Revisiting 2021: Pant, Gill and a slice of heaven called the Gabba

A bit like the six by MS Dhoni in the 2011 World Cup final. Rishabh Pant's four will forever be enshrined in our memory.

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It will never get old.

When you think of Gabba, you think of Pant and that boundary.

It wasn't even well struck. It was a half push-half block, hit in the gap. There was no mid-off and the ball didn't exactly race to the boundary either. Rather, it seemed to trickle towards the fence. And that is why Pant kept running before he finally punched the air in delight.

Unforgettable.

At 9:34am on Thursday morning, Pant stepped on the ground for the first time since that day. He took the shortest of pauses and closed his eyes before looking around and taking in the sight and slowly, as is his way, joining the team for its training session.

The pause, short as it was, would have been enough to revisit that evening. It must have all seemed so surreal then.

For many Indians, it still is.

On air, the commentary went like this: "It's full, it's down the ground, it will be at least one, Saini he's got an injury in the groin... it goes as far as the fence. Indiaaa... incredible. Rishabh Pant is the star. India win the Test... they win the series... and they win the hearts and the minds of cricket fans all around the world. Test cricket's heart is beating hard, it's beating true.