On this day in 2016- India defeat Australia on Republic Day
After a forgettable limited-overs series at home against South Africa, Team India toured Australia in January 2016 for a white-ball series comprising of five ODIs and three T20Is. While the Aussies came out on top in the One Day Internationals by an emphatic 4-0 margin, a spirited Indian team staged a remarkable comeback in the three-match T20I series that succeeded the One Day series where they whitewashed the hosts.
The first of those historic wins came on this very day in 2016 courtesy of a brilliant batting performance by the then vice-captain Virat Kohli before the Indian bowlers applied brakes on Australia’s momentum during their chase.
Virat Kohli’s enterprising knock helps India register a famous win
After being put in to bat, openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma added 40 runs for the opening stand before both were dismissed in quick succession. Kohli and Suresh Raina then carried out the rescue act with a 135-run stand for the second wicket before the latter was dismissed for 41.
The batting megastar then took matters into his own hands in the death overs and helped India post a competitive total of 188/3 from their 20 overs. He remained unbeaten on a 55-ball 90 at a strike rate of 163.64 including nine boundaries and a couple of maximums.
In reply, Aaron Finch’s quickfire 44 kept the hosts in the hunt and despite losing his opening partner David Warner for 17, he received support from Steve Smith who took the attack on the young pacers. However, a lapse in concentration while chatting with the broadcast commentators in the middle backfired as he ended up chipping one of Ravindra Jadeja to Virat Kohli at mid-off for 21.
That turned out to be the turning point of the contest and when Finch walked back in the very next over, the Aussies could never recover and were eventually bundled out for 151 with three balls to spare as the Men in Blue registered a convincing 37-run win.
The occasion was bigger for the Indian team to celebrate as they had got the job done on Republic Day and while this was their first-ever T20I win on Australian soil, this was not their first overall win down under. Anil Kumble’s fearless boys had defeated the Aussies on the occasion of Republic Day in the third Test match at Perth during the 2007/08 tour. It was a much-needed win after the infamous second Test at the SCG.
Coming back to the 2015/16 tour, a determined Team India went on to register stellar wins in the next two T20Is at the MCG and the Sydney Cricket Ground respectively.
