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ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
63 NOT OUT, FOREVER PAGE 4
TESTING TIMES
INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA 2014-15
ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
WHAT’S INSIDE
ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
PHILLIP JOEL HUGHES If fate had been kinder, Phillip Hughes would have been nursing nothing more than a bad headache. This was not how the story was supposed to end
Dileep Premachandran |
04
THE GAME COMES SECOND
With the players in different stages of mourning and grieving, taking the field as scheduled was never a realistic possibility
Anand Vasu |
06
DASH OF SPICE
SCALING THE FINAL FRONTIER
What is it that makes playing in Australia so much of a challenge? Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman on the adjustments to be made to be successful
R Kaushik |
12
India’s tours of Australia have resulted in a fair few controversies, raised hackles and he-saidSachin-said. But here’s what really happened
Saurabh Somani |
19
IT‘S ALWAYS A LONG, TOUGH TOUR
WHERE THE BANTER STARTS EARLY
The vast majority appreciates a keen contest. But when the visitors are hapless, the contempt – both from the stands and the media boxes – can be withering
Dileep Premachandran |
23
SPARKS OF GLORY
During the hunt for that elusive series victory have come some classic individual performances
Manoj Narayan |
27
Kiran More
|
37
DUELS OF THE GREATS
There has been no dearth of fascinating individual contests over the years in Australia
Sidhanta Patnaik |
39
HIGH-IMPACT HISTORY
INITIATION BY PACE AND BOUNCE
It’s an inexperienced Indian side that is travelling to Australia, but the first-timers could well be the ones best equipped to grapple with the conditions Down Under
Shamya Dasgupta |
Australia has a lot to offer off the field, but if you’re not playing well, three to four months in the continent can be difficult
32
The Indians who have done well on the high-pressure tours of Australia
50
“SPINNERS ARE AS GOOD AS THE CAPTAIN LETS THEM BE“ A bowler’s perspective on playing in Australia
Erapalli Prasanna |
54
THE ONE THAT GOT MIANDAD
“OUR SPINNERS COULDN‘T GET U-16 OUT“ Matthew Hayden on the India-Australia rivalry and the teams’ chances ahead of their next meeting
Kritika Naidu |
57
The 1985 World Championship of Cricket win inspired modern greats of Indian cricket, who in turn inspired millions more, says Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, as he shares his highlights of the tournament
Karthik Lakshmanan |
43
Edited by: Karunya Keshav Designed by: Ashish Mohanty All pictures published as part of Testing Times courtesy of Getty Images and Wisden India Archive
4 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
5
Phillip Joel Hughes 1988-2014 DILEEP PREMACHANDRAN “A torrent of words came forth in the vain wish to
batting order seemed to be his for the taking.
do justice to the young man and his deeds. Then life
Almost inevitably, days of famine followed those of
went on again, almost as before, leaving only photo-
plenty, but through it all, the smile seldom wavered.
graphs, grey columns of prose, a few handwritten let-
A technique that few could fathom probably went
ters, and, over a plot of Australia’s hard brown earth,
against him, as others were given far longer ropes,
a gravestone on which the inscription proclaims with
but there were plenty of signs in the past 12 months
beautiful simplicity: ‘He played the game.’”
that he was close to wresting back his place in the XI.
David Frith wrote those words in The Archie Jackson
As the days and years pass, we will remember those
Story. Tragically, four decades after its publication,
twin centuries in Durban, and the exuberance behind
we are left to ponder those lines again.
the heaved sixes that took him to three figures for the first time. We will recall too that more often than
If fate had been kinder, Phillip Hughes would have
not, he played with a grin on his face.
been nursing nothing more than a bad headache, while reflecting on a deserved recall to the Australian
Just how good might he have become?
Test side. Instead, his family, teammates, those that played against him and watched him are left with a
Not yet 26, he had already made 26 first-class hund-
sensation of numbness and incomprehension. This
reds. Virat Kohli, a few days older, has half that num-
was not how the story was supposed to end.
ber. Whether it was a low-profile game for Australia A or a Twenty20 hit-out, Hughes’s appetite for runs
Like Jackson 80 years before him, Hughes was a
bordered on the gluttonous. When the cricketing
teenage prodigy, marked for greatness before his
gods called time, he was unbeaten on 63, possibly on
chin needed a razor. Who can forget the early head-
his way to another century.
lines? Youngest to make a hundred in a Sheffield Shield final. Second only to Bradman when it came to
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow
the rate at which he got to 1500 first-class runs. The
old,” says Laurence Binyon’s Ode of Remembrance.
youngest to score centuries in both innings of a Test.
“Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
Close on the heels of the retirements of Justin Langer
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We
and Matthew Hayden, a place at the top of Australia’s
will remember them.”
ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
6 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
SERIES PREVIEW
THE GAME COMES SECOND With the players in different stages of mourning and grieving, taking the field as scheduled was never a realistic possibility ANAND VASU
I
t’s not every day that the last thing on anyone’s mind
at the start of a cricket tour is the game itself. But, the dramatic and tragic
that was set in stone and eagerly
anticipated has had to perforce be reworked.
Originally scheduled to start
events that led to the death of
at the Gabba in Brisbane on
plenty of time to contemplate a
on December 9. On December 3,
Phillip Hughes on November 27
mean that India’s players have wide range of themes, the least of
which is cricket proper as a tour
December 4, the first Test will now begin at the Adelaide Oval
Australia bid farewell to a beloved son in his hometown of Macksville
in New South Wales. With the
players, especially those involved
in the game when Hughes was struck by that fateful Sean Abbott
bouncer, in different stages of mourning and grieving, taking the field as scheduled was never a realistic possibility.
Michael Clarke, the Australian
captain, who referred to Hughes as
7
NEW LOOK This time round in Australia, India have no real cause for complaint.
his brother, was distraught when he fronted the media, paying a rich and emotional tribute not
only in his newspaper column
on what would have been Hughes’s 26th birthday, but in an emotional press conference
the previous day. “I was drawn
to him instantly, falling for his cheeky grin and love of life,”
Clarke wrote for the Sunday
Telegraph.
Emotions are running high in both camps, and the players find themselves in a situation so unfamiliar that there is no previous experience to fall back on for comfort, no Plan B in place to help them
ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
“Phillip
truly
was
uncomplicated – what you saw was what you got. I don’t think in
12 years of playing cricket at the
top level I have ever come across
a more loyal or generous-hearted teammate.”
Clarke underlined the manner
in which Hughes had reacted to
the setbacks he suffered in the
8 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
EMOTIONAL The Australian team is grieving as a group.
course of his career. “Whenever
take the field once more. But
he wasn’t scoring as many runs
do eventually take the field, it’s
Hughesy suffered adversity – if he was replaced in the team or if
as he wanted – he never dropped his head, never once complained,” wrote Clarke. “If he had a tough
conversation with a selector, he
would nod, agree he needed to work harder, grin because he felt
bad for the person delivering the message, and then get on with it.”
It goes without saying that
the healing process will only
truly begin when the players
Emotions are running high
there was certainly no sense in
in both camps, and the players
uncertain exactly how the players
previous experience to fall back
rushing things. Even when they will approach the game. Will Varun Aaron, the quickest bowler
India have had in their ranks for the longest time, bounce David Warner first up? Will Clarke, who
has
suffered
so
much,
unleash Mitchell Johnson in those characteristic
fiery
four-over
bursts with the same freedom as
he has done to great success in the past?
find themselves in a situation
so unfamiliar that there is no on for comfort, no Plan B in place to help them cope. Cricket
Australia, led admirably by James Sutherland, who was a fast-
medium bowler himself, have put excellent support systems in place
for their wards, and, for their part, the Board of Control for Cricket in
India have stepped up, showing
the appropriate concern and patience.
9
India must not merely show the stomach for a fight, they need to win matches in Australia for the health of the sport For the moment, the Indian team
is in Adelaide, and in training. The Australian team is grieving as a
group, with some like Ryan Harris inititally considering pulling out of the first Test at least.
Now, though, all the players
can do is wait. It’s an uneasy period for everyone, but in the larger context, patience is the only option, and time the greatest healer.
In another sense, this Indian
tour of Australia is a test not
deal with the weight of extra expectation. Given
that
India
lost
0-4 when they travelled to
India, on their first tour post
three losses after winning at
something
this team has travelled poorly.
and Ernie Toshack’s 11 wickets
Test in either South Africa or
independence, and missing Vijay
Lord’s on their last England
scores of 58 and 98 in Brisbane
New Zealand, and racked up
Merchant and Rusi Modi, needed
tour, it would be fair to say
didn’t help. Don Bradman’s 185
That said, India are not
defeat in the first Test. The script
alone in this. Australia got
blanked on a tour of India,
England have tasted limited success away and it is only
South Africa who manage to get across the seas and still
retain their winning ways on a consistent basis.
In 40 attempts in Tests
stomach for a fight, they need to
managed just five wins. Only
be competitive enough to win matches. For cricket to thrive,
Tests must appeal. For Tests to be relevant, there needs to be a
modicum of competition among the top teams. India, by virtue
of its position at the head of the table among the Big Three, must
inspirational.
Their
sent them crashing to an innings hardly changed thereafter. They eked out an 81-run first-innings lead in Sydney, but rain forced a draw. Bradman’s twin centuries in Melbourne helped Australia run away with it in a little over three days, while the last two Tests ended in two more innings defeats. Vijay Hazare was India‘s most successful batsman and
in Australia, starting way
India must not merely show the
1947-48 (5): AUSTRALIA 4 INDIA 0
Australia last, failed to win a
merely of the teams, but of the health of the world game.
