‘’Back to the pack’ in thirteen years

Way back in 1995 Australia the emerging champions dethroned the long time champions West Indies in the Caribbean to annex the Frank Worrell trophy. Last night Ricky Ponting’s Australians beat the West Indies in a series again and proudly held the same Frank Worrell trophy after winning the series 2 -0. The Australian team has been on top of the cricketing heap for so long to the extent of making test cricket boring and one sided. The only teams to have pushed Australia in this period have been India and England in the 2005 Ashes series. Yet this series, just concluded, demonstrates the shift in the balance of power and perhaps signals the end of Australian dominance. If this series was any indication, a lot more teams will certainly be able to draw more matches against Australia, if not actually beat them. Australia without the belligerence of Gilchrist and the bludgeoning of Hayden and the unorthodoxy of Justin Langer not to forget the silken grace of Damien Martyn are struggling to score at the frenetic pace that they used to score in, thereby giving their top flight bowlers enough and more time to take twenty wickets. And while even this is manageable as the batting replacements like Katich have kicked in and people like Hodge and Marsh have not even gotten a look in, the real problem is in the bowling with only Brett Lee and Stuart Clarke being truly effective and the matches have been much closer despite West Indies being currently ranked eighth in the ICC test rankings. All of this led Ricky Ponting to grudgingly accept that his bowling has gone” back to the pack”- some admission from the normally cocky Australian captain.

Test cricket is the real McCoy

India in particular and the world in general had been sucked into the glitz and glamour that the IPL provided .The IPL had gotten in a new breed of viewers who admired the shortened format and perhaps the attendant entertainment in the grounds. Some even predicted the death of test cricket. At Bridgetown, the West Indies made a gallant effort at chasing down 475.They fell 87 runs short, but the match and the series made for excellent viewing even if some of the grounds were empty .Shivnarine Chanderpaul demonstrated what a difficult batsman he is to dislodge and not surprisingly was the man of the series even as the slightly stodgy Simon Katich scored two centuries and conceded sportingly that he may not have a place in the Australian team once Hayden returns for the Bangalore test against India. What an embarrassment of batting riches and how enormously frustrating for people waiting in the wings like Watson and Marsh who had such a fantastic IPL season. But the bowling is where replacements are harder to get and this is where the once mighty Australians are suffering and this is where the rest of the world can take heart from and actually capitalize .The next test match that Australia will play will be here at Bangalore at the lion’s den and the “last frontier” that Steve Waugh never conquered. This could well be the beginning of the end for Australia. Mind you it will not be a quick demise like the one in the eighties when Marsh, Lillee and Greg Chappell retired in one go. Australia will move from flamboyance to percentage cricket, which will make them a lot less attractive to watch if not easier to beat. Teams will gain confidence from what the lowly ranked West Indies showed the rest of the world. While the ranking may not do justice to the West Indies’ current ability, there is no going away from the fact that they are still ranked eighth. Teams no longer to have play the reputation of the Australian team, they just have to play the team and beat it.
Will we show the way to the rest of the world or get caught in our own hype?

Let's make an example of Harbhajan

Way back in February 2008, this writer had the temerity to be critical of Harbhajan, when the whole of India and the Indian media were unqualified in his support and thought he was being singled out unfairly in the racism row by the whole of Australia and their media. The reason for that was simple. As someone who has watched cricket for years and has seen the ill-mannered Indian continue to live on the edge, it seemed apparent to me that Harbhajan was not lily white in this case and has never been.

Harbhajan continued to behave obnoxiously on the Australian tour, emboldened perhaps by the unqualified support of the board, the media and the whole of India. Soon after the judgement, in the match against Sri Lanka, after getting Sangakkara out, he jumped up and down and thrust his tongue out, reminding us of the animal that had caused all the tension at Sydney, cocking a snook at the racism charge and telling the whole world how he got away with a mere rap on the knuckles.

Harbhajan, this time around, has gone just a little too far by slapping Sreesanth who, it must be conceded, refuses to grow up and probably deserved a kick up his backside from one of his family members and not a slap from the provoked Sardar in view of a television camera.

