So, What happened in Gabba, Australia?
(A Thread)

I don't think you understand what really happened at Gabba. Yes, India did win. India did win in Australia; India did win it with half their team in bandages. But it's a lot more than that.

The true beauty of sports lies in its mysteries. As humans, we want David to beat Goliath. It took India almost their entire cricket history, till they finally beat Australia Down Under in 2018. But then the men in Baggy Green were without Smith and Warner.

This time the Aussies brought all their arsenal. They pummelled, punched, bowled out India for a shocking 36 in Adelaide. How do you recover mentally, physically, psychologically from that? And your captain is unavailable for the remainder of the series.

That is why this series is so much more special for India than any before.

There is a man who was racially abused by a small section of the crowd - Mohd. Siraj. Four years back when he was selected for the IPL, he had only one dream - to never let his father drive an auto again.

There is a man who has been criticized, heckled, trolled, made fun of in social media, by experts, almost everyone for almost one and a half years now. He scored a brilliant 97 in Sydney and almost got India to victory that day. But 'almost' is not remembered in history.

There is a man who has been hit on the body a thousand times throughout the series, and when he goes into the shower tonight, there will be bruises, cuts and lumps on his arms, chest, thighs and more.

There is a boy who is just 21 years old and probably doesn't realize that it's not okay to hit 91 in the fourth innings in Gabba against the likes of Cummins, Hazelwood and Starc. Sacrilege, Shubhman Gill, sacrilege.

There is a man who has captained India in the absence of Kohli, showed none of the verbal aggression that the latter does, but is passionate. He fought his way through a hundred demons, detractors, set up the win and marshalled whatever players were left, superbly. Rahane.

There are two men playing their first test matches and scoring half centuries in the lower half of the Indian batting order and then picking up wickets, as if they were playing school matches, not test cricket. Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur. Who wrote your script, boys.

It is not just that India won. India did not have 11 of their main players and yet the team fought, soldiered, counter punched, resisted, took blows, and never gave up. India did not win the series because of beautiful strokes.

India won it because of an incredible amount of bloody mindedness in their heads and pluck in their hearts. India, as a country, we have this habit of celebrating individual heroes, making superstars out of them. Today, it was an entire team that gave us this victory. Team India.