Steve Smith in the womb, Maradona still the world champ, 2 Germanies – India’s turn to alter Brisbane’s cricket history

November 21, 1988. Gillian Smith was still early in her pregnancy, carrying Steve in her womb. Meanwhile, the Kohli household in Delhi must have been in a celebratory mood as they had welcomed their third child – Virat – a fortnight earlier.

Moving southwest from Delhi, to a city still called Bombay, a 15-year-old prodigy impatiently awaited his First-Class debut that season. He must have followed the just-concluded Brisbane Test where his hero Viv Richards had led the West Indies to a nine-wicket win.

The young boy metamorphosed into a legend called Sachin Tendulkar, who played two Tests at Brisbane with no success.

Australia hasn’t lost a Test in Brisbane since 1988. This is their 32nd Test at the venue since that summer day in Brisbane.

A peek at the world when Australia last lost a Test in Brisbane:

Baby Lyon, the only bowler born

Looking at both sides’ bowling attacks in the ongoing Gabba Test, only the 100-Test-old Nathan Lyon was born. He was only a year and a half old. The rest of the bowlers were some way away from coming into the world.

Meanwhile, David Warner was two years old when Australia last lost a Test at Brisbane.

Australia had a Marsh at Brisbane

Geoff Marsh opened in that Test. Before this, India played them at Brisbane in the 2014-15 series. That series saw Geoff’s sons – Shaun and Mitchell – play together in their Baggy Greens for the first time.

Both Shaun and Mitchell are active Australian cricketers.

A young Geoff Marsh.

The Internet?

The internet existed, but just about. The world hadn’t yet seen the first commercial provider of dial-up access. HTML wasn’t developed. There was no World Wide Web, and Google search engine wouldn't arrive for another ten years.

Diego Maradona, world champion!

The world recently mourned the demise of Diego Maradona, arguably the greatest footballer ever. Maradona’s Argentina were still the FIFA World Champions. The man considered by many to be Maradona's heir, Lionel Messi, was less than two years old.

Diego Maradona's Argentina had won the Football World Cup in 1986

Nelson Mandela was in prison

Nelson Mandela was still in prison. He would become the President five-and-half years later. South Africa were still banned from international cricket. They would return only three years later.

Donald Trump was still married to Ivana

Donald Trump was still married to Ivana, his first wife. It was in 1988 that Ivana was naturalised as a US citizen. A business tycoon, he has been married twice more since, and served a term as the United States president.

In 1988, Donald Trump was still married to Ivana. This was the year, she became a naturalised US citizen. 1988. Yes. The year Australia last lost a Test at Brisbane. pic.twitter.com/nMMjLsciq2

— Suvajit Mustafi (Rivu) (@RibsGully) January 18, 2021

One Soviet Union, two Germanies

The Soviet Union, also called USSR, still existed. By the end of 1991; 14 new countries were formed, including Russia and Kazakhstan.

While the USSR remained united, Germany was still divided. The Berlin Wall still stood tall, separating East Germany from West Germany.

Saddam Hussein hadn’t attacked Kuwait yet. So this was pre-Gulf War. And Hong Kong was still ruled by the British.

The World Trade Centre was still around too. In fact, 1988 was the year when Osama bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda.

The then US Vice President George Bush (sr), President Ronald Reagan, and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev pose with the World Trade Center in the background. This is 1988 - the last time when Australia lost a Test in Brisbane. pic: Getty pic.twitter.com/Yxmad79AEE

— Suvajit Mustafi (Rivu) (@RibsGully) January 18, 2021

Rajiv Gandhi was the Indian Prime Minister

Rajiv Gandhi, the then Indian Prime Minister

Rajiv Gandhi was the Indian Prime Minister in 1988. Since then, India has had VP Singh, Chandra Shekhar, PV Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, HD Deve Gowda, IK Gujral, Vajpayee again, Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi as Prime Ministers.

What’s Jurassic Park?

No, the world hadn’t heard of Jurassic Park or Harry Potter. Titanic was just known to be the ship that sank and the title of a very old film on the same subject.

Shah Rukh Khan had not even appeared on TV. Speaking of television, no one had heard about Friends or The Simpsons.

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Without exaggerating, let’s conclude that if India go onto do the unthinkable at Brisbane, it will be one of the most remarkable achievements in cricket history. Considering it’s a depleted Indian side, the achievement would be no less than a World Cup victory.

The Gabba is Australia’s fortress. Australia have remained unbeaten in 31 Tests since 1988 – winning 24 and seven ending in a draw.

Even otherwise, Australia have played 62 Tests here, won 40 and lost eight. Their win-loss (w/l) ratio is 5 – their best at any venue.

Playing safe is a good option considering the World Test Championship points tally and retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but can India triumph against history by pulling off a win?

Only for the third time in these 32 years and 32 Tests has Australia been bowled out twice in a Test at Brisbane. Perhaps, these are signs.

Cut to Brisbane.

Cracks on the pitch and variable bounce. Target 328. India 107 for 1 in the post-lunch session. A minimum of 98 overs in total. Now over to Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill.