By Alan Nicolea
November 12th 2008 @ 1:45am
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Sharma and India are now world beaters
As was forecast prior to the Border-Gavaskar series, India has regained the trophy and a two-nil series win is a fair reflection of their efforts against an Australian side who were outplayed in all but one Test.
The difficulty facing Australia in the last day’s play in the fifth Test was enormous. They needed to have completed the fourth-highest run chase in Test history had they defended the Border-Gavaskar trophy from the clutches of crickets new superpower.
However futile it was for Australia, there were stages where their run chase was building nicely. Matthew Hayden was the messiah.
Even when Ricky Ponting departed after attempting an idiotic run to Amit Mishra, Australia managed to steal the momentum for a brief period after lunch when Hayden was getting the better of India’s tactics.
Indian captain MS Dhoni found himself on the back foot as he struggled to set a field to the aggressive Hayden.
He even instructed his bowlers to bowl down the leg side in an attempt to rein Hayden in, only for umpire Billy Bowden to warn Virender Sehwag that any more of it would result in the bowler being no-balled.
It was a thrilling game of cat and mouse that was ended when Hayden fell to Harbhajan Singh.
After that, Australia’s chances were dead and buried, despite their valiant efforts for the entirety of the fifth day.
With this defeat, there will be many questions surrounding the current side wearing the Baggy Green, with the only revelation in Australia’s campaign being off-spinner Jason Krezja.
But not even his twelve wickets can rid the cloud surrounding Australia’s bowling inadequacies, with go-to fast bowler Brett Lee having a tournament he would rather forget.
On the other side of the spectrum, however, India’s Ishant Sharma is already one of the finest bowlers in world cricket at the age of just 20, and he was a worthy choice for man of the series.
It’s quite an achievement for a fast bowler of Sharma’s nature - to be the leading wicket-taker in a series on Indian soil that saw some particularly flat wickets. His performance against the Baggy Greens shows that he has more than just height and raw talent.
Many of his wickets were from outstanding deliveries, highlighted by his bowling to Ricky Ponting in Mohali.
Like in Perth earlier this year, he worked the Australian captain over and then produced a delivery which Ponting admitted would get the better of him 95 times out of 100.
It wasn’t just the wickets, either. His control during the controversial morning’s and tough stages in contests swung the Tests in India’s favour.
India’s victory has moved them into second place in the ICC Test rankings, with Australia now coming back to the pack.
India and South Africa are tied on 116 points (South Africa will move ahead again once they’ve disposed of Bangladesh 2-0), while Australia are now on 129.
Having been miles out in front for many years now, suddenly Ponting’s men seem within reach.
India has shown that they’re as good as Australia, albeit consistency will remain their Achilles heel unless proven otherwise.
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Ronnie from Lonnie said | November 12th 2008 @ 11:30am | Report comment
… and does anybody really care if they are??? What I find most interesting is the amount of time a space the media has devoted to this ‘really important’ series and the obvious lack of interest I’m seeing at street level - work, cafes, parties, etc. It’s nothing like the season-long BBQ stoppers you get with the footy codes.
Hell, even the Indians didn’t care! The series was scheduled in relative backwaters and away from the main Indian cities. And when I did happen to see snippets during the sports news, the stands for the best part of the series were on very many occasions more than ‘half empty’.
So, although the Australian media is working itself into a frenzy over this series, Indians seem to be saying Twenty20 is the real deal, and tests are for those individuals with an interest in Theatre de Farce. Sadly, the Oz media is clinging to it’s comfort zone - the past - by attaching some sort of importance to this circus.
Anyway, congratulations to India. It is now a justifiably proud ‘world’ (i.e. ‘Commonwealth’) beater!
It’s basically a nation of 1 billion plus versus a rabble of Commonwealth nations with shambolic economies or insignificant populations:
England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Caribbean United (aka ‘West Indies’)
Alan Nicolea said | November 12th 2008 @ 3:41pm | Report comment
Ronnie from Lonnie
The Red Sox are ‘world beaters’ aswell considering they compete in a world series with only american teams involved. In this case, India have to be ‘world beaters’ too.