TOUR HISTORY
his centuries in either innings at the Adelaide Oval were one
back in 1947, soon after
of few bright spots. – Akshay
once have India managed to
Most runs: Don Bradman – 715
independence,
India
have
win more than one Test on a
tour, and that was in 197778, when the Australian team was without the Chappell
brothers, Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh, Kerry O’Keefe and Doug Walters, all lost to ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
Gopalakrishnan
runs at 178.75 (Australia); Vijay Hazare – 429 runs at 47.66 (India) Most wickets: Ray Lindwall – 18 wickets at 16.88 (Australia); Lala Amarnath – 13 wickets at 28.15 (India)
10 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
QUIZ, DOWN UNDER DILEEP V 1. After X’s twin centuries in Adelaide in 1947, both splendid, Don Bradman was moved to say: “X is the most graceful batsman it has been my pleasure to watch.” Who is X? 2. For the 1968 Brisbane Test, who was flown in as replacement for BS Chandrasekhar and scored 74 and 101? 3. When Tony Mann scored 105 in the second innings of the Perth Test in 1977, he became only the second batsman to achieve what? 4. During the Benson & Hedges World Championship in 1984-85, which wicketkeeper had 12 dismissals, nearly thrice that of the second best? 5. In the 1991-92 series, who became the youngest man to score a Test century in Australia? 6. A qualified umpire predicted that India would lose the 1999-00 series 3-0. Name him.
ANSWERS ON PAGE 62
7. Although he didn’t play the first Test of the 2003-04 series, who ended as the highest wicket-taker with 24 scalps against his name in the series? 8. Whose quote – ‘One is playing cricket and the other is not’ – did Anil Kumble paraphrase during the ill-tempered Sydney Test in 2008? 9. Which canny seamer took four wickets and was named Man of the Match in the second final in Brisbane en route to India’s VB series win in 2008? 10. When MS Dhoni was handed a onematch ban for slow over-rate in 2011, who led India in the Adelaide Test?
World Series Cricket. Even
losses, just not had enough steam
Australia took the series
This time round, India have no
on that occasion, India’s
two wins were eclipsed as
to engineer a fightback.
3-2. On two other jaunts,
real cause for complaint. Certainly,
Sunil Gavaskar and in 2003,
West Indies under the belt rather
India have managed to draw
the series, in 1981, under under Saurav Ganguly. The only other win came on
the 2007-08 tour, where Irfan Pathan was Man of the Match in Perth.
The reasons for India’s
poor showings in Australia, and they’ve outright lost
on 26 occasions, are not overly
complicated.
In
all their trips, India have
begun badly, never once
winning the first Test. This has allowed Australia to
get on top of the visitors,
something they are past masters at, and from that
point on, it’s a question of playing catch up. On
occasion, India have been
guilty of not being prepared enough, and being caught on the hop by the extra bounce.
On occasion, India have reached Australian shores on the back of too much
cricket, and after a couple of
they would have preferred to reach Australia with three Tests against than
five
one-sided
One-Day
Internationals against Sri Lanka.
In the bowling department, India have rarely arrived in Australia
with so much pace – Varun Aaron
and Umesh Yadav consistently clock in the mid-140s and Ishant
Sharma, when he hits his straps, is no slouch. Over the course of the
last year, once Sachin Tendulkar – the last of a golden generation
of Indian batting – called it a day, different young men have performed at different times. All
of Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya
Rahane have had their moments. Now, the time has come for them
to come together as a unit and fire in unison. Anything short of that, and India will be reading from a depressingly familiar script.
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12 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
PLAYERS’ PERSPECTIVE
SCALING THE FINAL FRONTIER What is it that makes playing in Australia so much of a challenge? Anil Kumble and VVS Laxman on the adjustments bowlers and batsmen need to make to be successful R KAUSHIK
A
longside
South
occasions, most recently in 2003-
batsmen and bowlers need to
territory
the SCG was thwarted by Steve
VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble to
Africa, Australia remains only
India
the
haven’t
conquered yet in Test cricket.
Across ten tours and 40 matches,
India have registered only five
Test wins Down Under; a series win has remained elusive, though
India did come close on a few
04 when their push for victory on the final day of the series at Waugh, in his farewell Test, and
glaring lapses behind the stumps by Parthiv Patel.
What is it that makes playing in
Australia so much of a challenge? What
are
the
adjustments
make to be successful there? Few Indians are more qualified than speak with authority on these
issues. In 15 Tests spread over
four series, Laxman made 1236 runs at 44.14, inclusive of four
centuries. Kumble picked up 49 wickets in ten Tests, including 24 in three games in 2003-04.
13
EMPHATIC SHOW Kumble picked up 49 wickets in ten Tests in Australia.
“Be patient, but not defensive” On his first Test tour of
Australia, in 1999-2000, Anil
Kumble had a pretty ordinary
run, taking only five wickets from
three Tests at an unflattering average of 90. His next seven Tests
in
Australia
brought
Because you will get bounce but little else in terms of assistance, you need to be restrictive in your variations and in your lines. You have to bowl a bit slower through the air, you must get the loop going
emphatically that he wasn’t just a destroyer on designer Indian pitches.
“One of the huge plusses of
playing in Australia is that you will get plenty of bounce,” begins Kumble, fittingly enough because
he thrived on that bounce. “As a
rule, you get very little turn there, and there isn’t much wear and
tear on the surface when Australia
him 44 wickets as he proved
ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
14 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
play India at home because they are wary of the threat Indian
spinners pose. Also, the seam of the Kookaburra ball goes fairly
quickly and we are generally used
to operating with the proud seam
that the SG Test ball provides when we play in India. Now that is quite a challenge for a spinner.
“You must perforce operate
with an in-out field. Because you
will get bounce but little else in
terms of assistance, you need to
be restrictive in your variations and in your lines. You have to bowl a bit slower through the air, you
must get the loop going. That is what I did in 2003-04 – I bowled a lot slower, and I also used the
googly a lot more. The googly spun
more than the legbreak. In 19992000, I didn’t employ the googly much, and the pitches were a bit
different too. I remember when
In India, you can get away with two batsmen making big hundreds and two bowlers taking fivefors. In Australia, all 11 have to contribute as a key virtue for a spinner in Australia. “You must have a lot
of patience, you need to keep plugging away. But that doesn’t mean you must be defensive in
your mindset,” says the legspinner with the attitude of a tearaway.
“You don’t necessarily have to have catchers around the bat, but
you have to be smart in your field placements – you need to have men in different positions for
different batsmen, depending on what their hitting areas are.”
The bounce, Kumble says, will
we played in Sydney in a four-day
require the quicker bowlers in
day three, with the ball turning
you would in India. Sometimes,
game against New South Wales, it
was a fantastic turning track from and bouncing. But by the time
we came back for the Test, the ball was seaming around liberally
and even Warney (Shane Warne) struggled to get a wicket.” Kumble
identifies
patience
particular to adjust rapidly. “You need to pitch it up a bit more than fast bowlers from the subcontinent
tend to get carried away with the
bounce. It is essential to have straight fields, to pitch the ball up
and bowl the right lines, which
will make the batsman play across rather than straight. If you give
the batsman any room, then the
bounce facilitates scoring shots off back foot. Because our attack has a bit of pace now, we are also
in the position of being able to keep batsmen honest.”
Many cricketers have spoken of
the need to adjust lengths when playing
in
Australia.
Kumble
throws light on what the ideal
length should be. “For me, the right length was hitting the knee roll of the batsman,” he says. “On
some pitches you had to bowl up,
on some others you had to bowl slightly shorter. The right length
is a relative phrase, it depends on the nature of the pitch and the
height of the batsman. The whole idea is to make the batsman come forward. On a bouncy track, the
batsman has time to play off the back foot, and for a spinner, there
is not much turn unless a rough is created by the faster bowlers.
But when the rough does appear, it is fairly pronounced. (R) Ashwin
will have an advantage because
Australia have Mitchell Johnson’s left-arm over resource, which will
create an ideal rough for Ashwin’s offspin to thrive on. I hope he has been training in such a way that
his target is the rough. But like I said earlier, the right length is to
15
hit the knee roll of the batsman
– that will keep leg before in the
PROLIFIC In 15 Tests, VVS Laxman made 1236 runs, inclusive of four centuries.
picture and open up other modes of dismissal.
“Also, as a captain, you need
to be careful with the fields you set. You need to be realistic with
the scores you have. In Australia,
there is a temptation to keep the slips for that much longer but
more often than not, a lot of runs
will come through third man and
point. The smart thing will be to have the third man in place fairly
early. You have to be smart about
how to control the game because
in Australia, you can’t let it drift.
Runs come very quickly, the game can go away from you in one session. It is a tight balance
between attacking and being practical – as a captain, you need to keep that in mind.”
Kumble believes there is no
one single reason to explain away India’s lack of series wins in
Australia. “The closest we came was in 2003-04, but we didn’t manage our resources on the last
day in Sydney, otherwise it would have been a good victory,” he says, the disappointment still tangible.
For a spinner, there is not much turn unless a rough is created by the faster bowlers. Ashwin will have an advantage because Australia have Mitchell Johnson’s leftarm over resource, which will create an ideal rough for Ashwin’s offspin to thrive on. I hope he has been training in such a way that his target is the rough
“A lot of doing well in Australia ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
revolves around the mindset – you must be aggressive and
smart at the same time,” he
says. “People keep reminding you from the time you land in
Australia that we have never won a Test series there, it can be quite an intimidating place
for a youngster to travel. You need a strong mind and you
need to play to your strengths. Preparation is the key, you need to be serious with the side games,
you can’t fool around. And you
need to challenge yourself and outperform your counterpart in
16 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
Under should be. “The mindset is the key to doing well in Australia,”
says Laxman. “It is important not to be over-defensive, that
is something I learnt from the 1999 tour. You should look to
play positively instead of just
trying to focus on survival. By positive, I don’t mean go in there
and start playing all your strokes, but it is essential that you look to
score runs. I suppose it applies to
batting anywhere, but particularly SUCCESS STORY You should look to play positively in Australia, says VVS Laxman
the opposition – every one of the
fans with his unique brand of
with two batsmen making big
astonishing 68.47 and included
11 players must look at it that way. In India, you can get away
hundreds and two bowlers taking
five-fors. In Australia, all 11 have to contribute.”
