The Australian opener, Marcus Harris has recently recalled India’s heroic Test match victory at the Gabba, Brisbane earlier this year, saying the loss was difficult to digest for the Aussies but they had doffed their hats to the stunning effort from the visitors. Marcus Harris said Cheteshwar Pujara’s knock on Day 5 of the Test match was one of the final nails in the coffin for the hosts in the thrilling series decider at Australia’s fortress that was breached by Team India. Ajinkya Rahane’s men became the first team to beat Australia in Australia at the Gabba since 1988-89 season.

Cheteshwar Pujara played a gritty knock of 56 off 211 balls, stitching crucial partnerships with opener Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant as India gunned down a record-shattering target of 329 runs to win the series decider and seal the 4-match series 2-1. India’s never-say-die attitude was evident throughout the series as they bounced back from a crushing loss in the series opener in Adelaide to win the series despite missing some of the crucial cogs like Virat Kohli, Japsirt Bumrah, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja in the last Test.

ALSO READ: Inzamam-ul-Haq Applauds Team India’s Bench Strength

Parat from Pujara, Pant played a match-winning knock of 89 not out to emerge as the hero of the Gabba Test but Harris believes Pujara’s resistance proved to be the difference between the two teams on the dramatic final day.

During a recent chat on Cricket Life Stories’ YouTube channel, Marcus Harris said, “The final day was amazing to watch. The thought process the whole day was ‘are they going to for the runs or are they not?’. I think Rishabh played the best innings that day, but for Pujara to be copping an absolute barrage from everyone and wore them down, I felt he batted a bit like an Australian, taking everything on the chest and got on with it. Everyone else batted around him.”

Harris also showered praises on Rishabh Pant, saying the young wicketkeeper-batsman proved he is a ‘magical talent’ with his match-winning innings. Notably, Pant had also played a quickfire knock of 97 in the 3rd Test but got out just when India was looking to for an improbable victory in chase of 407. India finished with 334 for 5 as the 3rd Test ended in a draw.

ALSO READ: Deepak Chahar Credits MS Dhoni For Making Him A Powerplay Bowler

Marcus Harris further added, “Rishabh Pant’s innings was unbelievable. Everyone says he has magic in him, and he has shown that a couple of times now. It was disappointing to lose the series but sometimes in cricket you just have to tip your hat and say ‘well done’.”