Unforgettable Moments from 2017 Test Series: India Vs Australia has been the greatest rivalry in the history of International Cricket.
Whenever these two teams meet in a bilateral series or any ICC events like the ODI World Cup or T20 World Cup, the stadiums have been full.
Some of the Australian players also term the clashes between India and Australia are the best and they are bigger than the Ashes.
Australia hasn’t won a single series after 2004 and this time the team under Pat Cummins would like to change that record when they take on the number two ranked team India from tomorrow i.e. Feb 09 at Nagpur.
The Aussies had toured India for a red ball series in 2017 and that team was under the current vice-captain, Steve Smith.
India had lost the first Test match by a heavy margin. But still, they went on to win the series by a margin of 2-1.
Now the team under Rohit Sharma will eye for a 3-1 or 3-0 win as they cannot afford to lose the series because their qualification for the World Test Championship final is at stake.
The Aussies have qualified for that ICC test event, which will be played in England.
If India qualifies for the WTC Final in 2023, then we might see another engrossing battle between these two teams for the fifth time in less than one year and that would also be the most time that India and Australia will play a red ball match.
Before the first Test match in Nagpur starts, today let us relive those unforgettable moments between India and Australia from the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2017.
Australia’s current vice-captain and former skipper, Steve Smith was the highest run-getter in that series while Ravindra Jadeja had picked up the most wickets for Team India. These two players are in the playing XI for this series as well.
The Brain Fade moment of the former captain of Australia would be the most unforgettable scene from the last series of the 2017 Border Gavaskar Trophy.
The second Test of that series was played in the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and Australia came to this Test encounter after a mammoth win of 333 runs in Pune. This moment was taken as a form of controversy in that Test match.
Steve Smith was given out Leg Before Wicket (lbw). However, he didn’t know whether to take the Decision Review System (DRS) or accept the umpire’s decision and walk off the field.
But Smith looked at the Australian dressing room for help, which is unfair according to the rules and laws of the gentlemen’s game.
Later in the press conference, Smith described this act as a Brainfade Moment.
Wicketkeeping is not an easy job. The keepers have to dive to catch the ball. Wriddhiman Saha was an excellent keeper for the men in blue in the red ball format.
He was the front-runner to replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni behind the stumps after MSD retired from the Test matches in 2014.
However, Rishabh Pant stormed in place of Saha and he became the keeper batter in all three formats. But in this current four match Test series, Pant and Saha are not playing.
The 3rd Test of the 2017 series was played at Ranchi after the series was squared to one all. It was a tense battle and that match was drawn.
But a famous moment took place when Flying Saha tried to catch a sharp-turning delivery bowled by Ravindra Jadeja. That delivery turned and got stuck between the legs of Steve Smith.
Saha though that the ball had an edge and he jumped on Smith to take that catch. The keeper and Smith fell on the ground. Despite that Saha appealed for a catch.
Even the umpires started to laugh and that appeal was turned down as the ball didn’t touch Steve Smith’s bat.
Ishant Sharma hasn’t been too expressive on and off the field. He has been quite in a career where Sharma Ji had played more than 100 red ball matches for the country.
He was also the spearhead of an Indian pace bowling attack once. But now he is not in the frame of things despite being a wonderful bowler in the Test match cricket for the men in blue side.
The moments and controversies were around Steve Smith when Australia toured India in 2017 to a Test match series.
In the last part of this segment, Ishant Sharma had shown his expression in front of the Aussie batter, Steve Smith.
This moment has been captured from the second Test match in Bengaluru.
India was bundled out for yet another low score in that series. After the disaster in Pune, the hosts managed just 189 runs in the 1st innings of the second Test match and it was upto the bowlers to bring the team back into the match.
The Indian bowlers had tried everything to pick up the early wickets of the Aussie batters. But nothing worked for them.
In frustration, Ishant Sharma had imitated Steve Smith, who was beaten on a good length delivery bowled by Sharma Ji.
Ishant made a funny face which was trending on all channels of social media and many memes were also created by using that.
Even Virat Kohli, other Indian players and commentators found it funny.
