India refuses to stick with script

HISTORY will remember Virat Kohli as the first Asian skipper to win a Test series in Australia after India’s triumph in 2019.

But perhaps history should remember Ajinkya Rahane’s 2020-21 team as even better.

Regardless of what happens in the final two days at the Gabba, the stand-in skipper (pictured) has galvanised an Indian side that has stared down Australia through baby eyes.

Kohli’s team was expected to win, and when it saluted 2-1 plenty placed an asterisk next to the result.

Australia had no Steve Smith, no David Warner and no superhuman Marnus Labuschagne, who was still 18 months away from discovering his special powers.

Pfft. Compare that to what India has lost. The visitors’ injury list is as long as the line for a COVID-19 vaccine.

No Virat Kohli (baby), no Jasprit Bumrah (abdominal strain), no Mohammed Shami (arm), no Umesh Yadav (calf), no Ravindra Jadeja (thumb), no Hanuma Vihari (hamstring) and no Ravi Ashwin (back).

Throw in no hotel room service or daily housekeeping, no contact with the world outside the biosecurity bubble and it should’ve meant no hope.

But here we are with two days left in the summer and India isn’t even punch drunk. Instead it is a firm favourite to retain the trophy with a draw in Brisbane against all odds.

India has rolled through 20 players in four Tests.

But, like a jilted ex-lover, it just won’t go away.

The Gabba fortress has not been stormed since the West Indies in 1988.

That attack boasted Marshall, Ambrose and Walsh. Rahane’s attack entered with a combined 13 wickets and four Tests. Imagine if Australia crumbles with the bat and loses in Brisbane?