India leave the Gabba with honours even

At almost all times during the Brisbane Test, Australia were ahead of the game.

- ASHISH MAGOTRA IN AUSTRALIA

BRISBANE: And had rain not played spoilsport, India would have had quite a battle on their hands to save the match.

But the weather gods intervened, and India did more than just survive. They saved the follow-on on Day 4 and then reduced Australia to 89/7 (declared) before making it to 8/0 in the fourth innings on Wednesday.

It might not be wrong to say that, regardless of the match situation, the fightback showed during the last two days would have given the team morale quite a boost. At the start of the series, would India have taken a 1-1 scoreline going into the Boxing Day Test at the MCG Test? Absolutely. Because it means they have a chance of winning the series, and at the very least an opportunity to retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy going into the final game.