Sydney was no stalemate, mate!

In this Age of the Unsubtle, when being clear-cut is considered a virtue even when dawn is not morning and dusk is not night, in our quest to know ‘So who won? Who lost?’ a draw seems a boring non-resolution. But as the Indian innings on the fifth day of the third Test in Sydney revealed, a draw can be hard won, exciting, epic. The body language of the Aussies at close of play said it all: Josh Hazlewood and Matthew Wade with their hands on their heads, and Marnus Labuschagne standing with stooping shoulders — the bird in their hand had flown. Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin had batted out the entire evening session to defend Fortress India from bruising, brutal and fine raids by the hosts-hordes.

Statistics — the 131 overs India withstood is the most number of overs India has batted in a Test chase since 1980 — hardly touch the surface of the grit shown by Vihari and Ashwin. Sydney will go down with other thrilling draws, such as 2012 Australia-South Africa Test at the Adelaide Oval when the visitors, set a target of 430, were down to 45 for 4 in the fourth innings. A B de Villiers and Faf du Plessis, uncharacteristically ‘went Zen’ and defended, with South Africa batting 150 overs to draw the match. Vihari and Ashwin salvaged similarly, underlying how a draw, whether in Test cricket or in gunfights, can be a winning shot.