After India avoided the follow-on during the dramatic last hour on day four of the drawn third Test against Australia in Brisbane, the moment sparked celebrations in the Indian dressing room, which the Australian team and media found a bit surprising considering India were still almost 200 runs behind the hosts. But Rohit believed it was a “little victory” that could leave an impact on the end result of the series and there was “no harm celebrating” it.
After India lost their ninth wicket at 213, No. 11 Akash Deep came out to join Jasprit Bumrah. Together, they built an unbeaten 39-run stand before the day’s play concluded on Tuesday, helping India surpass 246 — the follow-on mark.
The broadcast cameras captured moments from the Indian dressing room, showing an enthusiastic Virat Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma and chief coach Gautam Gambhir celebrating and sharing laughs.
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When Akash Deep struck Pat Cummins for a six, displaying his batting prowess, an animated Kohli moved closer to the glass window of the dressing room to see how far the shot went.
The following day, the duo added eight runs before Travis Head’s off-spin dismissed Akash Deep for 31, ending India’s innings at 260, leaving them with a deficit of 185 runs against Australia.
The celebrations invited reaction from the Australian team as well, with Nathan Lyon saying that he and his teammates were a bit “surprised”.
“After the play we spoke about that and were surprised about some of their actions,” said the veteran off-spinner talking on live broadcast during a rain delay on Wednesday. “It looked to me like their top order didn’t want to bat last night (Tuesday) if we were able to get that and enforce the follow-on.”
A journalist asked Rohit for his reaction to that at the post-match press conference, and India captain said: “It doesn’t matter (who said what). I have been here enough number of times to understand what mind games are. From a personal point of view we were behind in the game, it was a little victory for us to avoid that follow on.”
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“Looking at the weather and where the game was heading, we managed a draw, though Australia were ahead. It was a little victory for us. There is no harm in celebrating that. We saw two guys (Bumrah and Akash) fighting for the team and we were happy with that,” Rohit added.
The Gabba draw means the five-Test series stays level at 1-1, going into the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.