WTC Final 2023: Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane in focus as India hope for Sunday magic

Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane stood firm to defy Australia on the fourth day of the World Test Championship final at The Oval.

Set a massive 444 to win, India started brilliantly before they lost Shubman Gill controversially and then Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara in back-to-back overs.

However, Virat Kohli, one of the most successful batters in Test history against Australia, and Ajinkya Rahane joined forces to help India dream of a miracle. They were completely outplayed in the first two days before staging a fightback on Friday. When play resumes on Sunday, India would be left with 280 runs and 7 wickets in hand.

If India chase this down, it will be the highest successful run chase in history. Incidentally, the two current highest successful run chases have also come against Australia: 418 by West Indies in 2003 and 414 by South Africa in 2008. India had also chased down 328 against Australia more recently in Brisbane.

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill started well for India. They knew they had to be positive and had to take the attack to Australia in pursuit of a massive target to win the World Test Championship final. Shubman Gill is a young player and has already made a name for himself. In January 2021, his 91 was as important as Rishabh Pant’s late-order heroics in a stunning chase of 328 at Brisbane against Australia.

On Saturday, Gill watched as Rohit Sharma cut loose against the Australian pacers. Boundaries came on all sides of the ground as the Indian openers tried to intimidate Pat Cummins and Scott Boland. The ball wasn’t doing as much as it did earlier in the morning and Rohit and Gill made good use of better batting conditions to score some quick runs.

At the stroke of tea, Shubman Gill edged Scott Boland and Cameron Green dived to his left to take what looked like a stunning catch. However, Gill wanted a referral by the third umpire and that’s when a controversy started to erupt. Replays did not suggest conclusive evidence; did Green’s hand brush the grass or did the ball touch the grass with Green in the process of completing the catch? With the Soft Signal rule abolished by the ICC, one would have thought the third umpire would give the benefit of doubt to the batter. While there were several opinions on how the TV umpire ruled in favour of Australia after conclusive evidence, it did not seem that way to a lot of other observers.

Virender Sehwag mocked the third umpire in a typical social media post while Indian supporters at The Oval booed Cameron Green and later welcomed him with chants of “cheater, cheater” when he came on to bowl.

Shubman Gill was shocked as he walked off while Rohit Sharma was livid. After the tea break, Rohit and Cheteshwar Pujara scored freely with the crowd behind them. Australia’s pacers found it difficult to hit the lengths they had hit in the first innings before Nathan Lyon struck in his first over to dismiss Rohit Sharma. Lyon bowled from around the stumps and Rohit played a poor shot, missed the line and was struck on his pads. The Australian appeal was upheld by the on-field umpire and Rohit Sharma’s DRS referral was turned down as replays showed he was plumb out LBW.

In the very next over, Pat Cummins removed Cheteshwar Pujara, who edged a bouncer from the Australian captain to Alex Carey.

India were at 93 for 3 when Ajinkya Rahane joined Virat Kohli at the crease. It was going to be an important partnership. Both men have played some stirring knocks against Australia in Tests and both men needed to prove something to their detractors. Rahane, making a comeback into the team, made a classy 89 in the first innings while Kohli has often been criticised for failing in the big matches.

What followed what a wide array of shots, especially from Virat Kohli. He maneuvered the field beautifully to hit a boundary off Nathan Lyon and hit two boundaries off a Mitchell Starc over. These were telling signs from Kohli who was dismissed by a peach from Starc in the first innings. Kohli, in the course of his innings, became the fifth Indian after Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Cheteshwar Pujara to score 2000 runs against Australia in Test cricket.

Virat Kohli had a record-breaking season in Australia in 2014-15 but since then often struggled to find his mojo against them. He failed miserably with the bat in 2016-17, did well in 2018-19 and then was largely disappointing in the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy before scoring 186 in the final Test.

At the other end, Rahane was in the middle of another special innings. Playing his first Test after 16 months, he has shown why he is so critical for India away from home. In 2020, Rahane’s 112 in Melbourne triggered one of the greatest comebacks in Test cricket; years later, he is again making his mark against India’s biggest rivals in the Test format.

Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane complimented each other well. While Kohli kept the scoring rate healthy, Rahane sought to wear down Australia’s pacers with resolute defence. Their defiant partnership meant India have less than 300 runs to score on the final day of the Test and this would perhaps rekindle the memories of Brisbane but back then, there was a certain Rishabh Pant whose heroics stunned Australia at their fortress.

At The Oval, India have Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur, two very capable batters and KS Bharat, who would be eager to impress after a poor start to the bat. With the pitch having settled down, India’s biggest threat could be the off-spin of the wily Nathan Lyon.

Australia’s second innings was revived by Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc, who added 93 for the 7th wicket after Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja struck in the first session of the fourth day. Umesh got rid of overnight batter Marnus Labuschagne for 41 while Jadeja dismissed Cameron Green with a ball which spun viciously and bounced sharply.

On Friday, Shardul Thakur had said India were confident of chasing down a target as high as 450 and with those two dismissals, it looked like they would be faced with a lower chase. However, Carey and Starc dug deep for a solid partnership. Australia would have liked them to score more quickly and Starc displayed more attacking intent after lunch.

It wasn’t easy going all the time for Australia. Mohammed Shami was superb, beating the bat with pace while Ravindra Jadeja showed exemplary control and extracted sharp turn to trouble the Aussies. In that context, Alex Carey’s unbeaten 66 was worth its weight in gold. Mitchell Starc was the more aggressive of the two as Australia extended their lead. The cameras focused on Pat Cummins, the Australia captain, often after their lead had crossed well past 400. But when Starc fell to Mohammed Shami for 41, Cummins promptly came out to bat.

The Australian declaration came when Pat Cummins fell to Mohammed Shami and India stared at a record chase of 444.