Star Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has announced his retirement from international cricket after the INDIA vs AUSTRALIA Third Test in Brisbane. The 38-year-old spinner’s announcement came after the end of the India vs Australia 3rd Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. Ashwin, alongside skipper Rohit Sharma, attended the press conference to announce the decision publicly. A key figure in Indian cricket, Ashwin has featured in 106 Tests, 116 ODIs, and 65 T20Is, amassing 3,503 runs and claiming 537 wickets in Test cricket.
In a post on X, BCCI thanked Ashwin and congratulated him for a legendary career and being a name synonymous with mastery, wizardry, brilliance, and innovation. This is all due to ace spinner and Team India’s invaluable all-rounder’s announcement for his retirement from international cricket.
On the other side, as per various news agencies, on the last day of the 3rd Test Match, IND vs AUS; 3rd Test: Australian team declared at 89-7, where India needed 275 Runs to Win Gabba Test. Australia came out with intent as all of their batters got out trying to score runs on Day 5 of the Gabba Test. In the third innings of the 3rd Test, five of Australia’s seven wickets fell for fewer than 10 runs.
Thus, Australia declared the third innings on 89-7, setting India the target of 275 runs in a minimum of 54 overs on Day 5 to win the third India vs Australia Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 at The Gabba. Australia scored 89 runs at just under 5 runs per over but lost seven wickets in the third innings of the IND vs AUS Test.
After bowling India out for 260 in the third innings as they broke the 47-run 10th wicket stand between Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep, Australia came out with visible intent, looking adamant to push for a result in the rain-marred match.
However, Jasprit Bumrah struck early as he got rid of the Aussie opener Usman Khawaja early and followed it up by removing the Aussie number three in Marnus Labuschagne. Nathan McSweeney fell to Akash Deep, who also claimed the wicket of Mitchell Marsh. Mohammad Siraj dismissed Steve Smith and Travis head while Bumrah returned and claimed the wicket of Pat Cummins, who played a quickfire cameo with a 10-ball 22 runs knock.
The stoppage due to bad light and imminent rain made a result seem very unlikely. Interestingly, Australia declared despite being a bowler down, with premier pacer Josh Hazlewood having been ruled out of the remainder of the IND vs AUS Test series. With the Gabba Test to end in a draw, Australia is set to rope Scott Boland back into the playing 11 for the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Meanwhile, Star India pacer Jasprit Bumrah becomes India’s most successful ‘Test Bowler’ in Australia, surpassing legendary Kapil Dev’s Record. Bumrah has achieved another milestone. Bumrah is the leading wicket-taker in Tests in the 2024 year. He made history as he surpassed India’s legendary allrounder Kapil Dev to become India’s leading wicket-taker in Australia on Day 5 (December 18, Wednesday) during the India vs Australia 3rd Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 at The Gabba in Brisbane. Bumrah surpassed Kapil Dev’s record of 51 wickets during the second session on Day 5 of the Gabba Test by dismissing Usman Khawaja (8).
Bumrah has been India’s standout player in the ongoing series, leading the wicket-takers chart. In the current Test at the Gabba, he claimed a 6-wicket haul in the first innings, and then also chipped in with the bat, helping India avoid the follow-on. In the second innings, he dismissed Khawaja and then got Labuschagne to edge one back to the keeper as well. He also claimed the wicket of Pat Cummins before Australia declared the innings on Day 5 of the Test. Bumrah now has 53 wickets in Australia at an exceptional average of 17.15.
Indian bowlers with most Test wickets in Australia:
Jasprit Bumrah; Matches: 10; Wickets: 52; Average: 17.07
Kapil Dev; Matches: 11; Wickets: 51; Average: 24.58
Anil Kumble; Matches: 10; Wickets: 49; Average: 37.73
R Ashwin; Matches: 11; Wickets: 40; Average: 42.42
Bishan Singh Bedi; Matches: 7; Wickets: 35; Average: 27.51
Among other visiting bowlers, West Indies’ Curtly Ambrose holds the record for the most wickets, with 78 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 19.
Bumrah tops the wicket-takers chart in the BGT with 21 wickets in six innings at an outstanding average of 10.90, well ahead of Mitchell Starc, who has 14 wickets from three matches.
For the third test match; Australia 445 (Head 152, Smith 101, Carey 70, Bumrah 6-76) and 89 for 7 dec (Bumrah 3-18) drew with India 260 (Rahul 84, Jadeja 77, Cummins 4-81, Starc 3-83) and 8 for Nil.
Rain had the last word at the Gabba, as was widely expected, but only after Australia and India conjured up the most intriguing of what-ifs in the 22 overs that were possible on the fifth day of the third Border-Gavaskar Test match.
After taking the final India wicket four overs into the day’s play and securing a 185-run first-innings lead, Australia made one final push for victory, going hard at India’s bowling, losing quick wickets in the process, and declaring at 89 for 7 after 18 helter-skelter third-innings overs. That left India with a target of 275 in a theoretical 54 overs. Only 2.1 were possible, as bad light drove the players off the field before rain came back down to signal an early finish.
