India finally won a Test series and a test match against the world champions and thus began a new stride to the excellence in the longer and purest form of the game. It was a dream to achieve for the senior players and what a way to bid adieu to the 2of India ‘s greatest cricketers on a winning style. It was a series that we were supposed to loose big time after a poor SL sojourn and the seniors were put on VRS and were subject to intense of scrutiny by the media , the expats and the so called cricket experts. And boy didn’t the so called fading boys deliver ? In a very unIndian way and defeating a team which was very unAustralian in the nature, a team which never got going in the series except for the 1st test in Bangalore. Is that the beginning of the end for the dominance of the world champions ? Not quite, but the warning signals are on the envil. The bowling attack, the tactics and the captaincy skills were all subdued for the world champions and for those who say SL are the worthiest contenders to the Aussie throne , here is the answer to them. Yes we did. We did beat the Aussies to win the Border Gavaskar trophy – the most intense fought and the most important Test series on the planet of the earth.
This series is comparable to the Ashes 2006-07 down under where a mass exodus happened for Australians and so it did for India. We have lost 2 of our greatest cricketers – one who was a greatest skipper of the country and the other one who was greatest match winner we ever had but never got his due. The moment he knew he wont be fit enough for the deciding test of the series, he quit. That’s Anil Kumble for you. His bowling skills were fading and his shoulder wasn’t able to cope up the responsibility of delivering major quota of bowling, he quit. And he did it in style. The mental strength and the spirit was unmatched throughout his career.
The so called old aged cricket simply outclassed the new age cricket. The aggression, the intent, the motivation and the spirits of the game always rested on one side of the teams and that was WE the INDIANS. This victory is one of the greatest wins achieved in the history of Test cricket. Beating a team best in the world by 2-0 with no corner left unconquered is a big achievement and it couldn’t have come up unless everybody in the team could have contributed. It was the opening partnership of Sehwag and Gambhir/ Vijay that led the foundation, with not so solid contributions from the WALL, supreme batting display by the middle order often calming the tempers and adjusting the tempo of the game by Sachin, VVS and of course Laxman. When in trouble rescued by Dhoni and so were the contributions from Zak and Bhajji in batting. AK contributed with bat, not so much with ball, but kept the spirits of the team high with a dream and today we have achieved that dream of beating the best in the world without loosing anything.
If batsmen were supreme, then so were the bowlers. Ishant was the pick of bowlers and then Zaheer Khan often got his bunny Hayden for major part of series. Bhajji contributed in his way though not as the way he would have liked to. Mishra delivered when the onus was given to him and he could be heir apparent to AK but he has got a long way to go. Ishant Sharma has evolved to an altogether different class and now he is ready to deliver goods everywhere. Very important for India to preserve this rare commodity and use him sensibly.
The seniors have slammed their critics and after Mohali victory, the media didn’t have a word to say against them. Sachin Tendulkar achieved personal milestones, but never lost the cause of winning the series against Australians. He has scored 900 runs against them in 8 tests this year with 3 hundreds and 3 fiftees which has helped team win 3 Test matches to 2 losses against the mighty team. If Laxman appeared lax in first 2 games, he stuck with a mighty return to form so much so that Aussies had to wait for 324 runs to finally dismiss him. Ganguly never distracted from his ultimate mission to overcome the Aussies in his last hurrah and not only did he score a wonderful 100, but also rescued India in Bangalore and Delhi with gritty knocks. This is Ganguly’s team. He has made it with his skills and acumen. Dhoni, Sehwag, Bhajji, Zaheer prospered under his leadership. He transformed the team from a ordinary team to a team of world beaters. And what a fitting farewell he gets. With a victory in the series and gaining back the Border- Gavaskar trophy after 5 years.
Australians were out-thought, out classed in every department. They got their team composition wrong and it was shocking to see the tactics on the day 4 last session when they had last chance to seal the series and retain the coveted trophy. Slow over rate for sure is going to land Ponting to trouble. He should be lucky that the next 3 series he plays are against weaker teams of NZ and SA, so he would escape the scrutiny. But for sure the Aussies are no more invincible. It was shocking to see them fold up in 50 overs. Patience lacked and nobody showed intent to save the game. Except Hayden nobody wished to stay on the crease.
Lee had a forgettable tour with just 8 wkts and trouble with Ponting in 2nd test didn’t help him either. Clark would learn how to ball on unhelpful wkts. Johnson took wkts but leaked out rains. Siddle was ok in the only test he played. Cameron White never looked menacing with bat and ball. And Krejza had a crazy debut, leaking 360 runs for 12 wkts. He might be or might not be a good spinner for Aussies, but then he s got to look into the runs he concedes for the wkts he takes. Except Hussey, no batsmen lived upto his reputation. Watson is no Symmo and Haddin is no Gilchrist either. Perhaps Aussies need back Roy and for good he is eligible to come back to the folds again.
