Five Indian batsmen raised their bats in glory, but it wasn’t enough. In a Test match where records tumbled, what followed was an epic unraveling. This is the story of how tactical errors, missed chances, and a lack of killer instinct turned history into heartbreak.
BIPIN DANI
In a game that scriptwriters couldn’t have dared imagine, the Indian cricket team carved five personal milestones each a testament to will, technique, and temperament—only to end the match on the losing side. For the first time in Test cricket’s grand narrative, India registered five individual centuries in a match and still lost.
This wasn’t just a twist in the tale. It was a full-blown paradox.
Each century carried its own weight crafted on different days, against different bowling spells, under evolving match pressure. Together, they promised domination. But cricket, as it often does, spun a cruel arc. The scoreboard celebrated the bat, but the final scorecard exposed the gaps the late-order stutters, the fruitless overs with the ball, and the misfield that turned the tide.
More than a collapse, it was a contradiction.
It’s not often that a team’s batting lineup looks like a roll of honour and the result reads like a cautionary tale. Analysts will pore over tactics. Fans will relive the heartbreak. But deep within, this match will be remembered not for its numbers, but for its irony.
It told us that even five shining suns can’t stop a storm.
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