The fortress has been breached and it took 32 years and two months for an injury-marred side to achieve it. The unthinkable has been 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 on Tuesday to take the series 2-1.
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.
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.
The win also dethrones Australia as World Test Championship (WTC) leaders and India clinch their top spot back. Australia in fact slips to the third position after New Zealand, who had a fantastic series against Pakistan at home.
PCT is points earned/points available - Teams will be ranked in order of percentage of points earned.
|
Position
|
Team |
Matches |
Won |
Lost |
Drawn |
Points |
PTC |
| 1 |
India |
13 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
430 |
71.1% |
| 2 |
New Zealand |
11 |
7 |
4 |
0 |
420 |
70.0% |
| 3 |
Australia |
14 |
8 |
4 |
2 |
360 |
69.2% |
| 4 |
England |
16 |
9 |
4 |
3 |
352 |
65.2% |
| 5 |
South Africa |
9 |
3 |
6 |
0 |
144 |
40.0% |
| 6 |
Pakistan |
10 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
166 |
30.7% |
| 7 |
Sri Lanka |
7 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
80 |
19.0% |
| 8 |
West Indies |
7 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
40 |
11.1% |
| 9 |
Bangladesh |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
00.0% |
Points in the WTC are evenly distributed over the number of matches in a series (two to five), the points varying from 60 for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series.
The ICC World Test Championship has been introduced to add context to the longest format of the game with nine teams featuring in matches which were decided by the Member countries as per their bilateral agreements. Bangladesh and Pakistan are the other teams in the championship.
The top two teams at the end of the league will advance to the final, which will be played in the UK in June 2021 with the winners crowned the World Test Champions.
(Inputs from ANI)