A few lessons
Let us go back in time to the Australian tour where we all closed ranks against Australia and leading the support was none other than Sachin Tendulkar. In fact, Sachin’s role in protecting Harbhajan was crucial as he has a reputation that any sportsman would give an arm and a leg for. An admirable sportsman and a gentleman who reserves his aggression for the opposing bowlers. A role model for young India to follow, even Sachin seems to have limited impact on the behaviour of his erring teammates.

Sachin also had a key role to play in getting Harbhajan into the Mumbai Indians team at a fantastic price and must have had a say in his being nominated captain in his absence. It was hardly Harbhajan’s fault that the poorly-selected Mumbai Indian team has lost all its four games, though a minor consolation could be that the biggest defeat came when Shaun Pollock was the captain, in Harbhajan’s absence.

Harbhajan is a competitor and the succession of defeats must have rankled him. It is not clear what Sreesanth said though I am hardly inclined to be sympathetic to this maverick whose theatrics so far seem to overshadow his ability. Having said all that, I think the person most affected by Harbhajan’s moment of madness must be Sachin. Clearly he has been let down and will think twice before putting his reputation on the line for his teammates if they do not deserve it. Harbhajan would do well to reflect on this when he sits at home over the next few weeks.

It is not only the money
Harbhajan has been banned for 11 matches of the IPL which means that he may not participate in the tournament at all. As on current form, one does not see the Mumbai Indians making it to the semifinals. If they do, Harbhajan could get a chance to play. So it does seem like a serious penalty as he will lose a lot of money. While it can be argued that it is an adequate punishment, I beg to differ. This offence of his is no different from the obnoxious behaviour of Shoaib Akhtar to his teammate, Mohamed Asif, a few months ago. Many of us believe that Shoaib, with some more serious offences, has no place in the cricket field, perhaps because he is from a different country. Harbhajan is giving Shoaib a run for his money by his thoughtless actions and must be giving the BCCI sleepless nights as well.

But merely restricting the punishment to banning Harbhajan for 11 IPL games seems inadequate and will certainly send a wrong signal to the rest of the cricketing world.

All eyes on BCCI
The rest of the cricketing world does not like India. Maybe the rest of the world resents the eyeballs we command or the single-minded following that the game has in this country, which enables the BCCI to call the shots. It has not been averse to showing its financial muscle or the clout and has often gone to the media with its loud voice and threats. It is common knowledge that the other cricketing nations are straining at the leash and resent the shift in the balance of power.

While the shift in the balance of power is not necessarily a bad thing, some of the BCCI’s actions and statements are not necessarily in good taste and run the risk of dividing the cricketing world in two. The BCCI has conceptualised, sold and is organising the IPL as a showpiece event of a magnitude, scale and stature that no other cricketing tournament has attained.

This tournament has now been cast under a cloud, because of Harbhajan’s irresponsibility. The BCCI should demonstrate to the rest of the world that it is a body that is concerned about the spirit of the game and can think of things other than money. They should ban Harbhajan for a year at least from international cricket so that it serves as a lesson to youngsters and also sends out a strong signal to the rest of the world that India can run the game globally and run it efficiently and without bias even if it has encountered a hiccup just now.

(Ramanujan Sridhar is the Chief Executive Officer of Brand Comm)

Indian cricket team getting there but not yet there

We Indians are a wonderful race, but believe in extremes. We are either in a state of total and misplaced euphoria or are down in the depths of depression. We do not know the middle path or refuse to recognize it even if it hits us in the solar plexus. This wonderful (!) quality applies equally to the cricket fan and the writers who contribute on this subject. The fan that was getting ready to attack the houses of the Indian team after their poor showing in the West Indies at this time last year, is now proclaiming that this is the best team ever and the media uses headlines like ‘world beaters’ without bothering to think carefully about whether this is really justified right now. Yet in the midst of all the jubilation, I think it is perhaps relevant to sound a word of caution, even if that may not go down well with the average cricket fan, if such a person exists in India. Make no mistake, this young Indian team has significant achievements already - winners of the Twenty-twenty world cup in South Africa and winning the recently concluded Commonwealth bank tri-series. Not very long ago the older version of the Indian team won a Test match in South Africa, won a series against England in England after ages and won a test match at Perth in Australia for the first time ever. Yes all the indications are there that this young team has a great time ahead of it but it still has a few frontiers to conquer before it is labeled as a world beating team.

