India’s ‘Aus-some’ triumph

One is to demonstrate qualities of excellence time and again, year after year, amassing figures none could dare come close to. The other is to excel at the right moment, that is about getting it right in that one special moment, rising to the biggest of big occasions. Both earn you accolades, name, and selection - but the latter gives you a real sense of contentment, that which came from the Indian dugout on Sunday.

Indian women reached the zenith of cricket excellence at Mumbai's Wankhede as they cruised to their first-ever Test win against a fancied Australian side, beating the visitors by eight wickets in a one-off encounter.

Customary hand-shakes were followed by fist pumps, hugs, leaps, and plenty of high-fives.

The Test started with a clear objective for the hosts - put as many runs on board and assume a healthy lead. A fast start was thus imperative, and it took only a few overs for the sprightly bunch of Gen-Next stars in Indian colours to hit the ground running. A large target loomed, but the Aussies still dared to dream. With their attacking instincts on full display, India dished out a mammoth 406 runs in the first innings to forge a 187-run lead.

However, contrary to the custom, a batting-heavy Australia faced a big task just to navigate the morning, let alone chase down the target. That became even more unlikely when they fell for 261 on the final day, and fell to some intelligent bowling sketched out by the right arm offbreak Sneh Rana, later awarded player of the match, taking two wickets off two balls.

Bowlers swung the probability back in India's favour with five wickets for only 28 runs, as several Australian players slumped to the turf in exhaustion and frustration at their inability to intimidate their rivals.

Every delivery seemed to zip through corridors of uncertainty, finding the necessary edges and the Indian fielders. Armed with an essentially new ball, India began as they had foreshadowed against England a week ago, patiently landing the ball in 'good areas', trusting the pitch to aid their cause and reassuring themselves an Australia batting miracle was long-odds to materialise.

Meanwhile, Australia, which boasts some of the most experienced batswomen in the game, sighed at their own helplessness as a barrage of deliveries came hurling. In fact, none could muster up a double-digit score, as they came crashing down while putting up a meagre 75.

Later, the Australian pace attack steamed, hoping to clear up the Indian tail as fast as they could. But this group of rookies had made their minds up.

The win was quite literally theirs.

The fight did not last long. 19 overs, and India had two consecutive Test victories under their belt in a span of one week. The side downed England by 347 runs in another one-off women's Test on December 16, recording their first ever win at home against the rivals. This was also their largest victory margin over England by runs in women's Tests.

"Everything went very well for us," Kaur told reporters, as per PTI. "Hopefully after these two wins we will get many more Test games in upcoming games."

Perhaps, any other side would have thrown in the towel without giving much of a fight. But the likes of Kaur and Rana never stopped believing.

From staying alive in every ball to keeping faith in themselves, India's young bunch covered an odyssey in which the young became the experienced and professionals became stars. This was no fairytale - they dared to dream, and the Universe doesn't disappoint those who do!