“Australian pitches are best to bat on” VVS
Laxman
began
and
ended his stint in Australia disappointingly,
but
for
nine
Tests between 2000 and 2008,
he wowed the partisan Aussie
batsmanship. Those nine Tests brought him 1027 runs at an
four hundreds and three fifties. Cold numbers that don’t do justice
to his wonderful touch and timing that didn’t fail to move the hardnosed Aussie players themselves.
Laxman’s Test career received
a massive fillip with his counterattacking 167 at the SCG on his
maiden tour to Australia in 19992000, a tour he says helped him figure out what his approach Down
in Australia, if you go into a shell
and are not looking to score, then the Australian bowlers know how to always stay on top of you.
“It is important to be aggressive
from a mindset perspective, if not necessarily in your stroke-making.
And if that aggressive mindset doesn’t come naturally to you, then you have to make a conscious
effort to embrace that method, you
need to keep talking to yourself. There will be stages when the opposition will be on top, but
you still have to remain positive. There is no point in doubting your
skills or your ability to play on those kinds of pitches. You must
back your skills and believe in
yourself. Once that belief becomes ingrained in your system, things will change drastically. I have
17
always
maintained
that
the
He adds: “Obviously, the
pitches in Australia are the best to
critical period is when you
led to the positivity I carried with
second. The first 15 overs
bat on. That was reinforced by my hundred in Sydney in 2000, and it
me when we travelled there in 2003. I was desperate to do well, and I was determined never to doubt myself.”
Best pitches in the world for
batting? Australia? “Yes,” insists
Laxman, banking on his wonderful record there to make his point. “You can trust the bounce and
the pace on those surfaces, I
have always enjoyed batting in Australia. Once you get your eye in, once you get through the testing early phase, I feel more shots can
be played on those pitches than
anywhere else in the world. Also, the outfields are very fast, so you always get value for your shots.”
COVER DRIVE
India have never won a series in Australia. Only 17 batsmen have scored hundreds and 14 bowlers have taken five wickets in an innings there. The 0-4 whitewash in 2011-12 was their third in ten tours to Australia; the previous ones were in 196768 (0-4) and 1999-00 (0-3).
are up against the new ball –
be it the first new ball or the
TOUR HISTORY 1967-68 (4): AUSTRALIA 4 INDIA 0
with either new ball is crucial;
It was a tour without a single win
and once you get through
losing twice, and drawing with
ball encourages swing and
the Indians – MAK Pataudi, the
you must work your methods
for India. The visitors struggled
that period, there are plenty
Victoria,
bounce, the openers will have
captain, carried a hamstring injury
out to counter that phase,
right from the first-class matches,
of runs to be had. The new
South Wales. Injuries haunted
to negotiate it carefully and
into the third test in Melbourne,
set the base for the batsmen
to follow. Just as bowlers need to figure out what lengths they
must employ in Australia, it is imperative for the batsmen
to adjust their approach on the basis of the lengths that the Australian bowlers are
Tasmania
and
New
but ended up scoring 75 and 85. BS Chandrasekhar injured his ankle, and was sent back home. ML Jaisimha, who replaced him in the second Test, took India to within 39 runs of the target with a gritty century in the second innings of that match. Erapalli Prasanna had a great outing, but got too little
bowling.”
support from the bowlers and
been a huge talking point
Most runs: Bob Cowper – 485 runs
on that subject. “It is all
Most wickets: Erapalli Prasanna
fielders. – Himanish Bhattacharjee
The Australian length has
in the lead-up to the series,
at 69.28 (Australia); Rusi Surti –
about
– 25 wickets at 27.44 (India); Bob
and
Laxman
elaborates
understanding
and
recognising that for the length that the Australians bowl on
their pitches, you don’t always have to play the ball,” he
explains. “Because the bounce in India is lower, you must ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
367 runs at 45.87 (India)
Simpson – 13 wickets at 16.38 (Australia)
18 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
TOUR HISTORY
brought their first Test win there. A series of close finishes, thrilling contests and positive play ended 3-2 in the hosts’ favour. This after assembled
a
young team, led by Bob Simpson, who at 41 came out of a tenyear retirement, to make up for the players the team lost to the new World Series Cricket. Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswanath and Mohinder Amarnath played vital knocks, but it was Bishan Singh Bedi and BS Chandrasekhar who scripted India’s wins to draw level after they were two down. Both bowlers had three fivewicket hauls and one ten-wicket match-haul apiece. However, India missed a genuine pace bowler and couldn’t press for a series win. – Kritika Naidu Most runs: Bob Simpson – 539 runs at 53.90 (Australia); Gundappa Viswanath – 473 runs at 52.55 (India) Most wickets: Bishan Singh Bedi – 31 wickets at 23.87 (India); Wayne Clark – 28 wickets at 25.03 (Australia)
Australia can be comfortably
their strokes or whether they are
bowled at the same length in
India’s third tour of Australia
hastily
deeper into the series. But our
length; those same deliveries
1977-78 (5): AUSTRALIA 3 INDIA 2
Australia
play balls bowled at a certain
left alone because the ball
will sail over the stumps. It
therefore becomes critical to understand the lengths, and
judge and leave the ball well
alone. I can say from experience that whenever I have done well
in Australia, it is because I have
judged the length very early in the tour. And when I have not
succeeded in judging lengths
early, I haven’t made many
runs there. The pitches we
get during practice sessions are a fair indicator of what we will get in the match, so smart and
intelligent
preparation
ahead of the game will play a
vital part in how the batsmen
quickly adjust to the conditions because several of the toporder batsmen will be playing
a Test in Australia for the first time.
“Gabba (Brisbane) and Perth
are the bounciest surfaces in
Australia but we aren’t playing
(Tests) in Perth. Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney are
fairly similar pitches bouncewise, so that should help going
batsmen must not lose sight of the fact that whether they are playing
leaving the ball on bounce, they
must always remain positive and decisive.”
Laxman has a straightforward
formula for winning Test matches in Australia: “First-innings runs.”
“Whenever we have won in Australia during my time, be it
Adelaide in 2003, Perth in 2008,
we have made runs in the first
innings. If you are dismissed cheaply in the first innings, you
are always playing catch-up, and that is not easy to do in Australia
because the game moves so rapidly all the time. But if you can
put up say 400 in the first innings, then you give yourself a great
chance to put pressure on the Australians, and I believe with the
infusion of pace in our attack, we have the bowlers who can take 20
wickets if they can bowl with runs in the bank. The Adelaide and
Perth wins came about because
the bowlers had the luxury of attacking with plenty of runs, and
we nearly won in Sydney in 2004 as well because we had a big firstinnings total.”
19
CONTROVERSIES
DASH OF SPICE
India’s tours of Australia have resulted in a fair few controversies, raised hackles and he-said-Sachin-said. But here’s what really happened SAURABH SOMANI
*The events described below bear only a passing resemblance to cricketing history. Any fact not twisted beyond recognition is deeply regretted.
L
ittle children may
be made of sugar and
spice
and
everything nice, but
tours to Australia –
whether little or not, often with
that could be just from reading
the ‘sugar’ and ‘everything nice’
You think of India in Australia
enough room for childishness and churlishness – tend to drop
the day’s headlines.
bits. Fair warning to aspiring
and controversy, and if you’ve
have a burning sensation running
Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan
Australia cricket-tourists: You’re going to feel hot under the collar,
down your throat to where your
stomach ought to have been, and you’ll break out in a sweat. And ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
followed cricket in 2008, the only
image that comes to mind is of Singh exchanging addresses for Christmas cards – or at least
that’s what you’ll be telling your
20 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
children when they try to lip-read.
alive to the fact that he was being
him, the bowler – not knowing
knocking off a bail gently in 1947-
striker’s crease to try and have a
and Brown was ruled out. The
But right from Vinoo Mankad
48 to Virat Kohli, the captain for at
called but lost sight of the fact that
he shouldn’t have left his non-
least the first Test
finger
to
was
he
bowler’s
Vinoo Mankad been unfairly branded as
out, there’s been a
the man who gave
lack of ice and an
the name to one of
overdose of spice
cricket’s more ignoble
when India have
dismissals, instead of
Australia.
the man in the stands
What follows is a
who shouted out the
history – of sorts –
message. All of which
of some of the major The
the
that
name too. Thus has
had to declare them
talking points.
fan had called out coincidence,
would raise if he
visited
initials of what the
by a most unfortunate
the Sydney crowd which
steal a single – took off the bails
spelled ‘Mankad’ and
this time around, demonstrating
that Brown wasn’t intending to
is verifiable in any edition of the Wisden
India Almanack from
term
1948.
‘Mankading’ came
The Wisden India
about in Australia
in 1947-48 because
Almanack, all of (-)31
the backfoot a lot
down
Bill
Brown,
who
years old in 1981
either played off or didn’t like to take his car out,
and eagerly counting
was shaken out of his reverie by
word with the gentleman on the
Knob. And Drive.” Brown became
As he started out to confront
a well-meaning but irascible fan
who yelled, “Make At least Ninety,
fine-leg fence.
the
decades
to its existence, also has a lot to say about
the February 1981 match in Melbourne, and the fact that it
was a pointer to a decision Sachin Tendulkar received in 1999.
21
But that doesn’t account for the menu reportedly found in the dressing room with a seafood restaurant circled, and neat handwriting – the sort that could be of a man capable of scoring 10,000 Test runs – specifying that it served “the best prawn curry I’ve ever had” While on the surface, the link
between the two could be that
both Indian little masters of their generations were at the receiving
end of contentious decisions from Australia’s pace spearhead of the
SHOULDER BEFORE WICKET “That is when Tendulkar added the uppercut to his repertoire.”
is pointing out that the bounce
on Australian pitches is low – foreshadowing
the
Tendulkar
lbw; and c) You need to watch the video on mute to draw these conclusions.
Revisionist versions will tell
time, it went deeper than that.
you that Gavaskar was merely
decision against Sunil Gavaskar,
series where India had reportedly
In 1981, Dennis Lillee appealed
successfully for a leg before and in 1999, Glenn McGrath did the same against Tendulkar.