Let’s look at the current world champions
However unpalatable it may be, the fact of the matter is that Australia has dominated world cricket since 1995. While they have been beaten comprehensively by us in the tri-series we need to remember that England too did that last year around and where are they now? There have been instances when other teams have run it close and even pipped it like South Africa which was ranked no.1 at the beginning of the world cup last year but for a very short time. It is likely to be ranked no.1 again after its triumph in Bangladesh. Notwithstanding their status they were found wanting in their first big game of the World Cup at St. Kitts against Australia and lost. They were also found wanting in the semi finals where they were pitted against the same team and were defeated quite comprehensively if not disgraced. South Africa have promised much and threatened more particularly in media conferences without having delivered. Now they must be fancying their chances of being the top team in the world again this time for a longer duration, but I have my doubts about their ability on the big occasion or on the big stage. Significantly India will be playing South Africa at home at the end of the month for a three match test series which should have far more significance than a mere three match series. It could in a sense determine which direction the cricketing world’s future leadership would point.

Consistency the key
If we go back to 2005 and the Ashes, we had England beating Australia in a memorable series. Since then England has regressed, having lost the Ashes 0-5 in 2007 and is now struggling with New Zealand having lost the first test, though it is New Zealand that is playing inconsistently in the second. To be world beaters in the true sense of the term we need to be consistent in all forms of the game, in all conditions and against all opposition. We are the reigning champions in the twenty-twenty format and we can expect to be well prepared for the future in this with so much cricket happening on the IPL format. We have a young team in the one day version of the game with Sachin the only senior around. But boy has he contributed! The test team has our senior gang but we need to remember that they may not be around for much longer. But there is an enormous amount of talent in the cupboard which has forced Dilip Vengsarkar to quickly change his opinion. He was the bright forecaster who said that there is hardly any talent in the pipe line after the dismal loss in the world cup. Our current plan of different teams for tests and one-days seems to be working for us. Ironical that Australia which first mooted this concept and took great credit for it has 9 of the same players in both teams and it was hardly surprising that they seemed tired and jaded after a long and controversial summer. So clearly a lot of the indications are positive for us. Yet there are a few realities that we need to remember. The pitches at home are quite different from Australia, England and South Africa where our recent victories have happened and we might well struggle to get twenty wickets regularly on our dust bowls. Strangely the BCCI is talking to Les Burdett the renowned curator from Australia for the IPL. I wonder why they never thought of him or other curators earlier for test matches. The BCCI is throwing money left, right and centre at cricketers of all ages and all countries which can actually prevent the development of youth. When someone asked Virat Kohli the captain of the under 19 team what he would do with the 15 lakhs he had earned because of his teams victory, his answer was honest enough “I will buy that Honda city”. We have enough instances of youngsters losing their way and the BCCI is just making things more difficult for today’s talent by providing distractions in hordes by way of money and the consequent media attention.

Patience the key for the Indian cricket fan
The war is not yet over though we have won the first few important battles particularly with Australia who even if they are not our oldest enemy are certainly the most vicious. India is rising and I am sure the fans must be patient. We shall prevail but it will not be as simple as some of us would like to believe. But whatever happens remember that this is our team. We have a young team. We are a young country and have enormous talent and cricket is the number one game in the country. We will be number one and soon and till that we must be wary of calling this team “world beaters”.

Ramanujam Sridhar is CEO, brand-comm and the author of “One land, one billion minds”.

