The Indian cricketers, Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin batted together for a long period of 42.4 overs across two sessions on the final day as, under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane, India pulled off a draw in the third Test against Australia in Sydney. The teams will now go to Brisbane for the fourth and final Test with the series level 1-1 and everything to play for. Starting the day at 98 for 2, India needed 309 runs to register a win.

Cheteshwar Pujara’s patient knock of 77 off 205 balls and Rishabh Pant’s whirlwind knock of 97 off 118 gave India hopes for a while but their wickets and a hamstring injury to Vihari forced India to go for a draw. The Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane said the team didn’t think about the result when they came out to bat on the final day.

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Talking about India’s strategy after the same, Rahane said, “Our talk coming this morning was to show character and fight till the end. Not to think about the result. Really happy with the way we fought especially today but also throughout the game, even in the first innings when Australia was 200 for 2 and getting them all out for 338 was really good.”

Rahane also showered praises on Vihari and Ashwin, who, in the face of some intense scrutiny by the Australian pacers and some verbal volleys by close-in fielders, kept their calms and batted through the final session. Australia captain Tim Paine rued the dropped catches – three of them dropped by Paine himself – while lauding the bowlers for creating wicket-taking opportunities. The Aussie skipper Paine dropped Pant twice and then grassed Vihari in the final moments of the day.

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Talking about the catches, Paine explained, “I thought we created enough chances to win the game, this one’s a tough one to swallow.  Just that we (especially me) didn’t hold onto our catches. Looking at the positives from the Test. We didn’t play our best in the last two games, but we were somewhat good with the bat in this Test. There were a few positives for us, our bowlers created plenty of chances. Today was a whole-hearted effort from the boys, just that things didn’t go our way.”