But i agree with India and their 20/20 interest. Its growing massively by the day because it entertains the audience in ways tests and one dayers don’t. This world is always in a hurry and people love seeing sport with the same qualities - action.
Although purists of cricket will condem 20/20, it is the way of the future for cricket all round.
Ronnie from Lonnie said | November 12th 2008 @ 4:06pm | Report comment
Yup, judging by the lack of response to this and other cricket stories on this site, it would appear the real passion is for the 4 footbal codes.
Hasn’t anybody got a comment to make about this story or my waffling comment about it? Surely somebody must want to pick holes in my argument? Anybody? Do any of the columnists want to shred my argument to pieces? Please!
Is cricket really that insignificant? (and if it is, would somebody mind telling the major newspapers and FTA networks they can churn out less cricket stories and more HAL stories)
Dave said | November 12th 2008 @ 4:12pm | Report comment
RfL
Agree with your 1st post 100%. No one in my work place of 40 or so seemed to give a damn. Wasnt a topic of conversation. Media were all over it but not many others seem to care.
Alan Nicolea said | November 12th 2008 @ 5:18pm | Report comment
Dave and RFL
I know full well that the other football codes dominate headlines the majority of times. Is cricket losing its charm to the australian audience perhaps? I think this every year, but there are still decent crowds through out the Australian summer on most occasions, particulary against India last year and the Ashes the year before. The one off 20/20 games are also a huge success in this country.
Dave said | November 12th 2008 @ 5:35pm | Report comment
Alan
No doubt the Ashes will be big and in a sense with such a series every 2-3 years Test Cricket will continue to do OK here but…if the Tests were against Bangldesh, SriLanka, NZ, Pakistan, WI and even to a certain extent South Africa in consecutive Summers then it would struggle. How long can test Cricket continue like this only time will tell.
20/20 will be the death of 50 over games but Tests are such a different beast they will survive but maybe secondary to the 20/20 stuff. Spending all day at the Cricket to many in this instant world seems too much of a waste. Certainly Cricket amongst many kids doesnt seem as appetising as the football codes or Basketball.
Alan Nicolea said | November 12th 2008 @ 5:52pm | Report comment
Dave
Its the energy displayed in the likes of Basketball and football codes that inspire the kids to take up the sport. Cricket seems too strategical although it does encompass some demanding physical elements (fast bowling, fielding and batting). I personally have nothing against 20/20 cricket because i think it is very enjoyable IMO. The general cricket fanbase would seem to agree due to the crowds so far witnessed in the new format.
Indeed Australia must play India more often in tests in order to keep Test cricket healthy IMO. They are the only side that have shown this year that they are capable of matching it with Australia home and away in all formats of the game.
Ronnie from Lonnie said | November 13th 2008 @ 8:21am | Report comment
Dave - although I loved cricket when I was a kid I went off it big time somewhere in the 90’s for a number of reasons. I’m one of those who largely ignores it now but who follows the Ashes (IF it’s a contest)
Maybe that’s where cricket is heading: the ODI form will die, Twenty20 will dominate, and tests will be reduced to a couple of important rivalries per country - eg. the ashes for Australia.
From observing snippets of news stories on the Aus. v. Ind. test series last year, I couldn’t help but notice the large number of Indian expats in the crowd. Maybe it was they who bulked up the numbers? It’s a well known fact that the 2nd largest cricket-viewing group outside of India is … Indians in the US of A!
Alan - agree the baseball ‘World’ Series is a really daffy concept. Did some digging and found this interesting wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball_World_Cup
I’m not sure how seriously the Americans take this comp. (especially since Cuba has won more) or what the standard is like, but the varierty of countries that have competed is far more impressive than the ’same olds’ that turn up to cricket WCs or the 1 Twenty20 championship thus far.
I remember that Australia’s progress in the Baseball WC last year was poorly reported in this country - and we ranked 6th overall!
It’s almost as if baseball and cricket live in isolation to one another - each sport is at the worst “persona non grata” and at best a non-entity in one-another’s spheres of influence.
