CHENNAI: For one last time, as the clock struck 4.30 am on Tuesday morning, the broadcaster opened the last day's preview show with 'Come See The Wonder, Come See The Wonder', a song by Joe Mesch. The opening lines, like the rest of the song, are beautiful.
"There is a new world waiting for you,
If you open the door
All you got to spread your wings,
Together we'll show
Tonight tonight we'll want unite
Tonight tonight together we will show
Oh come see the wonder, come see the wonder..."
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It's a day out from the Brisbane Test match. In the pre-match press conference, Vikram Rathour finally breaks a modern Indian tradition. The Indian team have decided not to name their XI a day before the Test. Taking into consideration that there are a lot of aching limbs, jarred bones, tweaked backs, sprained groins and a hamstring like spaghetti, the Indian management cannot name an XI. They will take a call on the morning of a Test match.
After that epic draw in Sydney, R Ashwin made a point, perhaps, in jest, about Ajinkya Rahane entering the dressing room 'and asking which of us 11 are fit and that 11 will play.' Nobody is joking now. The visitors came with a big squad but, drip by drip, they have lost most of them.
Virat Kohli went on paternity leave after the first Test. Mohammed Shami broke his arm during the first Test, Ravindra Jadeja his thumb during the third. Umesh Yadav's calf muscle resembled a war zone in the second so he pulled out. On the morning of the first day at The Gabba, a place where visiting teams come to die, they lose three more bodies. Hanuma Vihari's hamstring is kaput. So is Ashwin's back. So is Bumrah's groin.
If you have an Indian passport and have played any cricket and are in some sort of quarantine, you could get drafted in. So they draft in additional bodies, including debutants Washington Sundar and T Natarajan, known more for their work in T20 cricket. Shardul Thakur and Mayank Agarwal also get a look in. A graphic goes up. Between the first and the fourth Test, there are only two Indian constants: Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara.
The Brisbane XI's original status, when the series began, is as follows: 1) In quarantine, 2) First tour, 3) No 3, 4) Stand-in captain, 5) Regular opener, 6) Sub keeper, 7) Net bowler, 8) Net bowler, 9) First tour, 9) First tour, 10) Net bowler.
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It's the morning after the night before. India have to roughly bat 98 overs to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. On a wearing fifth day pitch against a generational bowling line-up. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being extremely hard, this is a 0. Impossible. Cannot be done. At least that's the sentiment. When Rohit Sharma departs early, that sentiment is amped up. Ah, s***, here we go again. This is going to be Adelaide all over again.
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Cheteshwar Pujara is hit on the helmet. Hazlewood is politely enquiring his vision. It's not the first time that Pujara is hit. He's been hit throughout this series. In Adelaide. In Melbourne. In Sydney. Now in Brisbane. Others flinch. He pops a painkiller and moves on.
But every man has his breaking point and Pujara has is. A delivery rises from back of a length and catches him flush on the fingers. He jumps up, wrings his hands, drops the bat. He's howling in pain. One hit has already broken his helmet, this could have easily broken his bone. You could possibly file a couple of complaints of human rights violations against the Australian bowlers for they have hit Pujara that many times.
Ten minutes later, he is back at it. He is the king of a scrap and this is the mother of all scraps.
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At the other end, Shubman Gill is playing a different Test in a different venue. If Pujara is the immovable object, Gill is the irresistible force. When he plays that backfoot punch through cover off Cummins and Mitchell Starc, you wonder how he's just three matches old.
One shot, five minutes before lunch, is symbolic of his batsmanship. Starc puts it short and wide outside off. Gill identifies this as a 'hit me ball' He ramps back and uppercuts it for six over third man. It is positively Tendulkarine in its execution. Catch it in the highlights package if you can.
There are other shots too. If he has shown anything in his nascent Test career, it's his comfort when dealing with the short ball. Just to re-emphasise that point, he pulls Starc for six, cuts him for four before pulling him for another four. All in back-to-back-to-back deliveries. It's haiku in whites and Gill is the lead composer. It's 20 runs from the over, the visitors need 201 more to breach the Gabba.
The last time it was breached was in 1988. When the Berlin Wall was still up.
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The Australians like Rishabh Pant. They also reckon he can be distracted. Before the series began, Tim Paine said that. Some of the Indians too, believe this. On social media and elsewhere, Pant is a polarising figure. He has zero fitness. He is not a keeper. He is not a batsman. He is a T20 player in the wrong sport. The vitriol about him is endless.
His first run here takes him to a 1000 runs in Tests. It's the quickest by an Indian keeper ever. It's tea and Pant has scored two off his last nine balls. India need 145 to win the Test and the series. Pujara, the human bubble wrap, and Pant, the one-man wrecking ball, are in.
Can they?
The next four overs see them score one run. Have they decided to shake hands and give up the ghost?
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Pant against the spinners is box office. Even when he is defending, he is itching to score. After defending, he decides to go after Nathan Lyon. It turns, bounces, misses the bat, the keeper and runs off for four byes.
The thing about Pant, like Pujara, is that he doesn't dwell on what happened. He is all about the future. Six Lyon balls later, Pant once again gives him the charge. This time it's over long on. These kids.
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Pujara, like every batsman, ups the scoring rate after he reaches a certain score. He's approaching that zone now. He's on 56 off 209. It's one of his slowest 50s but also his best. That's when the unthinkable happens. Cummins' in-ducker with the new ball catches Pujara just in front (it's umpires call). Is that the Test?
In hindsight, this is when Pant decides to go yolo. His first 34 runs come off 84. His next 55 comes in 54 balls. There are a few uppish shots but there is always total conviction. There are drives in the 'V' and a sweep behind square. There is even a T20-esque turning his body before scooping one delivery over Paine. These kids.
At the other end, Sundar is keen on having some fun of his own. Facing Cummins, the world's No 1 bowler, he hooks him for six. He follows that by going over slips, quite deliberately. Fifty from 48 has come down to 24 from 36. These kids.
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Sundar and Thakur depart. An all-time great series is going to get the finale it deserves. Three runs needed, as many wickets in hand and 20 balls to go. And Pant does the needful by drilling Hazlewood past mid off for a boundary to seal a record chase.
More than an hour later, the Indian broadcaster signs off to their music.
"There is a new world waiting for you,
If you open the door
All you got to spread your wings,
Together we'll show
Tonight tonight we'll want unite
Tonight tonight together we will show
Oh come see the wonder, come see the wonder..."