But if you watch the 1981 video,
you will see that a) Gavaskar and
Chetan Chauhan are discussing
lunch plans, having suddenly realised
that
their
favourite
restaurant in Melbourne will close
in 15 minutes; b) Dennis Lillee
incensed by what he saw as a
wrong lbw decision that came in a
copped more than their share of wrong ’uns, and in a moment of
anger decided to drag his partner off the pitch in protest too. But
that doesn’t account for the menu
reportedly found in the dressing room with a seafood restaurant
circled, and neat handwriting –
the sort that could belong to a
man capable of scoring 10,000 ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
Test runs – specifying that it
served “the best prawn curry I’ve ever had”.
In 1999, Tendulkar ducked
into what he thought was a McGrath bouncer, but the ball
just hit his shoulder, and when appealed against, Tendulkar was
also given out lbw. No doubt the umpire had Lillee’s gesturing of the bounce from 1981 in mind, and thought the ball would crash
into the stumps. It did give the
mandarins in charge of making
laws a headache though, because they realised too late that they hadn’t really thought about it while calling the dismissal ‘leg
before wicket’. Fledgling Grammar
Nazis took to a fledgling internet with glee in India – waiting for
22 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
TOUR HISTORY
lost
the
opening
overwhelmed
by
Test Greg
Chappell’s classic 204 and the fast bowling of Dennis Lillee and Len Pascoe. Despite Sandeep Patil’s memorable 174, India were on the brink of defeat in the second Test in Adelaide but managed to salvage a draw. They then rose above the handicap of having three injured bowlers to win the final Test in Melbourne by 59 runs. Sunil Gavaskar’s one Test innings of substance, the 70 at Melbourne, ended in an anti-climax. Given out lbw to Lillee, an enraged Gavaskar wanted to forfeit the match, ordering Chetan Chauhan, his batting partner, to walk off with
him.
Wing-Commander
Durrani, the Indian team manager, intervened before Gavaskar left the playing arena and the series went on. – Disha Shetty Most runs: Greg Chappell – 368 runs at 73.60 (Australia); Sandeep Patil – 311 runs at 62.20 (India) Most wickets: Dennis Lillee – 21 wickets at 21.52 (Australia); Kapil Dev – 14 wickets at 23.78
on – to litter online message
pointing out helpful tips from
fail to connect, redial and log
in Sydney in three days after being
advice to Harbhajan on what he
connections to buzz, crackle,
1980–81 (3): AUSTRALIA 1 INDIA 1 India
five minutes for their dial-up
boards with “Oh I didn’t
know shoulder before wicket was also a new dismissal”,
discovering only after hitting
publish that roughly 1,048,576 people had thought of the same joke. It led to frenzied activity in the ICC headquarters, with
officials printing reams of copy
for the new laws that allowed ‘shoulder before the wicket’, ‘arm before the wicket’, ‘thigh
before the wicket’, ‘Tendulkar
with Steve Bucknor before the wicket’ and the like – until
Tendulkar calmed them down
by promising to never duck
when the ball was pitched short. That is when he added the uppercut to his repertoire. The
mother
of
all
controversies though – or
should do with himself and ways he could gain pleasure, while
How to win friends and influence people. Touched by the gesture, Harbhajan immediately thought of Symonds as family, and solicitously inquired after his mother’s well-
being. What started as a friendly dialogue turned nasty when, in an
unguarded moment, Harbhajan
let slip that he didn’t really like Masterchef. A shocked Matthew
Hayden, who hadn’t conceived of anyone not liking a cooking
show and had heard the tailend
of the conversation, told him, “You’ve got a witness now”. The subsequently ugly altercations made Harbhajan resolve to settle
future disagreements on the field itself – with a slap or two if need
be. No more Kangaroo Court business.
Things have cooled noticeably
maa ki controversy as it’s
since the heat of the 2007-08
who chose to remain both
love notes to each other on the
called – occurred in 2008. An
authoritative
anonymous
and
source,
fictional,
said that miscommunication
was the root cause of the incident. It began with Andrew
Symonds generously offering
series, but it’s still India versus Australia, and they aren’t writing
field yet. There’s a good chance that the current series will throw
up its own dash of spice – the essential ingredient when cooking up an alternative history.
23
REPORTER’S NOTES
WHERE THE BANTER STARTS EARLY The vast majority in Australia appreciates a keen contest. But when the visitors are hapless, the contempt – both from the stands and the media boxes – can be withering DILEEP PREMACHANDRAN
S
o,
you’ve
come
to
see a 4-0 whitewash, have you? Will your guys be as bad as they were last time?
When you arrive in Australia,
the sledging can start as early as
the immigration desk. As soon as
the officer perusing my passport knew what the purpose of my visit
was, the friendly jibes started.
Jetlagged and disoriented, I didn’t
mistake of wearing my media
It was to be a recurring theme
to follow a losing team, have you?”
even respond. wherever
we
went
on
that
2003-04 tour. Once India won in Adelaide, however, the banter became a little more respectful, a
little less dismissive. It was a far
cry from the opening morning at the Gabba, when I made the ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
accreditation card on the bus ride to the ground. “Come all this way
asked one bloke, kitted out in a Castlemaine XXXX shirt. “What
does it feel like to lose a World Cup final?”
I couldn’t let that half-volley
pass. Just a fortnight earlier, Jonny
24 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
AN EXPERIENCE The crowd in Australia is partisan and raucous.
25
Wilkinson’s
boot
had
kicked
Asia, you can afford to take your
turf. “Ask your rugby team,” I said
been sent. Let the words marinate
England to rugby World Cup glory
against the Wallabies. On their with a smile. Queensland takes its rugby pretty seriously, and I got only a grimace in response.
By and large, the humour inside
time with any feature you need to write once the match report has over dinner and possibly even a
cider or pale ale before you send them in.
And unless there’s a Monkeygate
and outside the grounds is fun.
going
but the vast majority appreciates
its cricket, but doesn’t obsess over
There will be the odd drunken boors with their “Coolie” shouts,
a keen contest. In both 2003-04 and 2007-08, they got that. But when the visitors are hapless, as
India were three years ago, the contempt – both from the stands and the media boxes – can be withering.
For a journalist, there are few
better tours though. Because
on,
it’s
also
perfectly
possible to switch off once you leave the ground. Australia loves it. The unhealthy voyeurism that
has become such an integral part
of the TV news experience in India
Sydney, or check out any number
dinner at a restaurant rather
Nature lovers should definitely
is seldom in evidence. It’s pretty
normal to see players having
than hiding away in their rooms dependent on room service.
There’s also plenty to do away
you’re so far east of the Greenwich
from the cricket. The Gold Coast
the UK, South Africa or South East
call it. If your tastes run to
Meridian, time is on your side. If you work for a print publication in
COVER DRIVE
India’s 445 in fourth Innings of the fifth Test in 1977-78 during their unsuccessful chase of 493 is the second highest total in a losing cause in Test history.
For a journalist, there are few better tours than the one to Australia though. Because you’re so far east of the Greenwich Meridian, time is on your side. Let the words marinate over dinner and possibly a cider or pale ale before you send them in
is a short drive from Brisbane – or
Bris Vegas as some disparagingly quieter beaches without ugly
constructions overlooking them,
then you’re better off checking out the many beaches on the Great
Ocean Road that takes you from Melbourne to Adelaide.
The more adventurous can try
to climb the Harbour Bridge in ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
of adventure sports at scenic locations like the Twelve Apostles. experience Kangaroo Island, south of Adelaide. As large as Malabar,
it has a population of roughly 5000, and boasts of everything
from koalas and kangaroos to
fairy penguins and seals. The thirsty ones will find much to
explore in the vineyards around Sydney, Adelaide and Perth, while
a trip into the Dandenongs near Melbourne is incomplete without
a ride on the Puffing Billy heritage railway. The
in-stadium
experience
is also unmatched. There are beautiful grounds in England and
26 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
MANY BENAUDS By and large, the humour inside and outside the grounds is fun.
South Africa, but nothing that
gives you the Coliseum feel of the
Melbourne Cricket Ground. From
the top of the Great Southern
and raucous, though a virtuoso
COVER DRIVE
display like Sourav Ganguly’s
Ground, no trip is complete
SK Gurunathan, who covered more than 50 Test matches including the 1947-48 series in Australia, founded the Indian Cricket Annual in 1946, which was inspired by the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack
Tendulkar and Laxman. Adelaide,
journalist, these can also be
Stand, the players look little bigger than ants.
As for the Sydney Cricket
without silent contemplation of the feats of Trumper, Bradman,
with the scenic walk across the bridge from town, was the most
English of the Australian grounds before its expensive makeover.
For a visiting player, fan or
intimidating venues. So successful have Australia been at the Gabba in
the
past
quarter-century
that many now refer to it as the Gabbatoir. The crowd is partisan
century in 2003 can bring them – grudgingly or not – to their feet.
The light is marvellous, as is the
variety of food on offer. The cities are easy to get around, and there
are few experiences in sport that
can compare to the MCG on Boxing Day. It’s a lot more fun when the
series is well contested though. If the team you’re there to report on struggle, then be prepared for endless banter. Starting with the arrival desk.
27
THE CLASSICS
SPARKS OF GLORY During the hunt for that elusive series victory have come some classic individual performances MANOJ NARAYAN
A
ustralia be
a
may
citadel
Indian cricketers have
generally
struggled
to
narrowed down to six the top
Singh Bedi and BS Chandrasekhar.
Bishan Singh Bedi and BS
at 23.87 in five matches – while
series performances by Indians in Australia.
breach, but there are a few
Chandrasekhar, 1977-78
cricket folklore for their heroic
most successful in Australia till
extraordinary individuals who
have etched their names in attempts at doing so. After much
deliberation, Wisden India has
This tour was by far India’s
that point, and that had a lot to do with the spin duo of Bishan ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
Bedi ended the series as the
highest wicket-taker – 31 wickets Chandrasekhar
followed
close
behind with 28 wickets at 25.14 in the same number of games. Each
had three five-wicket hauls and
one ten-wicket match-haul apiece.
Bedi hit the ground running.
