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Border-Gavaskar Trophy: 5 Best Performances in Brisbane | Top 5 Most Memorable Performances in Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches at Gabba

Brisbane has been a difficult city to tour for the Indian cricket team during their visits to Australia. The pitch at the Gabba is renowned to be quick-paced, bouncy and favours pacers immensely. Opposition batsmen always have a tough time adapting to the nature of the track and the Aussies manage to sail over them due to their familiarity with the conditions.

The fourth Test match of the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy was one the great Tests in recent times. Let us take a closer look at some of the most historic batting and bowling performances that has taken place during the India-Australia matches at Brisbane.

1: Shubman Gill: 91 in 2020/21

The ease with which Shubman Gill played the fierce Australian bowling trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins will make one believe that he is already a veteran in the longest format of the game. The Indian team faced an unsurmountable task of chasing 328 on the final day of the Brisbane Test to secure a series victory on Australian soil.

Gill started off the proceedings on the final day of the tour on an extremely positive note. He conveniently handled the challenges put forth by the Aussie attack, taking on the likes of Starc and Cummins for some flamboyant boundaries that reeked of the talent that the boy possesses. Starc stormed at the lad from around the wicket and threw a vicious short delivery at him. Undeterred, Gill pulled that ball over deep square-leg for a maximum. The sheer audacity of that stroke! He also scored runs at a strike rate of 62.33, which was quite important given the steep target that the team was chasing. Needless to say, the onslaught that followed later on was not fathomable without Gill’s solid effort at the start.

2: Sourav Ganguly: 144 in 2003/04

India had opened a window of opportunity by restricting the Aussies to a fairly decent total in the first innings. However, the top-order failed to deliver and skipper Sourav Ganguly walked into the crease with the score reading 62/3. The southpaw then went on to play one of the best overseas innings by an Indian captain as he smothered the Australian pacers through the off-side to score a massive 144 runs off merely 196 deliveries.

Ganguly didn’t give into the pressure built by the fast bowlers and instead took them on heads up with a terrific display of strokeplay and sheer class. The current BCCI president played his knock at a strike rate of 73.47, which is extremely impressive in the longest format of the game. Ganguly’s inning enabled India to gain a crucial lead of 82 runs in the first innings and that played a part in the match ending up drawn eventually; quite contrary to the pre-series anticipations.

Also read: 5 most memorable batting performances in Border-Gavaskar matches at the SCG

3: Rishabh Pant: 89* in 2020/21

Rishabh Pant recently turned a new leaf in the history of Indian cricket. His fearless, fantastic rampage of 89 runs that broke Australia’s record of unbeaten at the Gabba for 32 years is going to be etched in memories of Indian cricket fans forever. The Indian side was pushed to the edge; flurry of injuries, numerous debutants, captain back home, body-blows to the most dependable batsman. Lastly, they were asked to come and prove their worth at Gabba, by no less than the Australian skipper himself.

The earlier Indian teams must have backed off to such challenges; chasing down 328 in three sessions was never in question. But, Pant’s innately valiant effort of 89 runs that pushed Australia out of the contest at their most favoured ground papered all the cracks that the visitors dealt in this tour. Pant showed all the talent that he is known to possess that afternoon. But, one of the skills that he displayed in abundance was the ability to see of the contest; not concede his wicket at crucial juncture whilst batting in the most difficult of phases of Test cricket.

His innings was a stellar show of sheer talent, ingenuity, dynamism and a rock-solid winning attitude. It was no less than a century. Rather, it defined the nature of new India; one that doesn’t surrender despite being confronted with the most challenging of scenarios.  

4: Shardul Thakur: 67 & 3/94, 4/61

The back of India’s bowling attack was broken midway through the series as multiple frontline bowlers opted out due to injuries. Ahead of the decider, top trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja got injured and subsequently Shardul Thakur made his way to the playing XI. The pacer from Mumbai is known for bowling lengthy, tiring spells for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and proving to be mighty effective with the willow lower down the order for his domestic team too.

All of that came to fore at the Gabba, where Thakur claimed seven wickets across two innings that included a very crucial four-wicket haul in 19 overs in Australia’s second innings. However, the bowler’s moment of reckoning came in India’s batting innings as he arrived at the crease at 186/6 with the team still trailing by 183 runs. Demonstrating a true ‘khadoos’ attitude, Thakur dug in and forged a fantastic 123 runs stand across 36 overs with Washington Sundar.

The player from Palghar scored 67 runs in 115 deliveries, which included nine boundaries and a couple of sixes too. He battled the second new ball effectively, eventually compelling the Aussies to drop their shoulders and helping India gain a key psychological advantage in the match. If not for Pant’s freak of an outing in the fourth innings, Thakur could have well and truly staked his claim for the ‘Man of the Match’ award.

5: Josh Hazlewood: 5/68 in 2014/15

Josh Hazlewood debuted in the Brisbane Test in the 2014/15 series and was on the money right from the get-go. The pacer impressed one and all with his innate ability to hit the right line and length over long spells. Spectators compared his bowling style to that of the legendary Glenn McGrath and Hazlewood somewhat justified to these tall anticipations by taking a five-wicket haul in his very first innings. The Indian batsmen struggled to deal with the then-newcomer’s deliveries in the corridor of uncertainty that even derived some additional bounce and a hint of movement from the track.

Hazlewood dismissed the core of the batting lineup: Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane and struck an impactful blow right away. The duo of MS Dhoni and Ashwin had managed to get their eye in and could have furthered the total but Hazlewood returned to first dismiss the captain caught behind and trap Ashwin into sending the ball straight to the hands of Shane Watson. There was no looking back for Josh Hazlewood since then and he embarked on a truly iconic career from that bright sunny day at Brisbane in 2014.

Written by Tarkesh Jha. Follow Tarkesh on Twitter today.