The most amazing victory ever!

You might wonder if it's really appropriate for me to call India's victory at Perth as the most memorable victory ever for India. Well, I have my reasons for thinking in the affirmative and those reasons are quite overwhelming.

Going into the series, The Aussie record-chasing run notwithstanding, India had realistic chances of overpowering the Aussies. It's not that I am saying this as a typical "over-optimistic" Indian cricket fan, I'm saying it because India were just 2 wickets away from achieving the feat the last time around. And knowing that India went in the best batting line-up in the world right now, it wasn't entirely unreasonable to think about a series victory down-under.
With Australia winning the first test very convincingly India could very easily have clawed back into contention at Sydney had it not been for those unfortunate things that conspired there. Sydney Test was an absolute fiasco to say the least. The gravity of damage done by the incidents around that test can be felt by the fact that it is being compared with the Bodyline series - the worst advertisement for cricket if there was any! India could so easily have let their guard down after having lost that match and with that the prospect of winning the series. They could very well have let their interest slip by sympathizing with themselves especially as a vast majority of cricket followers around the world had acknowledged they had got a raw deal .

What makes Australia such a difficult country to travel to is the sheer fact that they have some of the fastest and bounciest tracks around. Perth is easily the worst wicket for a touring side to bat on. The wicket at WACA is generally tailor-made for Aussie fast bowlers to dismantle the opposition batting through sheer intimidation. It is bound to be more difficult for the sub-continental sides and it's a fact that no side from Asia had won at Perth before this test! The idea of Australia bringing in Shaun Tait to replace a fairly successful Brad Hogg was a testimony to the fact that they were leaving no stone unturned in keeping their record streak going. With the fast and furious Bret Lee and Stuart Clark, who bowls with a Mcgrath-like accuracy, Australia were easily the favourites going into the match.

With such odds against his side, Kumble's decision to bat first was looked at as being naive by most people. But that was a bold statement to say the least. And add to that, the idea of going with Sehwag, the dasher at the top clearly showed aggressive intentions. I had the feeling India had missed a big trick by keeping Sehwag out of the first two tests. And though Sehwag didn't go all guns blazing, he did give an idea what he brings to the table. A quick start of 40-50 runs with no loss can make huge difference and that's what was achieved by him at the top. Sachin, Dravid and Laxman did their bit with the bat through the match which is expected of seasoned men like them. But the victory was made possible by the young and probably the most inexperienced pace attack in the world right now. Irfan Pathan was back to his swinging best. What a reversal of fortunes for him since the 20-20 WC! RP Singh was not easy to counter. And Ishanth Sharma was such a revelation - though he didn't take too many wickets, the role he played was vital - getting rid of Ricky Ponting in the 2nd Innings, which was my turning point of the match.

India have gone from poor travelers in the last decade to successful ones mainly in this decade. They have won series in WI, England, Pakistan. But those victories had not been achieved in such sensationally charged atmosphere. Today India have beaten the World Champions at their home, quite convincingly. They have once again come in the way of the Aussie dream of a record-breaking streak. They've risen like a Phoenix in defying all the off-field distractions and achieved a near impossible feat. History apart, it's a victory that will be relished by all those who were left with a bitter taste in their mouths post Sydney test. Indians have one again shown they do have that killer spirit in them. Well done guys! Take a bow!

Shambolic! Disgraceful!! Cheap!!!

What is happening down under??? Is it the gentleman's game that we are witnessing there? Ahh...whatever is happening is just not cricket at all.

India went down meekly to Australia in the first test. That was more or less expected given India had no time to prepare nor the energy after a series against Pakistan. Fair enough, Australia went up 1-0 on the strength of their own expoits.
Come the second test and we see that everything that can possibly go against India making a comeback has happened.

Day one, Australia are reduced to 134/6 by a beleaguered Indian attack in the absence of their strike bowler Zaheer Khan. India looked set to level the series and what do we see? Symonds gets a thick edge which only the old ears of Steve Bucknor couldn't hear. Later, even the third umpire, assisted by all the possible technology, didn't think Symonds was out stumped when his leg was clearly in the air. Ricky Ponting wasn't given out either when he'd edged to Dhoni. And the result, Australia post a very good score. All the wise men of the yesteryears come out to give their suggestions as to how the technology could be improved. In the end, it was just "one of those days" and life was supposed to move on.
India did put up a fight in the first innings, courtesy the class of Laxman and Sachin. What's more, even Bajji came to the party and showed he's got a few shots for test cricket and threatened to put India in the front. And the cheap Aussie attitude comes to the fore - sledging! Symonds provokes Harbhajan and they have a chat. It looked like the most innocuous chat that you'd see on a cricket field with everything seeming to settle down in the end of it. And yet, at the end of the day, you see Ricky Ponting accusing Harbhajan of making racist taunts at Symonds.