28 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
TOUR HISTORY 1985-86 (3): AUSTRALIA 0 INDIA 0 This tour didn’t prove to be as fruitful as Kapil Dev’s side expected, with all three Tests ending in a draw. The Indians were eager to bounce back from a disappointing tour to Sri Lanka, and the batsmen scored heavily. They were led by Sunil Gavaskar, who amassed 352 runs, hitting two centuries along the way. For Australia, David Boon and Allan Border had reasonable success. Though Kapil came up with an inspired spell in the first innings of the first Test, picking up 8 for 106, India’s bowling at times failed to capitalise on positions of strength. – Akash Sarkar Most runs: Sunil Gavaskar – 352 runs at 117.33 (India); David Boon – 323 runs at 64.60 (Australia) Most wickets: Shivlal Yadav – 15 wickets at 22.26 (India); Bruce Reid – 11 wickets at 29.54 (Australia)
His five-wicket haul in the
They then combined to take
first Test in Brisbane helped
seven in the fourth Test in Sydney
India were themselves felled
innings as Australia were bowled
bowl out Australia for just 166
in the first innings, although for 153 in their reply. Australia
went on to win the Test by 16
runs after they amassed 327 in the second innings, with
Bedi going wicketless and Chandrasekhar returning 2 for 82. In the second Test in Perth,
Bedi, in his element, ended with his first ten-wicket haul in Tests, returning 5 for 89 and 5
for 105. His spells were crucial in making the contest another close
encounter.
Australia
eventually kept their nerve to win by two wickets.
Chandrasekhar hit form in
– Chandrasekhar picking up 4
for 30, Bedi 3 for 49 – in the first out for 131. Australia floundered again in their second hit, Erapalli
Prasanna returning 4 for 51 to seal
an
innings-and-two-run
victory. However, in the final Test in Adelaide, Australia put up a
huge first-innings score of 505, despite Chandrasekhar’s 5 for
136. India were bowled out for 256, and though Bedi got 4 for
53, Australia registered a 47-run victory for a 3-2 series win.
Sandeep Patil, Adelaide, 1980-81 India were taken apart in
the third Test in Melbourne,
the first Test in Sydney. They
12 Tests in Australia. He
and four runs within three days.
which India won by 222 runs – their first win in “bowled accurately and with
devastating fire to hasten India
towards victory”, reported the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack,
to return identical figures of 6 for 52 in each innings.
Australia were bowled out for 213 and 164, Chandrasekhar and Bedi taking all ten wickets in the second innings.
were twice bowled out for 201, as Australia won by an innings Things didn’t start off too well
in the next Test in Adelaide either, where India chose to field
and watched as Kim Hughes dominated the bowling with a 301-ball 213. It came on the back
of Graeme Wood’s century, as
Australia posted a massive 528. Another big loss seemed on the
cards when India were reduced to
29
130 for 4. But they then found a
ADELAIDE,2003 Rahul Dravid’s double-century gave India their first win in Australia since 1981.
hero of their own in Sandeep Patil,
whose 65 in the first Test before he retired hurt was one of the few
positives. Handed a let off when he was on just 2, Patil went on to rival Hughes’s knock, hitting an
equally belligerent 240-ball 174,
which helped India reach 419, and eventually, draw the match.
More importantly, it showed India
had the fight in them. It was the turning point of the match and,
possibly, the series, as they won the next Test in Melbourne to level the three-match affair 1-1.
Gundappa Viswanath and Kapil Dev, Melbourne,
strain that forced him to use
Put in, India were tottering at
to seal a famous 59-run victory.
on the final day.
22 for 2 when Viswanath walked in. By the time he walked back,
1980-81 It was a match that India almost
walked away from. Sunil Gavaskar, the captain, was so irked by Rex
Whitehead’s decision to give him out lbw to Dennis Lillee in the
second innings of the third Test
that he walked off, taking his batting partner Chetan Chauhan
with him. Thankfully, the match went on, and it meant a fabulous first-innings
something special from Kapil Dev
century
from
Gundappa Viswanath didn’t go in
vain. The world also witnessed
the ninth man out four and a half
hours later, he had scored a fine
114. He was the only constant in the Indian innings that resulted in 237 runs from 84 overs.
Australia responded strongly,
putting on 419. India ended their second innings at a fighting
324, despite the distraction of
a runner the previous day –
remarkably returned 5 for 28 Bruce Yardley was bowled, Allan Border was caught behind and the
tail comprising Rod Marsh, Dennis Lillee and Jim Higgs was wiped out. “(He) bowled straight and to
a length and let the pitch do the
rest,” said the Wisden Cricketers’
Almanack. It was brave, it was
heroic. And victory was especially sweet for Gavaskar.
VVS Laxman, Sydney,
Gavaskar’s dismissal. Australia
1999-2000
the fifth morning. Kapil Dev –
outplayed India in the first two
needed just 143 to win, but the
match turned on its head on struggling with a thigh muscle ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
Australia
had
completely
Tests in Adelaide and Melbourne,
30 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Ajit Agarkar, Adelaide
PERTH, 2008 All-round contribution from Irfan Pathan.
2003-04 Australia had scored a massive
556 by the second afternoon of the second Test, Ricky Ponting with a 352-ball 242, and India
were reeling at 85 for 4 in their reply. Enter Rahul Dravid and VVS
Laxman. During their 376-run stand in Kolkata, it was Laxman
playing the lead and Dravid providing
able
support.
This
time, the roles were reversed. and India were visibly deflated ahead of the third Test in Sydney.
And there was no let up for them,
as India were bowled out for 150. The Australian batsmen then feasted on the bowlers, with Justin
Langer hitting a double-century,
backed by a mesmeric unbeaten century from Ponting. Australia
eventually declared their innings
at 552 for 5, and India’s misery plummeted
further
reduced to 33 for 3.
on
being
One can well imagine the
mentality of a team on the verge of being knocked out cold. But then, VVS Laxman came up with
one of those defiant knocks he would make a habit of later in his career. He was aggressive and
graceful all at once. He took a blow
to his visor early on, but played his shots unfazed – the drive, the cut and the pull. Brett Lee,
Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath
were left frustrated, and even
part-timers Ricky Ponting and Michael Slater had a go. Laxman
put on 68 with Sourav Ganguly, 49 with Hrishikesh Kanitkar and 89 with Anil Kumble. He eventually
ended with a 198-ball 167 – his maiden Test century – including
27 majestic fours. If nothing else, it was evidence of fight.
Dravid’s cover drives were at their immaculate best and it was a shot
he used repeatedly to good effect. At the other end, Laxman’s cuts
and flicks ensured runs from both sides of the wicket.
The two batted 93.5 overs and
their
fifth-wicket
association
added 303 runs. The stand was broken when Laxman was sent back at the stroke of tea on the
third day, but Dravid carried on, adding 135 with the tail. He was the last man dismissed, having
scored 233. Australia’s lead was just 33.
Then, it was the bowlers’ turn
to capitalise, and Ajit Agarkar
31
did just that. He swung it both
44-run stand with Mahendra
first victim, an inswinger trapping
Dravid’s (93) and Sachin
ways, and Australia were greatly
troubled. Justin Langer was his
him plumb in front. He then had the dangerous Ricky Ponting
holing out. The Australians slid as they tried attacking, and Agarkar returned later on, reversing the
ball to add the scalps of Simon Katich, Andy Bichel, Jason Gillespie and Stuart MacGill and return a
magnificent 6 for 41. India needed 230 to win, and Dravid, fittingly,
Singh Dhoni for the seventh wicket, which built on Rahul
Tendulkar’s (71) to take India
This was the first series to be
while swinging the ball with
on
bowled out for 212.
found some positives, not least in
for both Australian openers,
played under the ICC‘s new code
immense control. It started an
Although Australia beat India 4-0
reducing them to 13 for 2
of conduct, along with restrictions
Australian slide that had them
comprehensively,
In
the
second
innings,
Pathan came in at No. 3 as
soil since Melbourne 1981.
batted with the assuredness of
India’s first victory on Australian
Irfan Pathan, Perth, 2007-08 If you didn’t watch the match,
you would wonder what was special
about
Irfan
Pathan’s
nightwatchman after Wasim Jaffer fell late in the day. He a regular top-order batsman and was the sixth man out, a
Pathan returned to the playing
XI after nearly a year and his first contribution was a lead role in the
Sachin Tendulkar’s match-defining centuries in Sydney (148 not out) and Perth (114). Kapil Dev had his most successful series on foreign soil and made his way to 400 Test wickets, the second in the world to achieve the feat at the time. Also, India discovered a prospect in Javagal Srinath. For the hosts,
in each of the last three Tests.
innings after Laxman’s fine Then,
with
Australia
to complete a match haul of
why he was Man of the Match.
visitors
79.
second-highest score of the
63 and 3 for 54. Not remarkable.
But closer scrutiny would explain
the
bowling.
while Mark Taylor stocked runs,
chasing 413 for victory, he
scored 28 and 46, and took 2 for
short-pitched
64-ball 46 to his name – the
contribution to India’s 72-run victory in the third Test. Pathan
1991-92 (5): AUSTRALIA 4 INDIA 0
to 330. Then, he accounted
scored the winning runs, ending with an unbeaten 72. It was
TOUR HISTORY
again got the openers out and,
later in the day, Stuart Clark five wickets. It was a fine all-
round performance that also prevented
Ricky
Ponting’s
Australia from extending their record to a 17th consecutive Test win.
ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
David Boon was the bulwark of the batting, scoring centuries Craig McDermott picked up three five-wicket hauls, his 31 wickets an Australian record in a series against India. – Kritika Naidu Most runs: David Boon – 556 runs at 79.42 (Australia); Sachin Tendulkar – 368 runs at 46 (India) Most wickets: Craig McDermott – 31 wickets at 21.61 (Australia); Kapil Dev – 25 wickets at 25.80 (India)
32 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
DEBUTANTS
INITIATION BY PACE AND BOUNCE It’s an inexperienced Indian side that is travelling to Australia, but the first-timers could well be the ones best equipped to grapple with the conditions Down Under SHAMYA DASGUPTA
S
anjay Bangar, one of
Yadav,
Varun
best swing bowlers India have
said the other day:
and Shami bowl at over 140kmph
However, even putting aside
two assistant coaches of the Indian team, “We
may
probably
have the best seam attack going
to Australia for a number of years now.”
