A huge Test series finale gets a colossal finale in the world’s biggest stadium

The massive Narendra Modi Stadium is absolutely the perfect setting for the two Prime Ministers of India and Australia to watch the first hour of play in Ahmedabad. It also couldn’t be set up better in terms of where the series stands.

Australia have tasted blood in Indore and India are looking for a clean win after the setback last week. It will be quite a spectacle, and there will be over 100,000 people on the first morning. It’ll be noisy and there’ll be a different kind of energy. That will set the tone for the Test. It’s the first time this century that we’ll have the start of a Test in this kind of grand setting on Indian soil.

I remember playing in a Test in Jaipur in 1987 against Pakistan, where the president of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, was in attendance. It was the first Test ever played at that venue.

There was a different sense of occasion to the match. But what I do recall very clearly is that once the game starts, the focus will shift solely on the cricket for the players. I also remember the Test fondly, as I was man of the match and scored a century in the first innings.

What Australia achieved in Indore was a real show of character. It was pretty evident that when you trust your own ability and your defence and stick to your game plans, you can still get the better of India in India.

While Usman Khawaja played a great hand with the bat, the bowlers led by Nathan Lyon need to take the lion’s share of the credit. They were the ones who kept the pressure on the Indian batters, and were expertly handled by Steve Smith. I had mentioned how Smith’s captaincy experience in these conditions will make a huge difference for Australia. And we saw the impact it had in Indore.

The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad can hold up to 130,000 people.Credit:Getty Images

It was great to see the two young spinners Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann learning so quickly. Their accuracy was most impressive. It also tells you why a left-arm spinner is a must in India. I believe they could have well won in Nagpur too if they’d gone in with one.

In fact, all three pitches so far have provided an equal opportunity to both teams to make the most of what has been on offer. It’s basically been one session that has made the difference. In the first two Tests, it was India who won those two sessions. Australia, for me, won the third Test in the first session when India collapsed.

It was also impressive and important for Australia to finish off things in Indore with a punch, a knockout blow. They did that by winning by nine wickets. It was a strong message to the Indian dressing room. What it will do is give a rap on the knuckles to the Indians. And when they come out in Ahmedabad, they’ll know they can’t even risk getting into a complacent or over-confident mind set.

The fact that the Australians have made the Indians rethink their plans makes this final Test more exciting.

Indian teams don’t lose Tests at home very often. What they do, though, is that they fight back strongly whenever they are defeated in their own den. I saw it first-hand after we lost to England in 2021 in Chennai. You just have to see how they took down England after that.

Ahmedabad has historically been a venue for famous milestones in Indian cricket, mostly to do with the great Kapil Dev.

I played the first Test here in 1983, and I remember the pitch was very different with the ball flying around. I expect explosions of a very different kind from the pitch this time around. It will, however, be equally exciting and quite the event.

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