Australia lost in their fortress of Brisbane for the first time in 32 years as India successfully managed to win a series in Australia for the second straight time.
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The 2020/21 Test series between India and Australia witnessed a classic duel. After being bowled out for 36 in the Pink Ball Test in Adelaide, India bounced back with a win in Melbourne. India held firm in Sydney with R Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari batting out 42 overs for a draw. In Brisbane, Australia’s fortress, India defied the expectations with a wafer-thin team on experience to beat Australia. India became the first nation to beat Australia in Brisbane after 32 years.
This was Australia‘s second consecutive series loss at home, having earlier lost in 2018/19. Recently, Australia Test skipper Tim Paine has said India was great in creating ‘sideshows’ which distracted Australia. Speaking to news.com.au, Paine said Australia allowed themselves to be distracted. The main issue was that India would reportedly not be travelling to Brisbane due to quarantine rules.
“Part of the challenge of playing against India is they’re very good at niggling you. They try to distract you with stuff that doesn’t really matter. There were times in that series where we fell for that. The classic example was when they said they weren’t going to the Gabba so we didn’t know where we were going. They’re very good at creating these sideshows and we took our eye off the ball,” Paine said.
Prior to the Brisbane Test, there was plenty of controversy in the build-up. The quarantine rules in Queensland stated that anybody entering from New South Wales at that time would have to be in hard quarantine for three days. The Indian cricket team reportedly had expressed displeasure. They were in quarantine and in a bio-bubble right from the time of the IPL till their arrival in Sydney.
Things became heated when Queensland’s Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates said that rules need to be followed. On her Twitter account, Bates said that if India don’t want to play by the rules, don’t come.
Queensland’s Shadow Sports Minister Tim Mander said, “Same rules must apply for everyone. If the Indian cricket team wants to spit the dummy and disregard quarantine guidelines in Brisbane for the fourth Test, then they shouldn’t come.”
In the series, though, Paine was criticized for his glovework and uninspired captaincy. Australia lost the match by three wickets as India chased down 300 for the first time in Australia to create history.