The
men
Bhuvneshwar
in
that
Kumar,
attack:
Umesh
Ishant
Sharma,
Aaron and Mohammed Shami. On paper, Bangar has it right – Yadav
had in a while.
consistently, Aaron hits the 150s
the shortcomings of some of
steep bounce and the sort of
have never played cricket in
even if he is occasionally wayward, Ishant is the beanpole who gets movement
Australian
pitches
are good for, and Bhuvneshwar,
though slow of pace, is among the
these
pacers
–
injury-prone,
inconsistent, etc. – two of them Australia as part of the national team,
and
another
one
has
travelled with the team but did
33
not get to play. Of the other two,
Yadav, part of the 2011-12 touring
party that lost the four-Test series 4-0 – picking up quite a few
wickets and conceding a whole
lot of runs – has played nine Test
matches. Ishant is the only one
with any serious experience of playing Test cricket in Australia,
having been a part of two tours.
His overall career record is pretty
unimpressive, considering the 58
matches he has played, but the
way he had one over Ricky Ponting in that 2007-08 tour is legend –
probably the biggest tick mark in his career. The others, Shami,
Bhuvneshwar and Aaron, have a total experience of 23 Tests. That
inexperience
isn’t
restricted to the pace attack.
Among the batsmen, Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, KL Rahul and
Cheteshwar Pujara have never toured Australia as part of the national team before. Ajinkya Rahane has, but he didn’t play a
game. Naman Ojha, picked only
for the first Test (which was
ultimately rescheduled) as backup wicketkeeper to Wriddhiman
Saha, who will become back-up to MS Dhoni once he is fit and ready
for action, has only been there as
part of the India A squad, as has
Such inexperience on a Test tour of Australia is far from ideal. But, then again, the last time India went to Australia, they came back 4-0 losers – in spite of a batting order boasting Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman Karn Sharma. Nor has Ravindra Jadeja toured there with the national team. It’s a big, bulky
squad – 19 people including Ojha – and the inexperience is glaring.
Importantly, three of the first-
timers are almost certain to make
the batting line-up in the playing XI, at least for the first Test – Dhawan and Vijay at the top, and Pujara at,
most likely, No. 3. Depending on fitness, form and the conditions
in Adelaide, one or two of Shami, Aaron and Bhuvneshwar could
well accompany Ishant and Yadav in the bowling attack. That’s four,
if not five players that will play
international cricket for the first time in Australia and, needless to say, it won’t be easy.
ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
In Australia, like in South Africa,
even though the nature of the pitches has changed somewhat over
the
years,
places
like
Brisbane and Perth are certain to offer a lot more pace and bounce
than one would expect elsewhere.
For the batsmen, it’s about coping with that pace and bounce, and
for fast bowlers, the trick is to not
be too macho with the red cherry in hand.
The Indian pitch that comes
closest to that is Mohali – not quite Gabba, of course. That is where Dhawan started his Test career, playing against Australia. On that
occasion, in March 2013, Dhawan
scored 187 runs from 174 balls in
just over four hours in the middle. The sort of innings that makes a star of a debutant. Since then, it’s
not always gone right but when it has, Dhawan has been fantastic
to watch: aggressive but not in the Virender Sehwag over-the-
top way, in control, superb on the offside, hitting through the line. In that debut Test, however, there
was no Mitchell Johnson in the opposition. Over the past couple
of seasons, Johnson has easily
been the most exciting cricketer going and for all the numbers
anyone might have totted up,
34 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
TOUR HISTORY 1999-00 (3): AUSTRALIA 3 INDIA 0 India‘s batsmen struggled to adapt to the conditions and 285 was the highest they managed across six innings. The lack of a solid opening partnership cost the team. In Devang Gandhi’s absence, following the first Test, VVS Laxman moved to open the innings with Sadagoppan Ramesh, but that had little effect. Already strong on the bowling front, with Glenn McGrath and Damien Fleming in prime form, Australia‘s decision to hand Brett Lee his debut in the second Test proved to be a masterstroke as India were undone by his raw pace and he finished with 13 wickets from two matches. Tendulkar’s 278 runs earned him the Man of the Series award, but it was Ricky Ponting’s remarkable consistency that stood out and powered Australia to a 3-0 whitewash. – Akshay Gopalakrishnan Most runs: Ricky Ponting – 375 runs at 125 (Australia); Sachin Tendulkar – 278 runs at 46.33 Most wickets: Glenn McGrath – 18 wickets at 13.77 (Australia); Ajit Agarkar – 11 wickets at 31.90
negotiating Johnson, at Gabba,
is a whole different ball game.
Can Dhawan do it? True, he couldn’t quite cut it in England, where faster bowlers get more movement off the air than in most parts of the world. But
going by what we have seen of his game over the years, the
conditions in Australia might just be more to Dhawan’s liking.
More than Dhawan, his
opening partner and the man likely to walk in at one-drop, Vijay and Pujara, are probably
best placed to counter the pace and bounce.
When Dhawan was breaking
records
with
that
debut
century of his, Vijay was going about quietly accumulating
runs. He ended with 153 of his own, coming on the back
of a 167 in the previous Test. But the Vijay that turned up in
South Africa later in the year was a revelation. He scored
six runs in over an hour and 39 in two-and-a-half hours in
the first Test in Johannesburg
and then 97 in over five hours before failing in the second
innings in Durban. This Vijay
COVER DRIVE * Of the 282 Indian Test players 16 have made their debut in Australia, ten of whom were medium pace bowlers. * Kiran More toured West Indies in 83 and Australia in 85 as an understudy to Syed Kirmani, and made his debut in the World Series Cup when Kirmani got injured. wanted to stay in the middle for as long as he could – he valued
his wicket over all else. And he’s
continued in that vein. He could well be key to India’s performance on this tour.
As for Pujara, while he isn’t
quite Rahul Dravid (yet), he is as
close to being a wall-like figure
as Indian cricket has now. A Test
man through and through, his average has dipped below 50
after disappointing tours of New Zealand and England earlier this year: 282 runs in seven Tests. But
Pujara will be a central figure in the next few years of Indian Test cricket. If Puj, along with Vijay and
Virat Kohli, can find his mojo in
Australia, there could be surprises in store.
35
FRESH ATTACK Bhuvneshwar Kumar, though slow of pace, is one of India’s best swing bowlers.
ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
36 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
Coming to the pacemen, who
Shami has the pace, the accuracy
one in the top of the order could
Aaron? Would you pick four
Of the lot, it would be the most
good innings Vijay and Dhawan,
would you pick among Ishant,
Bhuvneshwar, Shami, Yadav and
pacers to go with R Ashwin at No.
7 or extend the batting order and play three pacemen with Ashwin?
and the stamina to be a Siddle of sorts. And Aaron has the pace.
fascinating to see what Aaron does if he gets the chance. But, coming
back from a long injury layoff, he went and picked up
some stage depending on how Such inexperience on a Test
tour of Australia is far from ideal.
As the pack is shuffled
4-0 losers – in spite of a batting
depending on conditions, it is pretty likely that
all five of them will get a chance at some point during the four Tests.
That may not be the
case with Rahul, Ojha, Karn or Jadeja.
Rahul has been, by far, the
Tricky. One would have to assume,
most exciting opening batsman
the Adelaide Test. Who else?
the tour of Australia was a no-
the swing and can bat a fair bit too.
Jadeja too could get a chance at
would be a major area of concern.
Bhuvneshwar is slow but has
While Ojha and Karn would be
Ashwin goes.
forget the whole series –
Yadav will be in the starting XI for
the first couple of Tests.
fitness – whether he can
last a full Test match,
fitness permitting, that Ishant and
especially Dhawan, can tot up in
in it mainly for the experience,
Sri Lanka recently. His
Or no Ashwin, just four pacers?
change depending on how many
a niggle in the first One-
Day International against
RAW PACE Umesh Yadav can consistently bowl at over 140kph.
be a long one for Rahul. That could
in India over the past couple of
seasons, and his selection for
brainer once Gautam Gambhir failed in England. But the distance between a spot on the bench and
But, then again, the last time India went to Australia, they came back
order boasting Dravid, Sachin
Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. The expectations from this lot are markedly lower.
For the rank newcomers that
do get a go, this will be a chance to make a statement. And for the
experienced lot in what is largely a young side, it’s an opportunity
to underscore their abilities, a chance to prove that they are
the right people in this period of transition for the Indian team, that they are the ones around
whom the script for the next few years of Indian Test cricket will be written.
37
FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNT
IT’S ALWAYS A LONG, TOUGH TOUR TO AUSTRALIA Australia has a lot to offer off the field, but if you’re not playing well, three to four months in the continent can be difficult KIRAN MORE
P
akistan and India
On that day in Sydney, we
more but it was all right. When
total. The times were different.
told the bowlers to bowl up to him
used to play each
batted first and scored 216 (for
we
Getting a lot of boundaries and
other pretty rarely
those days. I think were
playing
after 1989 during that 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and you know how it is
in an India-Pakistan game – even
if it’s a charity match, it’s always a tense affair.
7, in 49 overs) and it wasn’t a bad
sixes was difficult those days – nowadays you have mostly 75-yard
boundaries
but
the
boundaries were much further away in Australia at the time.
We would have liked 30-40 runs ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
Javed (Miandad) came in to bat,
it was quite early (17 for 2) and I and not give him space to hit. He
got frustrated as he couldn’t score
freely, they had lost early wickets anyway, and there was an appeal
for a catch down the legside off Sachin’s
(Tendulkar)
bowling,
which I thought was out. That’s
38 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
how the chatter started. He said a few things to me and I gave it back
to him. In fact, our whole team was giving it back to him. And
then
that
incident
happened. I appealed for a run out and Javed started jumping (in mock imitation of the appeal).