How embarrasing for the ICC that the last cricket WC was held at the front door of one of baseball’s strongest regions - a farce that would’ve made no converts whatsoever.
The talk, in Australia at least, centres on rivalry amongst the football codes (in order of strength: football, r. union, American, r. league, Australian, Gaelic). Perhaps the less obvious rivalry between baseball and cricket for market share is equally interesting?
Tom said | November 13th 2008 @ 7:08pm | Report comment
I think calls of India’s dominance is premature, they still haven’t beaten Australia in Australia, and we have only won in India once in the past 40 years, so this loss is hardly surprising or the end of the world for the Australians.
Justin said | November 13th 2008 @ 7:43pm | Report comment
Agree Tom considering they got thumped in Sri Lanka only a few months ago. Australia have been the best side for nearly 20yrs and have only one series victory there in that time. Shows how tough it is to win there. India need to also quickly fin 3 or 4 more guns as its the end of the road for Ganguly, Kumble and Dravid will be flicked after England (although that is probably a blessing).
Alan Nicolea said | November 14th 2008 @ 9:16am | Report comment
Justin
Yeah, it is a blessing, Mishra will now be a regular in the side while the likes Yuvrag Singh (forgive the spelling) could be given a second chance.
david said | November 21st 2008 @ 3:43am | Report comment
Interesting comment about the popularity of Cricket in India.
It is widely portrayed as being followed fanatically. It is, but only to a certain degree.
When Australia was here, India failed to fill any stadium on any single day. Their stadiums are less than half the size of the largest stadiums in Australia and tickets ranged in price from less than $2 to around $30. They also have 1.25 billion people of which 300 million live at the same middle class standard (or better) than the middle class in Australia.
The truth is twofold. Firstly, test cricket is way less popular than the shorter forms. Secondly, the popularity of cricket comes from the game not as a sport but rather as something India is good at on a world stage. It is a form of patriotism derived from a collective need for Indians to prove themselves internationally.
Historically, the game was a distant second in popularity to grass hockey until the world cup win of 83. And nationally, India has always felt ignored by the international community and Indians often are bemused as to how a country with its population can be largely a political and economic non-entity. Of course that bemusement comes from two sources. An incredible insularity and a general confusion of quantity versus quality.
As to winning in India. Very difficult on many fronts.
- The umpires - Would you give a dubious decision against an Indian player knowing 1) you could get sacked 2) you could (will be) targeted by the Indian Cricket Mafia 3) you will need (more) bodyguards?
- The grounds - are so incredibly in favour of spinners unless you have two world class spinners you dont have much of a chance.
- As a player you will be targetted racially, verbally and physically on and off the ground.
The key to deciding the best team is neutral venues.
Ronnie from Lonnie said | November 21st 2008 @ 11:42am | Report comment
Interesting post, David.
“India has always felt ignored by the international community and Indians often are bemused as to how a country with its population can be largely a political and economic non-entity”
Perhaps it remains a political and economic non-entity because it is too much obsessed with cricket?
For a nation of 1 billion to be wanting to build respect from what really is a peripheral sport with a miniscule playing community is a trifle sad.
I’ve always wondered why India has used cricket instead of football as the sport with which to prove themselves internationally. Especially, as I’ve previously pointed out ad nauseum, the number of countries that play or indeed care about cricket is insignificant.
Perhaps India never got over been kicked out of one of the 1950 football world cup because it’s players wanted to play barefoot! Things today may be very different if this had’t have happened.!
I’ve read (I emphasise ‘read) that football in some Indian states (eg. West Bengal) football is more popular than cricket (not that the Australian media would allude to that). And the AIFF and FIFA are now obviously getting serious about driving the game forward.
And, yes, a lot of people forget that hockey is indeed popular in India and Pakistan. Understanding national sports interest could be a lesson well-learned for those Australians thinking the Chinese will drop everything and welcome with open arms the gospels of cricket and Australian football - they first have to conquer 3 very formidable competitors: racquet sports, football, basketball.
Interesting observation about the 1983 WC - history appears to have repeated itself with the 2008(?) Twenty20 Championship - this form of the game only really took off in India when it won this title!