Brisbane: ‘The Gabbatoir‘. Making mincemeat of visiting teams since 1931. The stronghold which makes enemy troops shake. Also the place where India have a powerful performance or two.
For decades shaky in Australian conditions, the team first mustered the stomach for a fight here in 2003. Sourav Ganguly’s masterful 144 staved off the ‘Chin Music’ and wrested a hard-fought draw.
For years, the Gabba set the tone for Australia in a home series. A few years ago, commercial considerations pushed it down the pecking order. With that one change, the venue seemed in danger of losing its fresh-season, early mover advantage. It fell on a new-age Indian team to move in for the kill, to break the illusion of Aussie invincibility. In Jan 2021, Rishabh Pant’s superpowers handed the hosts their first defeat here since 1989, when the mighty West Indies pacers still held sway.
That loss wasn’t an aberration. Earlier this year, Shamar Joseph ran through the Aussies with a second-innings 7/68 as West Indies won here again – by eight runs. Now, heading into the third Test of this see-saw series, Pat Cummins’ men find themselves with the rather mediocre record of having lost two of their last four Tests here.
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As always with the Gabba, there’s a catch. Both Tests Australia lost were staged in late season January. The ground may not be hosting the first Test of this five-game marathon, but it is still mid-Dec, pre-Christmas. The ancient demons of the Gabba may fancy unleashing their horrors again.
At least, that’s the expectation. The demons may not even awaken if they find that fast bowlers on either side don’t need much help in toppling two fragile batting units.
As for the batters, there’s hope yet. See off the first session or two and the runs may flow. The series is tied 1-1. It begins anew. “For us this is a three-Test series now,” declared Shubman Gill on match eve. Australia, on the other hand, are in muscle-flexing mode after demolishing India in Adelaide. Cummins cleverly upped the ante by promising more of that ‘chin music’ which worked wonders in the pink-ball Test.
“It (the short-ball tactic) worked well in the Adelaide Test. It’s always at the back of your mind as a Plan B, or if it’s looking really uncomfortable (for the batters) and is likely to take wickets. Maybe it becomes a Plan A to some of the batters. I’m sure we’ll give it a shot at some point in the Test,” Cummins said. Gill rallied back, saying, “What successful plan? The plan only worked on a couple of tailenders.” The mind games too have begun anew.
There will also be expectation that Virat Kohli, who scored a century in Perth when both the pressure and conditions had eased, can come up with a game-changing knock. Runs from the top four in both innings are crucial at the Gabba, and have tilted the scales for the winning side nine times in the last 10 Tests here.