I was like, Dear me! of all people, the Aussies are incriminating their "known to be sober" Indian counterparts. It was a level 3 charge that would keep everybody following the series more interested in the hearing than the outcome of the game. Misbehaviour apart, India still had a huge task of saving the game on the last day. 333 to score in 70 overs on a turning SCG wicket. Always a tough bet to go with India in the fourth innings and yet we knew there would be a fight to watch out for. Dravid, one guy who you'd count to keep India in the hunt in such scenarios, is given out by, yet again, the age-old Steve Bucknor. It clearly looked to have come off his pads. I wonder why this guy is even in the elite panel of umpires when he makes so many mistakes. Does he know anything called benefit of the doubt? Sure, he was one of the best. But those days are gone. And you're forced to think he could be running some kind of vendetta against Indian team - remember the Indians have never been happy with the quality of his umpiring and he's been complained against many a times.

And the worst was yet to come, this time a howler by umpire Benson. Ganguly is keeping the Indian ship sailing and suddenly he edges one to third slip. My first thought was that it wasn't taken cleanly. Ganguly seemed to think the same an stayed his ground. And what does Mr. Benson do? He doesn't ask the square-leg umpire, doesn't refer it to the third umpire but asks Ricky Ponting, the opposition captain who's "very confident" it was clean. Ans so, he's given out.
Television replays and you see it was not out, on two counts - one, it bounced before being taken and two, Micheal Clarke, the catcher, touched the ball to the ground while completing the catch.
Even the normally controlled Sunil Gavaskar let his ire out on the umpire, on air. Any person would. Here you are supporting your team playing the best team in the world at their backyard and making a match of it and how can you take all non-sense that is on exhibition? I'm sure every Indian's blood would have been boiling when Ganguly was given out and because of that India were looking down the barrel, facing defeat. Though, as I write this piece, Dhoni and Kumble are battling it out, irrespective of the outcome, what we have witnessed here at SCG , in terms of umpiring decisions and behaviour is not a good advertizement for cricket. We as fans are getting more and more impatient about the way cricket is becoming more and more unfair for players and teams.

Well, while Dhoni and Kumble had been fighting it out, I had taken a break from writing this blog and as I try to resume now, the news is that India have been beaten! As far as I am concerned, I am totally shattered. India, as acknowledged all around, was the only team which looked like beating Australia in Australia. Whats more, this is more or less the last tour to Australia for the famed combination of Sachin, Saurav, Dravid, Kumble and Laxman. They came close to achieving this seemingly impossible task the last time around. And going by what they did in the first innings at SCG, a historic series was in the offing. But the cricketing world has been robbed of all the excitement just by poor umpiring.

It feels so bitter in the mouth that this has happened. The attitude of the Australian team is even more deplorable. I am just flabbergasted they want to be the best team in the world with such an abysmal attitude and no respect for the game. When Sunil Gavaskar was explaining how wrong umpire Benson was in taking Ponting's word while adjudicating Ganguly out, they showed how poor the Aussie team has been in it's conduct. Micheal Clarke didn't walk after gloving the ball to the slips. He had to be asked to go. He would surely have known he hadn't taken the catch of Ganguly and yet he celebrated as if it was the cleanest catch ever taken. Ricky Ponting claiming a catch after taking a diving catch but with clear indication that he had grounded the ball, was nothing but shameless from the Australian captain. That apart, the Australian team have accused Harbhajan of racist comments. I just hope they have concrete evidence to back it up. If they are found to have wrongly accused Bajji, I hope they're punished for the simple reason that they have brought the game to disrepute and more so an individual. Whatever the outcome is going to be, it's gone too far beyond repair.

With India losing today, I've just decided not to follow the series any more. If anything, I'd only be watching Sachin bat for this is his last trip to the place which could be called his second home. I'm sure cricket would have lost a number of fans today. Congrats ICC!