This is a beginning of new age for Indian cricket when it moves to transition from a greatest middle order to a pretty thin and relatively less famed middle order, though for few months to come RD, ST and VVS would be there. But they wont be playing forever. And unfortunately the new aged batsmen aint patient or gifted as this 4 greats. And MSD is the best of leader for India in this new transition.
Kudos to India and a bid adieu to AK and SG…..
This series is comparable to the Ashes 2006-07 down under where a mass exodus happened for Australians and so it did for India. We have lost 2 of our greatest cricketers – one who was a greatest skipper of the country and the other one who was greatest match winner we ever had but never got his due. The moment he knew he wont be fit enough for the deciding test of the series, he quit. That’s Anil Kumble for you. His bowling skills were fading and his shoulder wasn’t able to cope up the responsibility of delivering major quota of bowling, he quit. And he did it in style. The mental strength and the spirit was unmatched throughout his career.
The so called old aged cricket simply outclassed the new age cricket. The aggression, the intent, the motivation and the spirits of the game always rested on one side of the teams and that was WE the INDIANS. This victory is one of the greatest wins achieved in the history of Test cricket. Beating a team best in the world by 2-0 with no corner left unconquered is a big achievement and it couldn’t have come up unless everybody in the team could have contributed. It was the opening partnership of Sehwag and Gambhir/ Vijay that led the foundation, with not so solid contributions from the WALL, supreme batting display by the middle order often calming the tempers and adjusting the tempo of the game by Sachin, VVS and of course Laxman. When in trouble rescued by Dhoni and so were the contributions from Zak and Bhajji in batting. AK contributed with bat, not so much with ball, but kept the spirits of the team high with a dream and today we have achieved that dream of beating the best in the world without loosing anything.
If batsmen were supreme, then so were the bowlers. Ishant was the pick of bowlers and then Zaheer Khan often got his bunny Hayden for major part of series. Bhajji contributed in his way though not as the way he would have liked to. Mishra delivered when the onus was given to him and he could be heir apparent to AK but he has got a long way to go. Ishant Sharma has evolved to an altogether different class and now he is ready to deliver goods everywhere. Very important for India to preserve this rare commodity and use him sensibly.
The seniors have slammed their critics and after Mohali victory, the media didn’t have a word to say against them. Sachin Tendulkar achieved personal milestones, but never lost the cause of winning the series against Australians. He has scored 900 runs against them in 8 tests this year with 3 hundreds and 3 fiftees which has helped team win 3 Test matches to 2 losses against the mighty team. If Laxman appeared lax in first 2 games, he stuck with a mighty return to form so much so that Aussies had to wait for 324 runs to finally dismiss him. Ganguly never distracted from his ultimate mission to overcome the Aussies in his last hurrah and not only did he score a wonderful 100, but also rescued India in Bangalore and Delhi with gritty knocks. This is Ganguly’s team. He has made it with his skills and acumen. Dhoni, Sehwag, Bhajji, Zaheer prospered under his leadership. He transformed the team from a ordinary team to a team of world beaters. And what a fitting farewell he gets. With a victory in the series and gaining back the Border- Gavaskar trophy after 5 years.
Australians were out-thought, out classed in every department. They got their team composition wrong and it was shocking to see the tactics on the day 4 last session when they had last chance to seal the series and retain the coveted trophy. Slow over rate for sure is going to land Ponting to trouble. He should be lucky that the next 3 series he plays are against weaker teams of NZ and SA, so he would escape the scrutiny. But for sure the Aussies are no more invincible. It was shocking to see them fold up in 50 overs. Patience lacked and nobody showed intent to save the game. Except Hayden nobody wished to stay on the crease.
Lee had a forgettable tour with just 8 wkts and trouble with Ponting in 2nd test didn’t help him either. Clark would learn how to ball on unhelpful wkts. Johnson took wkts but leaked out rains. Siddle was ok in the only test he played. Cameron White never looked menacing with bat and ball. And Krejza had a crazy debut, leaking 360 runs for 12 wkts. He might be or might not be a good spinner for Aussies, but then he s got to look into the runs he concedes for the wkts he takes. Except Hussey, no batsmen lived upto his reputation. Watson is no Symmo and Haddin is no Gilchrist either. Perhaps Aussies need back Roy and for good he is eligible to come back to the folds again.
This is a beginning of new age for Indian cricket when it moves to transition from a greatest middle order to a pretty thin and relatively less famed middle order, though for few months to come RD, ST and VVS would be there. But they wont be playing forever. And unfortunately the new aged batsmen aint patient or gifted as this 4 greats. And MSD is the best of leader for India in this new transition.
Kudos to India and a bid adieu to AK and SG…..