Young India signals the end of an Australian Era

Some time ago when Australia toured South Africa and demolished them, the South Africans said openly that they could not wait to see them leave the country as they were so demoralized by the rampaging Australians. This tired, stressed and sorry Australian team after a long and bitter series must be relieved to see the Indian team leave their shores with the Commonwealth Bank trophy. This tour has been one of the most acrimonious ones in recent times and knowledgeable and older critics liken it to the same angst that was part of the bodyline series. But it has been a major disappointment for Australia who was nowhere near its best and yet made it to the finals in a canter. Still there were a few worrying signs on the way. They lost a low scoring game to India and could not chase a moderate score against Sri Lanka in the match preceding the finals. In the first finals they came across Tendulkar who played a once in a life time innings. The second final was no different as Tendulkar again made things count with a fantastic yet restrained innings of 91 that was still enough. What a farewell for the little master in a country that just idolizes him! In fact it would not be an exaggeration to say that Tendulkar has easily been the most admired international player above Worrell and even Lara. And he has entertained the doting Australian public and showed them what a great human being he is, surrounded as he is by lesser mortals. I speak of the beamer bowled by Brett Lee at the great man. Despite prodding by media the great man brushed it aside saying he had a lot of regard for the bowler and it must have slipped. I am certain, Brendon McCullum would not have agreed. Imagine the chaos that could have happened had he, as he was well within his rights to have done, complained. A reminder from the humble champion that cricket is still a game.

So what ails Australia?
Over the last twelve years, Australia and its team have built an aura of invincibility around themselves as they beat every team in sight at every venue. They did not lose a World Cup game in two successive World Cups in 2003 and 2007 and recently even won the Champions trophy that had eluded them for quite some time. When Australia lost a game it was news, though in the last few weeks the news is being made a lot more frequently than they would like. The problem has been that a lot of Australia’s success has been built around the amazing success, consistency and dominance of Ricky Ponting as a batsman who has delivered big time on the big stage. Remember Johannesburg and the World Cup final? This season, both in the tests and the one-dayers, Ricky Ponting has had an eminently forgettable season. I admire Ponting, but I do not like him, which is why he does not have my sympathy. But this tour has drained him more than anyone else and throw in some unplayable balls early on in the tour, accusations, hearings, media manipulations, complaints by his team mates, calls for his sacking... He has not had a moment of peace and will be waiting to take a break from the game. To Ponting’s poor form add the poor batting of Andrew Symonds, the sporadic brilliance of Gilchrist who was busy offering good byes, the scratchy form of Mathew Hayden and a below par performance by Michael Hussey who seems a far cry from the Mr. Cricket that he was a couple of seasons ago. The Australian bowlers have come to the party right through the summer and covered up for the poor performance of the illustrious batsmen. But in some defense of the Australian batsmen, they have had to cope with pitches that have not been their usual belters even in the one-dayers.

Let’s also put another fact in perspective. Australian and world batsmen are not comfortable with the moving ball. England won back the Ashes in 2005 after 17 long years thanks to the new ball and reverse swing that Mathew Hoggard, Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones produced. One of the reasons for India’s success has been the phenomenal bowling of Ishant Sharma who seems to have rattled the Australians and Praveen Kumar’s bowling in the finals has been a revelation. With Gilchrist and the under-recognized Brad Hogg deciding to move on, Australia will be hard pressed to regain their dominance as they have certainly lost it, after this series, against the Indians who were hardly fancied. The climb to the top again may not happen for some time, in my view at least.

Lets focus on the future Champions
Now that we have knocked the world champions off their perch, it is easy to believe that we are the world champions. Sadly it is not as simple as all that as the ICC rankings are far more complex and we need to be consistent. We have a long and challenging home season with South Africa who have a couple of feisty fast bowlers and some stodgy but high scoring batsmen who will fancy our tracks. But clearly this team is on its way up. It has a mature test leader in Anil Kumble who led the team wonderfully in a hostile and challenging environment and deserved a far better score line. Unlike Australia where Ricky Ponting had to take the pressure in both forms of the game, we had a younger and more charismatic leader in Dhoni for the one-dayers whose captaincy and savoir faire have been wonderful to watch and relish. Clearly India is on to a good thing with this team and a lot of young talent seems to be on evidence in the under 19 World Cup winners as well. Yet it is worthwhile to remember that it has been by and large our bowling that has been winning us matches recently on pitches that have been quite unlike our own. Our bowlers could well struggle at home. But let’s just savour this moment without worrying too much about the future. Yes we have toppled Australia, at their den. This is a supreme moment for Indian cricket.

Ramanujam Sridhar is CEO, brand-comm and the author of “One land, one billion minds”.

