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Australia stunned by India in classic finish to fourth Test
"Can't wait to get you to the Gabba," Tim Paine said to the Indians at the SCG as they held on to avoid defeat there last week.
How wrong Australia's captain turned out to be.
Rishabh Pant celebrates victory with his teammates.Credit: Getty Images
Paine's Sydney sledge backfired spectacularly on Tuesday as Rishabh Pant channelled Ben Stokes to career India to an incredible three-wicket victory in a classic fourth Test, tearing down the Gabba fortress after 33 years of Australian invincibility and retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 2-1 series triumph.
A brave Cheteshwar Pujara defied a dozen body shots to bat most of the day and set up the historic success with rookie opener Shubman Gill. But a staggering unbeaten 89 from Pant gave Ajinkya Rahane's youthful India their own Headingley moment as he mowed down a record Gabba target of 328 with 17 balls left on the last day.
There was excruciating tension in the closing moments as Pant's 53-run stand with debutant Washington Sundar came to an end with 10 runs still to get. Tailender Shardul Thakur promptly departed with India needing three to win.
Pant would not be denied, though, and finished the job with a boundary off Josh Hazlewood through long-off.
That India have won a second consecutive Test series in Australia is a result that seemed far fetched a month ago when their full-strength team was bowled out for 36 in Adelaide. Pant, 23, was not even in the XI for that match, a mistake India won't make again.
The shock outcome will be celebrated by hundreds of millions on the subcontinent but leaves Paine and his side under intense scrutiny. They have been unable to wrest the silverware back from a makeshift opposition not only missing superstar captain Virat Kohli but its four leading fast bowlers and two frontline spinners.
"Whether it was with the bat, ball or in the field, every time we had a chance to go ahead of the game we let it slip," Paine said.
"We turned up in Sydney on day five and the Gabba on day five in as good a position as you'd want to be in and we couldn't get the job done."
Rahane said: "It really means a lot to us. I don't know how to describe it. All the boys showed character. We're proud."
Pat Cummins was again immense at the Gabba, taking 4-55 from 25 overs on Tuesday, and Hazlewood, Australia's other standout bowler of the summer, was unlucky. Nathan Lyon, however, couldn't replicate his return against India two years ago despite creating chances and winds up one short of the 400 Test-wicket milestone that had appeared an inevitability this summer. The other member of the bowling quartet, Mitchell Starc, was taken apart.
Paine, whose dropped catches cost Australia dearly in Sydney and who came under fire for his on-field antics, also faced criticism from former players, including Ricky Ponting, about defensive tactics in the field on Tuesday. Crucially, he also couldn't complete a difficult stumping of Pant after tea that would have turned the tables back in his team's favour.
At 36, the wicketkeeper-batsman was never going to lead Australia forever but the series ends with more questions about his future than at any point of his captaincy. The defeat is Australia's first at the Gabba since they were beaten by the West Indies in 1988.
While Pant's heroics completed a chase and series victory for the ages, Gill's adventurous 91 confirmed him as one of the most exciting young batsmen on the planet.
Pujara, meanwhile, not only epitomised the courage the Indians have displayed in Australia but took it to a new level.
There is a reason they call him the new wall. Cummins and Hazlewood plugged holes in it time and time again but it would not fall over.
The India No.3 was struck 12 times from his head to his ribs, arm and hands and it took the second new ball and Cummins to finally dislodge Pujara for a 211-ball 56. The batsman reviewed when Paul Wilson gave him out lbw, arguing height was an issue, but had to go via umpire's call when the technology showed the ball just brushing the bails.
If Australia thought India would retreat into their shells, however, they were mistaken. Needing 100 runs from the last 20 overs with six wickets in hand, Pant put the foot down.
An epic series had yet another twist in the last 45 minutes with Cummins taking his fourth wicket of the match and Australia's fifth when Mayank Agarwal drove one to Matthew Wade at short cover.
Pant was not done, though, and had a willing ally in Sundar, who will never forget his first Test, until Lyon bowled the 21-year-old for 22.
Despite Hazlewood claiming another late wicket, Pant and India steamed over the line to stun Australia.