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India scripted one of the best comebacks in cricketing history when they defeated Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Test series 2-1 after an outright thrashing in their first match of the series. The Indian cricket team succumbed to a bitter loss of eight wickets in the first Test after being bundled out for a record low score of 36 runs in the second innings. They were without talismanic captain Virat Kohli who left the series on paternity leave after the debilitating loss, while ace fast bowler Mohammed Shami was injured for the rest of the series.
A number of senior players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah also got injured as the series went along. But it was an almost second-string Indian team that ended up becoming the first team in over three decades to beat Australia in a Test match at the Gabba, going on to win the series 2-1.
While there was the usual banter during the series that one would expect while facing Australia, there was a particularly nasty incident during the third Test in Sydney. The play was held up on the fourth day of the Test as the Indians complained to the umpires that a section of the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground were hurling racist abuse at them.
Recalling that match, then stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane opened up about the racism that the Indian players faced and were also vocal about not receiving the right support from the umpires during the match. “(We) insisted on getting the abusers out of the ground,” Rahane, who stood in as India's captain from the second Test in the series in Kohli's absence, told ESPNCricinfo.
“When Siraj again came to me (on the fourth day, after being abused the day before), I told the umpires that (they) need to take action and we won't play till then. The umpires said that you can't stall the game and can walk out if you want. We said that we are here to play and not sit in the dressing room and insisted on getting the abusers out of the ground. It was important to support our colleague given the situation he had been through. What happened in Sydney was completely wrong," said Rahane.
The suspension of play went on for 10 minutes and it resumed only after a group of people were evicted from the stands.