So David Shepherd (the umpire) came up to him and told him that if he did it again, he would be thrown out. So it ended there.
But Javed … he has always been
a great friend. He’s a great man. I
I appealed for a run out and Javed started jumping. So David Shepherd came up to him and told him that if he did it again, he would be thrown out. So it ended there with them (Pakistan) because we
speak the same languages – Hindi,
Urdu, Gujarati, Punjabi … sharing stories, spending time together.
One must also remember that
months there can be tough. When we were done with the World
Cup, we realised what a long tour
it had been. Especially if you don’t do well, that hits you more. We were in Australia for four months,
we lost four of the five Tests, we
did all right in the tri-series (West Indies were the third team) but
the World Cup didn’t go well. So you spend your time with the
same people for four months, you see the same faces in the hotel and at the ground – it can get tiring.
This time also, the Indians will
have been to his house for dinner
the World Cup came at the end
be in Australia for around four
tough opponent, but a great man
tough, and it’s always a wake-
the middle. We wanted it, but it
when in Pakistan and it’s always fun playing with him. He was a
off the field. He was competitive, which was true for all of us.
Stump mikes had also come in
around that time, and Channel
9 used them, and I used to say ‘shabaash, shabaash’ to encourage
the bowlers and fielders. It was a new formula in world cricket. I
used to talk earlier too, but people
could hear me then. So it must
have irritated Javed. Importantly, we won the match (by 43 runs).
But we are all friends after
the match is over. It’s always fun
of a long tour. Touring Australia
is never easy anyway; it’s always
up call of sorts. Of course, if you do well, the locals are very appreciative, and there’s a big
Indian community there, the people always want to help you
and fix Indian meals for you.
But the cricket is tough. So we would go out for dinner with
the teammates, there are lots of sporting activities in Australia,
away in Gold Coast, which is
beautiful, the beaches, long walks. In Sydney, we would go to the
harbour and to the Sydney Opera House, and there’s a lot to do in
Australia. But spending three-four
months and it’s always good to get a break for 10-15 days in couldn’t be arranged. But things are different if you do well and win
a few games. If you start losing, there are always issues that crop
up, on the field and off the field; things start going wrong. There are injuries too. We are taking
five pacers for the Tests and they should go to the World Cup as
well. So injuries are a concern. I
hope we win, and everyone stays fit, because it will be a long and tough tour, as it always is when you go to Australia.
As told to Shamya Dasgupta
39
DUEL OF THE GREATS SIDHANTA PATNAIK India may have won only five of the 40 Tests they have played in Australia between 1947 and 2012, but there has been no dearth of fascinating individual contests over the years – mini-battles within the five-day ones, some perhaps with a tinge of David-versus-Goliath to them. From the tussle between Vijay Hazare and Ray Lindwall to the exploits of Sachin Tendulkar, from VVS Laxman facing off against Brett Lee to Ricky Ponting’s 19-year-old nemesis in 2008, there have been some epic clashes Down Under. As India embark on their 11th Test tour there, we look back at some of them.
ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
40 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
Hazare and Lindwall set the tone (1947-48) Vijay Hazare and Ray Lindwall were both new to international
cricket, but proved to be their
teams’ big stars on India’s first tour to Australia. Hazare made
116 and 145 (in a second-innings total of 277) in the fourth Test at
Adelaide Oval to become the first Indian to score two centuries
in a Test. He spent a total of 584 minutes and played 675 balls; the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack
described it as Hazare’s “personal triumph”.
His second hundred came after India were asked to follow on,
and Lindwall, who finished with
career-best figures of 7 for 38, did much of the damage in that
second innings. Lindwall, the
best bowler of the series, bowled
Hazare, and then accounted for him again in the subsequent game
in Melbourne. Hazare aggregated 429 runs to finish second on the run charts behind Don Bradman.
Prasanna bamboozles Redpath and Chappell (1967-68)
India lost all four Tests on their
ten years after retirement, to
in the side, Erapalli Prasanna, gave
flesh. Though he was dismissed
return to Australia after 20 years, but the new engineering graduate them something to remember fondly. Prasanna, who would be
the best bowler of the series with 25 scalps, troubled Ian Redpath
and Ian Chappell the most. Both
of them fell to him thrice each
in just over a month. In the first Test in Adelaide, Redpath failed
to open his account in the first innings. Chappell could score only two before he became Prasanna’s second victim. Prasanna’s best
captain at the age of 41. He proved
to be the decisive thorn in India’s thrice
by
BS
Chandrasekhar,
and fell to Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna and Srinivas Venkataraghavan
once
each
during the series, his experience came in handy when it came to
negating the quartet’s threat. He was on top of the batting charts
and helped Australia win a tightly
fought series 3-2. Nowhere was
came in a closely fought Brisbane
Test, the third one of the series, where he picked up eight wickets in the match, including Redpath
twice and Chappell once. Prasanna
dismissed both of them six times apiece over the years. Chappell,
even now, regards Prasanna as the toughest spinner he faced.
Simpson counters Indian spinners (197778) Played
against
the
backdrop
of Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket, a weakened Australian
team fielded 12 debutants in five Tests, and recalled Bob Simpson,
his nous best displayed than in the
two-wicket win in the Perth Test
where he guided his team from 65 for 3 to 394 with a patient 176.
Sandeep Patil settles scores with Pascoe (1980-81)
Sandeep Patil started his first overseas Test match with a 65
41
against Australia in Sydney, before
his 116 in the first innings there
tour of Australia, and there was
He, however, responded with
innings was India’s only hope at
in 2001 adding to his aura. His
he was hit on the head by Len Pascoe and forced to retire hurt.
a fiery 174 in the next game in Adelaide, a knock that had the distinct air of score-settling about
has since become a YouTube
classic, while his 52 in the second that stage. McGrath and Warne
also the matter of that epic, match-winning 281 in Kolkata
reputation was only strengthened
it as he took on Dennis Lillee and Pascoe.
Patil’s maiden century included
22 boundaries and one six. That aggressive knock came when
India were reduced to 130 for 4,
and ushered them past the 400run mark after Australia had put up 528.
Tendulkar over Warne, McGrath (1999-2000)
THREAT Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath got Tendulkar out twice each in 1999-2000.
Sachin Tendulkar had become the youngest batsman to score a
Test century in Australia in 199192; seven years later, he returned as the world’s best batsman.
He reaffirmed his reputation as
he handled Glenn McGrath and Shane
Warne
with
technical
precision. While the rest of the
batting collapsed in a 3-0 series loss, Tendulkar, the captain, used his feet well and counter-attacked to charm the crowd. He was at
his dominant best in Melbourne:
dismissed him twice each in six
when he finished with 494 runs
the third highest run-getter of the
Lee, who has dismissed Laxman
innings, but by then Tendulkar’s
aggregate of 278 had made him series behind Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer.
Laxman’s Australian affair (2003-04) VVS Laxman had impressed with
a knock of 167 in India’s previous ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
at an average of 82.33 in the four Tests of the 2003-04 tour. Brett
the most number of times in his career, could not deceive him in
the two Tests he played, and the others had little success. Laxman made an important century in the famous Adelaide win, and
reserved his best for the Sydney Test where Tendulkar and he
42 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
put up the highest fourth-wicket
Ishant Sharma, just three Tests
had looked uncomfortable against
Kumble proves his point through Ponting (2003-04)
Perth, chipping in for an emotional
you bowl one more over)?” Ishant
partnership for India: 353 runs.
old, made his first real impression with a good spell of fast bowling in win days after the Monkeygate
him. Kumble famously asked Ishant, “Ek aur over karega (Will
replied in the affirmative, and
Anil Kumble was dropped for the first Test in Brisbane, but he returned for the second game
in Adelaide and used all his experience to establish his stature as India’s No. 1 spinner. At the receiving end was Ricky Ponting,
who Kumble had accounted for three times in as many Tests. In Adelaide, Ponting was batting
on 242 when Kumble had him caught by Rahul Dravid, and in Melbourne,
another
Ponting
double-century was brought to an
end when he was stumped after
FEUD Ricky Ponting had looked uncomfortable against Ishant Sharma all along.
having spent close to ten hours at
the crease. Kumble had another
laugh in Australia’s first innings in Sydney when Ponting was trapped
in front of the wicket. Ponting
finished as the best batsman of
the series, while Kumble, with 24 wickets in three Tests, topped the bowling charts.
Ishant v Ponting (2007-08)
episode had nearly ended the
produced a rising ball outside the
without wickets to show for it. He
at first slip. Ishant had already
tour. Ishant, 19, had bowled seven overs harrying the batsmen, but
was about to be taken off when
Virender Sehwag suggested that
Anil Kumble, the captain, give him one more over as Ricky Ponting
off stump, which took Ponting’s
edge and went to Rahul Dravid accounted for Ponting in the
first innings, and would go on to dismiss him another five times in his career.
43
INTERVIEW
THE ONE THAT GOT MIANDAD: “I KNEW IT WAS A SPECIAL DELIVERY” The 1985 World Championship of Cricket win inspired modern greats of Indian cricket, who in turn inspired millions more, says Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, as he shares his highlights of the tournament KARTHIK LAKSHMANAN
O
ne
of
India’s
most memorable
moments in OneDay International
cricket was the
World Championship of Cricket
final in 1985, when a young side led by Sunil Gavaskar stunned
everyone to take the title without
losing a match. India had won the World Cup in 1983 but not many
gave them a chance after a string of failures at home the following season.
One of the key players for India during
the
tournament
was
Laxman Sivaramakrishnan. The
legspinner, just 19 then, made his ODI debut in the tournament and
went on to become the highest wicket-taker
with
ten
ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
scalps
from five matches. That included a career-best 3 for 35 in the final against Pakistan - the memorable
wicket of Javed Miandad, who was
out stumped, was one of them which helped India to the title. Almost
30
Sivaramakrishnan
years
on,
remembers
the tournament as if it happened
only yesterday. He spoke to
44 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
Wisden India about the victory,
the celebrations and what it did to Indian cricket.