Finally a place under the sun

India thrashed a hapless Sri Lanka at the Bellerive Oval at Hobart and took its rightful place in the finals and will not have to wait for or worry about a now meaningless league tie between Australia and Sri Lanka that will be played on Friday. Significantly India is making it to a final in Australia after the World Series of Cricket in 1986 that many of us saw live for the first time on our newly bought colour televisions. Make no mistake; this is a really competitive Indian team that could make history again in a week’s time. It is being led with flair by Dhoni who despite all the smiles is hard as steel and showing some of his batsmen at least, what it means to bat responsibly. It has one outstanding fast bowler in Ishant Sharma who has troubled the best and spearheaded the bowling. It has an emerging talent in Gautam Gambhir who has demonstrated a quality that is so rare amongst Indian batsmen – consistency. In Yuvraj, it has a batsman who can dismantle most bowling attacks, even if he has not yet done that on this tour of Australia. In Rohit Sharma it has a player of great promise. In Uthappa it has a bold stroke maker whose press pronouncements seem more potent than his current batting. More than anything else it has the confidence of being the T20 champions of the world and more critically in the context of this series, this team does not seem to have any scars of previous Australian defeats unlike other world teams and Australia seem to have less of a swagger against this team than they seem to have in with the rest of the world.

Aggression that could make us lose focus
This tour has been marred by controversies - some real and some imagined- but almost all fuelled and clouded by media. As someone who has watched the tests and one days ball by ball, I must confess that India have hardly been lily white. Symonds now claims that he was complimenting Ishant after being bowled which seems a little hard to stomach. But equally hard to comprehend was Ishant letting forth a volley of abuse that was obvious to see even if our networks never showed that vulgar display again and kept focusing on Symonds. Ishant can complain till the cows come home about how Symonds provoked him but the offences that have been booked are against his name and they all add up even if the ICC conveniently misplaces offence records. And I was shocked to see Ishant sending off the veteran Jayasuriya last week in a similar fashion. Jayasuriya is one of the mildest cricketers that one has had the privilege to watch over the years however explosive his batting may be and he has probably been playing international cricket even before Ishant was born. Clearly this amazingly talented lad must be reined in. And speaking of bad behaviour, how can one not speak of our worst ambassador on the playing field Harbhajan whose behaviour continues to shock me. In the same match against Sri Lanka he jumped up and down and thrust his tongue out after he got Sangakkara out, reminding us of an animal that had caused all the tension at Sydney. Sangakkara, another decent cricketer with an outstanding record did not deserve this. Clearly we are not even discriminatory in our bad behaviour and do not reserve it for Australia. Harbhajan is a rotten apple who has no place in this young, emerging, motivated team and clearly his bowling is pedestrian. I am sure we can find a better spinner and most certainly a better human being. India has done enough for him, perhaps far more than he deserves and the time to move on is now. My worry too is that aggression is better demonstrated by hitting the stumps, carting the ball over the fence or holding a spectacular catch. That will hurt Australia more than this volley of abuse and complaints about how they are starting things. They have been doing it, are doing it now and will continue to do it in future as well. The trick is not to get side tracked or lose focus but stay with our game plan and our strategy. I remember Zaheer Khan’s needless aggression in the World Cup finals of 2003 and the disastrous first over which led the way to a humiliating defeat.

A breath of fresh air
Amidst all these allegations, counter allegations, complaints, whining and controversy there have been some moments of sanity. Dhoni, like Kumble before him, has been pragmatic and restrained without being weak. Gilchrist continues to walk and Lee has been making conciliatory statements though the cynic might well say that he knows which side his bread is buttered in. But the most special act and words came from VVS Lakshman who in my book at least is India’s best batsman in and against Australia. He declined his iconic status and accepted a much lower fee for the IPL than youngsters who are just making their debuts, for the interest of his team and came out openly to say that Symonds was his friend and had been his friend for years now. Courage! a rare commodity in today’s mercenary and sycophantic world.

The game’s charm has been lost
The finals could be gripping as India could come firing, what with Hayden just calling Harbhajan an “obnoxious little weed”. If Australia wins again as they have done in the past it could be just another trophy in their already bulging cabinet. If India wins, we will not forget it in a hurry, nor will we let them forget it. But for me the regret is that this entire summer which had some fantastic cricket will be remembered for the wrong reasons. Between Ponting, Hayden, Clarke, Symonds, Harbhajan and the BCCI with its threats, Sunil Gavaskar and Harsha Bhogle who kept fuelling the fire and incompetent and self serving television channels in India and rags in Australia that published bilge they have ensured that I watch less and less cricket however absorbing and fascinating it is. And believe me you; we did have some outstanding cricket on view this Indian summer in Australia.

