this is all

[00:13:31] speculation I think what we should all look forward to is a you know you know

[00:13:36] another fascinating days play and in a match ending in a thrilling climax yes

[00:13:42] and we see what happens tomorrow thank you so much I ask for joining us we

[00:13:46] will be back with I ask on a Tuesday afternoon with the final episode of the

[00:13:50] Aussie challenge podcast thank you Mendra thank you so much and thank

[00:13:54] you all for listening to the Aussie challenge podcast with I ask

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