Cricket Shastra

So the 2007-08 India-Australia Test Series ended yesterday, with the Australians winning it 2-1; I would never say fair-and-square, a couple of decisions here and there, and the result could have been any of 1-1, or 1-2 in India’s favour. Let’s have a look back on the series.

Underprepared @ Melbourne
This is the only way I can summarize Indian Team’s performance at MCG. The bowlers did a commendable job of restricting Aussies to around 350 in both the innings. Zaheer Khan bowled the ball of the match to rattle Ponting’s stumps, and Kumble was exemplary. Although the batsmen let India down. Only SRT, VVS and SG were able to make decent contributions, rest of the batsmen were just giving bowling and fielding practice to the Australians. RD lost many of his fans with the atrociously slow batting – he scored a sum-total of 21 runs after facing 257 balls.

Umpiring Chaos @ Sydney
The Cricket lost focus in Sydney, and the Umpires were in the full glare of the international media. India put up a valiant fight while playing against the 11 Aussies, and the three umpires. The Lady Luck had long deserted India in this match, and Australia emerged winners. This test-match was one which turned on a single decision. SRT, VVS, SG again did well, RD redeemed himself a bit and the lower order Indian batsmen could have given proper batting lessons to MSD and YS. Kumble was again the standout bowler, RP too reaped rewards. Ishant Sharma replaced the injured Zaheer, and was unlucky not to have wickets against his name. And then there was the Bhajji Saga.

Trial by Pace @ Perth
It was supposed to be an already won match for the Aussies. Shaun Tait was supposed to run through the Indian batting lineup. What happened was that the Indian pacers understood the pitch better – they bowled up, let the bouncy pitch do its wonders, and to finish off they swung the ball late: it was trial by pace for the Aussies. The result – a comprehensive Indian victory. Ishant Sharma was the standout bowler, and he would be always be remembered for that spell to Ponting. RD, SRT, VVS were yet again the batting pillars, and believe it or not the other major contributors were RP and Pathan. Sehwag made a comeback at the expense of YS and did not disappoint, but his best was yet to come. It was a complete all-round display from the Indian team, and one of the sweetest victories ever.

Flat Pitch and Flat Match @ Adelaide
India batted hard – scored 500+, Australia batted harder – scored 550+, India batted again – the story ends. A pitch that was expected to crack 3rd day onwards was still a batting paradise on the 5th day. SRT was the batting mainstay in first innings, VS & VVS helped themselves to fifties and Kumble and Bhajji rubbed salt into the Aussie wounds by putting together a century partnership. No bowler – apart from a brief spell from Ishant – was penetrative on a flat pitch. Sehwag showed why he is valued so highly by the players by getting a huge century in the second innings that eliminated any chances of an Aussie win. This was one of the best Sehwag innings I have ever seen, just for the amount of control he was in.

Takeaways from the Series

• You just cannot ignore the 1st generation Indian batsmen. 90% of the work was done by SRT, VVS, RD, SG. The 2nd generation players – YS, MSD, WJ still have to develop the technique to play in Australia.
• Fast bowlers must be singing, “We all fall down”. Before the series Sreesanth, Munaf were injured. Zaheer, RP joined the injured list during the series. But still the Indian fast bowlers walked away with accolades. Ishant is surely the find of the series, and Pathan has regained his swing and the pace.
• Kumble is still India’s best bowler. The last match where he was not fully fit (he had some shoulder problem), the Indian attack rarely looked menacing.
• MSD was unnoticed behind the stumps, which is good for a wicketkeeper, but I just hope he plays his shots while batting. It is never pretty seeing him trying to grind the opposition.
• SRT is GOD!