India moved to the top position in the ICC World Test Championship
(WTC) on Tuesday after winning the Border-Gavaskar Test series 2-1 against
Australia in Down Under. India currently have 71.7% of points won and 430
points in total.

The victory, initially deemed unlikely by many fans and hopefuls
due to veterans suffering injuries and lack of senior players to steer the team
forward, came after facing the wrath of a severely attacking Australian bowling
line-up, relentless sledging by the hosts, and last but not the least, the
Gabba factor – the Australian fortress remaining a deadlock for visiting teams
for over 30 years.

Also read: ‘Outstanding, magnificent’: India head coach Ravi Shastri’s inspiring speech after Gabba win

Youngsters in the squad such as Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, T
Natarajan, Shardul Thakur, and Washington Sundar made an impression with their
respective departments, claiming appreciation from both fans and the cricketing
fraternity.

The chance to don the blue jersey, however, did not come beforethe aforementioned out of anywhere. In what seemingly feels like stories of grit,
determination and perseverance to succeed, below are given small accounts of
all the five Indian stars who have just started on their path to success:

Mohammed Siraj: Hailing from Hyderabad, a video of Siraj recently
became viral on Twitter wherein he is seen wiping his tears as the national
anthem plays in the background ahead of the third Test. The bowler who
represents the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL later revealed that the
incident stemmed from him remembering his late father. Siraj’s father passed
away on November 20, and despite an offer to fly back home, the 26-year-old stayed
on with the team in its bio-secure bubble. In a stellar performance, the pacer
picked up five wickets in the second Test.

Also read: Twitter floods with hilarious memes after India’s historic win at Gabba

Navdeep Saini: Born in Karnal, Haryana, young Saini faced the problems
faced normally by many Indian children and adolescents – a lack of enthusiasm from
his family towards his wish of pursuing cricketing ventures. Born to a middle-class
family, Saini’s father worked as a driver for the Government of Haryana, while
his grandfather had been a member of the Indian National Army. Having played
since childhood in many cricket tournaments in his district, Saini eventually turned
his dream into a reality, earning a spot in the national squad.

Shardul Thakur: Suffering quite a bit with obesity in his early years
of life, young Thakur’s career navigation was guided by veterans of the game such
as Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma and Wasim Zaffer, who did not
hesitate to advise the young prospect in his tracks. Thakur was eventually
picked up by Mumbai Indians and after a great show in the field, was selected
for the Indian team.

T Natarajan: The second bowler in recent years from Tamil Nadu to
likely feature regularly in the Indian team after R Ashwin, Natarajan faced the
claws of abject poverty in his childhood whilst living with his parents in
Chinnapampatti, his native village. The reported journey from playing
tennis-ball cricket to take the cap as the 232nd ODI player during
the third ODI against Australia, representing India took Natarajan a long while,
but was ultimately a sweet reality.

Also read: Rishabh Pant and his fourth innings fairytale seals India’s epic series win

Washington Sundar: A unique experience towards the beginning of
his journey as a young learner of cricket changed Sundar’s life in a big way.
Getting constant attention because of his name, Sundar’s father’s interest in cricket
was reflected in a neighbour, who bought the young enthusiast his uniform, paid
his fees – essentially helping in whatever way he could. After the neighbour,
PD Washington, passed away, Sundar’s name starting bearing the signs of his
unlikely benefactor, as decided by the cricketer’s father.