(Ramanujam Sridhar is CEO, brand-comm, and the author of One Land, One Billion Minds)

Mid Series Crisis Down Under

We are half way through the Common Wealth bank series and it seems quite different and bizarre even when compared to the ones that we have been watching earlier in the same country. Australia have played well below par, a sign of their distraction or the fact that they are slowly going down hill as a team, or are tired and jaded at the end of a long, challenging and controversial summer. Be that as it may, but here are some of the things that have happened to the Australian team over the last few weeks. Australia have been bowled out for 159 in 43 overs against India and for 203 on a good wicket at Adelaide again against India. Andrew Symonds who a few months ago, was being called the best one day player in the world has scored 38 runs from 5 innings. Ricky Ponting the premier batsman in the world for the last three years has eked out 53 runs from 5 innings and Hayden easily the most dominant batsman in world cricket has only done slightly better managing 84 runs in 4 outings. Australia have dropped more catches this summer and in this series than one can recall. And yet Australia have won three of their last four completed matches, getting bonus points in all the three matches that they have won and that to my mind is the most worrying part of this whole series. Remember Sri Lanka was the losing finalist at the World Cup in March 2007 and India clearly has been the team that has troubled Australia most in recent times and yet Australia who are playing at 70 per cent of their ability are so far ahead in points if not in superiority. The best thing that can happen to world cricket will be when other teams start beating Australia regularly. That will certainly make cricket more watchable.

The new young India
Ishant Sharma is doing what Shane Bond did to Australia six years ago, if my memory serves me right. He has made the Aussies jump and be on edge in more ways on one. But back to the past. The other two teams in the tri-series of six years ago were quite-strong New Zealand and South Africa, both these teams made it to the finals and Australia and Steve Waugh struggled. Australia did not make it to the finals and Steve Waugh lost his one day captaincy to Ricky Ponting who is struggling now, just like his predecessor was. The only difference is that Australia seems to have made it to the finals already despite their poor showing this summer so Ricky Ponting might get to keep his job after all despite whatever Peter Roebuck recommended! But to return to our own young team that Dhoni leads so masterfully. He wanted a young team and perhaps had a lot to do with the removal of Dravid and Ganguly. This Indian team has top flight bowlers and young legs in the field. The team also lends credence to the fact that it is bowlers who win matches as Warne and McGrath did for Australia over the years. It is also ironical that India will probably win far more significant matches, events and titles than in the last ten years when the big three of Indian cricket Sachin, Saurav and Rahul scored so many thousand runs between them. Yet I do feel that India missed a trick and the experience of Saurav, Rahul and the timing of Lakshman in the one day games. I cannot imagine those seniors struggling to make 203 runs on a good batting wicket at Adelaide, or conceding a bonus point. After all it can be argued that the World Cup is in 2011 and there is enough time to build the team. But a series victory when the competing teams are Australia and Sri Lanka should gain precedence over our plans for the future. Yet the young Indian team has managed a significant win at Adelaide over Sri Lanka just yesterday and now seems well placed to make it to the finals and I do believe that on current form India has a greater opportunity to beat Australia than Sri Lanka who somehow have been found wanting against the Aussies particularly in recent times.

So what's the crisis?
To my mind the biggest crisis that Indian cricket is facing is from the much hyped IPL. It is a marketing coup, it is media hype, it is “camera, lights, auction” as a columnist mentioned but to my mind this is something that has the capability to divide the cricket world as it is an opportunity for the BCCI to only again cock a snook at the rest of the world and for us to indulge in more chest thumping about our money power and also remind them about the Harbhajan incident and the posturing that we did. But more seriously the fact that world cricketers who complain so bitterly about the work load should drop everything to earn some, (actually a lot of money) makes one wonder if this is really the game that one grew up loving. Now there is talk of the Australian tour to Pakistan likely to be shortened if not cancelled to accommodate this charade. Maybe it is the ramblings of an old man but I am really enjoying the tri-series for a couple of reasons. For once the ball has dominated the bat, the matches have been tight and not one sided and Australia has struggled. Who knows how many more national contests we are likely to see with such intensity with all this talk of regional teams with Australian players with huge contracts slugging it out in twenty-twenty for teams that they care a fig about.