Australia’s brief innings on day five gave a glimpse of all the possible rain-free finishes this match could have had. There was pronounced seam movement and uneven bounce, and Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj ripped out five wickets in the space of 11 overs. But some of the wickets also came from Australia’s intent to score quickly. They promoted Mitchell Marsh to No. 4, batted Travis Head above Steven Smith, and kept going for their shots. The runs came at a fair rate too, with the pace of the pitch allowing Head, Alex Carey and Pat Cummins to rattle off a combined 59 off 49 balls.
Given all the help for the new ball, Australia could have envisioned bowling India out. Given the scope for run-scoring, and the fact that Australia was without one of their three fast bowlers, India could have imagined making a bid for victory if they managed to see off the early overs relatively unscathed. As it happened, the draw may have been the best result for the series going forward, with two Tests to go and the teams locked 1-1 on Boxing Day.
Australia’s declaration harked back to the 1950 Test on this same ground, when England declared at 68 for 7 and then Australia at 32 for 7 as both teams tried to make the best of a sticky pitch after a spell of rain. Such events are exceedingly rare in the days of covered pitches, but something not too dissimilar happened on this day with Australia declaring at 89 for 7.
One man who may have been a touch displeased at that point was Bumrah; he had just come back for a new spell and dismissed Cummins with a clever slower ball. It was his ninth wicket of the match, and he was so close to bagging his first ten-for, one of the few feats he has yet to achieve in his remarkable career.
For a period late on the fourth day at the Gabba, a Test match that has endured endless stoppages for rain came to life as one of the curiosities of the sport was on full show – a team many miles behind in the contest, yet being cheered as though they were winning. A game within a game.
When Ravindra Jadeja hooked Pat Cummins to deep square-leg, where he was brilliantly caught by Mitchell Marsh, India still needed 33 to avoid the follow-on as Akash Deep (Test average 6.42) walked out to join Jasprit Bumrah (Test average of 6.97).
“At that stage, I was thinking more about going and padding up and trying to go back to bat, probably,” KL Rahul said after play, with no disrespect meant to his two team-mates at the crease. However, Rahul and Jadeja fought to help India avoid follow-on.
For Australia, the follow-on was their most realistic route to victory given the amount of time lost already and more rain forecast on the final day.”There was a desperation to get that final wicket and we thought we had a really good chance when Jadeja was dismissed,” assistant coach Daniel Vettori said.
Bumrah hooked Cummins for six to take a useful chunk out of the runs needed, the day after he had referenced his batting ability when it was put to him that he may not be the ideal person to discuss the problems of India’s top order.
“It’s an interesting that you are questioning my batting ability,” he said with a smile after the third day’s play. “You should use Google and see who’s got most number of runs in a Test over.”
That was, of course, referring to his 35-run over against Stuart Broad at Edgbaston in 2022, but he wasn’t going to try and save the follow-on in that fashion. Against relatively deep-set fields, he and Akash Deep chipped away at the runs required as the India supporters among a small crowd got increasingly excited, with forward defensives and back-foot blocks cheered among the precious runs. Then, KL Rahul on the Akash Deep-Bumrah show “was thinking about padding up”.
Occasionally, though, they went for their shots with Akash Deep scything a boundary down to deep third off Mitchell Starc and he also punched a brace of twos to get India closer. But with five needed to save the follow-on he nearly dragged on to his stumps as he looked to flay Starc away. A message came from the dressing room. “You don’t have to try and do it with a boundary,” Rahul revealed was the instruction. “You can still knock it around, get those singles, they’d spread the field. So, the singles were there to be taken. So it was just to stay a bit more patient, because we saw just before the message went out, Akash tried to, I don’t know where he tried to hit it, but he tried to hit a boundary. So it was just a message to calm it down and see if they can get five or six singles and avoid the follow-on.” Vettori acknowledged that India’s last two batters were belying their career records, but it came as no surprise.
“Don’t think we assume that anyone is going to live up to their average,” Vettori said. “Think you look at those averages and you think there’s not much there, but Bumrah has proven that he’s been able to put on partnerships, proven that he can attack and he can defend, and Akash Deep is better than a No. 11.”Akash Deep – and India’s tail – were put through a stern test, and passed with flying colors. With four needed, Akash Deep did it with a boundary, although it was more luck than a case of him ignoring advice as he jabbed at a short-of-a-length delivery from Starc, which flew over a leaping Nathan McSweeney at gully.
A roar went up from the India supporters as though they had won the game. In the dressing room, Virat Kohli shared high-fives and captain Rohit Sharma had a huge smile on his face. “It’s always nice to see your bowlers going out there scoring some runs,” Rahul said. “They really put in the work in the nets. And when it mattered, I’m happy that they could really play some shots, and very exciting shots. And it was a great contest at the end. The last half-an-hour when they batted, not just the runs that they got, just the heart that they showed to keep away the bouncers. There’s a lot of pace and bounce in the wicket.”
To cap things off for India, Akash Deep, now freed of a little pressure, deposited Cummins over long-on for a huge six two balls before bad light ended play for the final time in the day. Normally, trailing by 193 runs is little cause for celebration, and Australia has been by far the better side, but you just never know how important those few overs could prove.
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