Monkey off the backs of the men in blue?

A couple of days before our historic one day win at the MCG Veerendra Sehwag was handling a media conference in Australia as he is known to handle bowlers. Sehawag has an astute cricketing brain, though one wonders whether he leaves it behind in the dressing room when he goes out to bat on occasion. He certainly made ripples in the conference saying that India is the only team that can beat Australia and that if we won at Melbourne we are through to the finals! Of course he was partly right as India beat Australia at the MCG after 22 years and even if they are not already in the finals, they have made strong strides forward. The Indian cricket fan though went through every possible emotion in watching a low scoring game that we should have won by a mile but ended up winning with just a couple of overs to spare.

The highs and the lows
When Ishant Sharma got Ricky Ponting (again) our feelings were of exaltation, when India crawled in the middle our feelings were of despondency which had been preceded by overconfidence, when Sachin was batting and we thought our bonus point was assured and finally the feeling was just pure relief when Symonds bowled a wide! Beating Australia has not been easy for us, more so in important games .In 1996 we lost to Australia narrowly in a world cup match at Bombay, and if my memory serves me right the margin was one run .In 1999 Australia beat us comfortably at the Oval as we did not make it to the semi finals of the World Cup. In 2003 at South Africa we played wonderfully well till the finals where we again ran into Australia and lost by a mile. In 2007 at the West Indies we played so badly that we did not even get a chance to play Australia. Although we have won the odd Champions trophy game against Australia, last time around they won that too even as they shoved Sharad Pawar off the stage. In fact we have not won a major final or tournament against Australia recently in the one day version of the game .Our win now must and should pave the way for getting the monkey off the backs of the men in blue once and for all, as what would be better than winning the tri series final in Australia against Australia. In this tri- series we seem to have a funny situation amongst the three teams. Sri Lanka has been consistently psyched against Australia over the last several games and Australia too seems to be psyched by India to a lesser extent maybe. The match between Sri Lanka and India did not reveal too much and the one at Canberra on Tuesday could well hold the future to the finals.

Too early to celebrate
Let us not get carried away by our success though it is historic enough .Australia started badly thanks to Rudi Koertzen who if he continues the way he is presently doing should be penciled down for all India matches! Poor Gilly had a baffled look on his face as he was given out leg before after a huge inside edge. Gilly continued to have a baffled look as his confident appeal for a caught behind against Sachin was turned down. Sachin seemed bothered about that as he played distractedly after that and eventually got out. In a close match all these might have mattered but Ponting played it down in the media interaction saying it was the rub of the green something that our Indian commentators might wish to reflect on. I was just wondering what might have been the reaction of Gavaskar if Sachin had been given out wrongly in the first over as Gilly was! But it was wonderful to see Simon Taufel officiating wonderfully in the same game. His positioning of himself for a run out appeal was amazing and his judging brilliant.What a pity that India Australia test matches will never have him and will only have the likes of Steve Bucknor and Rudy Koertzen! But back to the game, while we have two fast bowlers who are bowling brilliantly in conditions that suit them much better than our dust bowls, our batting is still suspect. It was agonizing to watch the chase and Yuvaraj is going through the horrors much as Ricky Ponting is, though Ponting is facing much better bowling. Dhoni is like a rock guiding this team through thick and thin and keeping brilliantly as well, but what about the rest and when will Dinesh Kartick and Suresh Raina ever get a look in?

On to the finals
I do not have the same unreasonable optimism of Sehawag though I am quite confident that we can make it. Australia will be hard pressed to chase any total against us, the way they are batting now. Sri Lanka, however, are a very unpredictable team and must be smarting at the lack of attention their team is getting and their own indifferent start to the series. Yes we have some great contests at hand over the next few weeks and I hope that our form and fitness can once and for all rid the Australian monkey off our backs!

(The author is CEO, brand-comm, and the author of One Land, One Billion Minds.)