What do you first remember when you think about the 1985 World Championship of Cricket? My first memory is that of going
into the first practice session in Melbourne. It was a huge
Against England, Ravi was charged up and got me charged up as well England prior to the World
Championship of Cricket. Along with me, there was Mohammad
Azharuddin, Sadanand Viswanath,
Chetan Sharma, Manoj Prabhakar
VICTORIOUS “Everybody wrote us off before the 1985 World Championship of Cricket began.”
for a couple of days, whatever happened in India prior to that was behind us and we were
looking at how to compete in the tournament.
India won the World Cup in 1983, but later lost to West Indies, Australia and England after that. What sparked the turnaround? Everybody wrote us off even before the tournament began,
so there was no pressure on us. People were expecting us to get
thrashed. But the first match against Pakistan was the turning
point. We had a commanding victory in that match. We bowled
them out for 183 and then got
the runs quite easily. That gave us the confidence to do well and
the momentum for the rest of the tournament.
There was an exuberance of youth
in the side. It was one of the better fielding sides in that era, if not the
best. It was an all-round fielding
side as we had good fielders in stadium and the first time I was
and some others. Even an empty
after the home series loss against
landed in MCG and practised
there. There were a lot of other youngsters in the side as well,
Melbourne
Cricket
Ground
motivated us. The moment we
all positions, be it slips or in the
boundary. That proved to be of
great support to the bowlers and the energy on the field helped us build momentum as well.
45
EXUBERANT “Everyone jumped on the car with spikes on. Ravi had to make sure he got a new car.”
The pitches were very sporting
normal and not like the bats now.
and Roger Binny got the ball to
good chance of getting a wicket.
and suited our bowlers, both
pacers and spinners. Kapil Dev bounce and swing. There was
turn and bounce for the spinners as well.
While many teams would go for pace in Australia, India went for spin – you and Ravi Shastri came out very successful. What was the thinking behind that? Australia had big grounds and big boundaries. The bats were
If the batsmen wanted to hit you
out of the ground, there was a
In Australian wickets, spinners will always get the bounce. If you are a good spinner, you can get
some turn as well. So turn and bounce turned out to be a lethal combination
and
big-hitting
wasn’t easy. That was the thinking
behind playing both Ravi Shastri and me in the side.
The best bowling phases of our career coincided with that ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
tournament. Our bowling in the
middle overs turned out to be very crucial for the side.
India won all five matches they played by convincing margins. How did India get the ruthlessness, something they were not known for? One of the biggest reasons for that
was the settled bowling attack. The plan was simple and worked well.
Kapil (Dev) and Roger (Binny)
got the early wickets, Mohinder Amarnath and Madan Lal would then bowl some tight overs to the
46 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
TOUR HISTORY 2003-04 (4): AUSTRALIA 1 INDIA 1 After years of living in promise, India finally announced themselves as a force in Test cricket. The opening draw in Brisbane set the tone. To expect anything to match Kolkata 2001 was a tough ask, yet Adelaide, where India came back from the dead to fashion a four-wicket win, came close. Ricky Ponting’s 242 had taken Australia to 556, and India were a worrisome 85 for 4 in reply. Rahul Dravid’s magnificent 233 and VVS Laxman’s 148 were a triumph of Indian spirit; they added 303 to become only the third pair to share two triple-century stands. In Melbourne, Ponting’s 257 outdid Virender Sehwag’s 195. In Sydney, there was Sachin Tendulkar’s resilient 241 and Laxman’s 178. But bowlers failed to press forth the advantage as Steve Waugh put victory beyond India‘s reach. The 1-1 scoreline did not fully reveal India’s gains. – Disha Shetty Most runs: Ricky Ponting – 706 runs at 100.85 (Australia); Rahul Dravid – 619 runs at 123.80 (India) Most wickets: Anil Kumble – 24 wickets at 29.58 (India); Stuart MacGill – 14 wickets at 50.78
new batsmen before Ravi and
I bowled in the middle overs. The pacers made it easy for us in the middle overs. Ravi and I would regularly share
five or six wickets in the middle overs, which meant that the opposition was always playing with the tail going
into the death overs. There was pressure throughout the innings that way.
Once we beat Pakistan in the
first game, the confidence and morale was up for every
individual in the side. We
worked that much harder
even in the practice sessions. I remember that throughout
the tournament, during the practice sessions, fielding and training was compulsory apart from batting and bowling.
The focus was specifically on
fielding, while some times even batting and bowling were
The 1983 World Cup was the turning point for Indian cricket. They realised that India has the potential to defeat big teams. 1985 reconfirmed the fact that India can be world champions. It was a sort of comeback after some poor shows in the period
235 (against England) because
we bowled teams out cheaply. The consistency in bowling and
fielding from everybody was
key for our good show in the tournament.
The icing on the cake would have been the final against Pakistan.
optional.
It was a dream final. There were
were not chasing too many
final. There was a huge crowd in
The effect of that was we big scores in the tournament.
Our highest run chase was 207 (in the semifinal against New Zealand) and our highest score in the tournament was
lots of people who had come in from India particularly for the
the hotel reception as we left for
the ground and after we won the match, a whole lot of Indian fans were waiting for us in the lobby
and celebrated our win. It was a
47
big-pressure match, but we had
a young side that could handle it very well.
But, actually, we were hoping to face West Indies in the final. It
would have been a repeat of the
1983 World Cup final and we could defeat them again, but that
didn’t happen. If we had defeated West Indies in the final, it would have been a complete tournament
for us. But they lost to Pakistan in
the semifinal and we hadn’t played them in the league stages either.
They were in the other half of the draw. It wasn’t in our control.
Your best performance was reserved for the final. I remember that I came in to bowl
very late in the innings (34th over). It was almost like death bowling. I didn’t know what was
To go to Australia for the World Championship, become the highest wicket-taker in the tournament, and help the side win the cup when everybody wrote us off was easily the best phase of my career Pakistan
were
re-establishing
their innings. He wanted to cramp
them up for runs and create a
situation where they had to go after
me
straightaway
when
I came on, and they lost their
wickets when they tried that. In
my second over, Imran was run out and then I got Javed Miandad
and Saleem Malik off successive deliveries.
going on but I eventually bowled
Having faith in me to bowl the last
were bowling well in the middle
from the deep to take the ball for
the last over of the innings as well. Ravi, Amarnath and Madan Lal
overs so Gavaskar brought me in when there was a partnership building between Imran Khan and Javed Miandad.
Gavaskar planned it in such a way
that I could come in late when
over was a special feeling. I still
if that had happened, we would have bowled out all sides in the tournament.
One of the memorable moments of the final was Miandad getting out stumped off your bowling. Talk us through that. I don’t know how many people
will believe me when I say this, but the moment I delivered the ball, I knew it was a special delivery. Once
you
release
the
ball,
something will tell your mind if
it’s a good ball or a bad ball. When I released the ball, I knew that
something special was going to happen. It dipped on Javed and
then turned after pitching. He didn’t step out to hit, he was just beaten in the air and was dragged
outside the crease trying to reach the ball.
remember Kapil Dev running in
I almost got a hat-trick as well.
nine overs and asked Gavaskar
I bowled a googly to try and get
the final over. He had bowled only
if he wanted him to bowl the final over. But Gavaskar said I’m
bowling well and gave me the confidence. I was still trying to get a wicket in the final over, because ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
The next ball went over long on. Wasim Raja was the batsman and
him lbw. I didn’t expect him to
have a slog at that, but he went for the big shot and Amarnath was
about 10 metres inside at long on. It went just over his head.
48 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
Any regret that you didn’t get the hat-trick? A hat-trick would have been better. I still think that if I had got
the hat-trick, I would have got the Man of the Match award in the final.
How were the celebrations after the win? Shastri’s Audi was almost damaged... Not almost, completely! He got
an Audi for being the Champion
of Champions and his car was
completely damaged after the final. Everybody jumped on it
with spikes on. The car had marks all over it and Ravi had to make sure he got a brand new car later.
I think it was one of the first times that someone had got a car as an award and we got to drive around the ground on it. It was a great
moment for us, we celebrated with champagne and stuff. Ravi, Gavaskar and myself still talk
about it. It was one of the great moments of Indian cricket that I’ve been part of.
What was it like to share the room with Ravi Shastri?
Ravi and I have been friends
as well, but we lost the series.
of the match against England
disappointed that we lost a Test
ever since we played Under-19s together. I remember the morning in particular. England had the
better of us in India just before the tournament and their captain
had made some statements in the media prior to the match.
Shastri woke me up early in the
morning after reading the papers, made me read the article and said, “We have to prove that we are
better than them. The way we’re bowling in this tournament, we
will show it to them today.” They
were chasing 236 and after 25 overs, they were on a par with
where we were. But Ravi and I had spoken about it just before
the match, took it up as a personal
challenge and took three wickets each and bowled them out cheaply (149).
That is one particular match that I
remember – Ravi was charged up and got me charged up as well.
What did the tournament mean for you, personally?
My
individual
performance
was satisfactory but we were series at home against England.
But to go to Australia for the World
Championship,
become
the highest wicket-taker in the tournament, and help the side win
the cup when everybody wrote us off was easily the best phase of my career. One
thing
in
Australia
any
cricketer has to be careful about is
the media. I was told by Gavaskar not to bowl a single googly in the nets, because there would be
television cameras all over trying
to find out what you do in practice. “Just come and bowl leg-breaks
for an hour, have some fielding practice and go,” is what Gavaskar told me then. Even back then,
the Australian media was always
attacking other teams. That was one of my learnings.
How would you compare the win to the 1983 World Cup win?
That tournament was the highest
The 1983 World Cup was the
five matches) was pretty good
everybody looked at India as
point in my career. The Test series against England (23 wickets from
turning point for Indian cricket.
1983 was the high point when
49
a part of the cricketing world.
They realised that India has the potential to defeat big teams, and 1985 reconfirmed the fact that
India could be world champions.
THE FINAL “It was a highpressure match against Pakistan, but we had a young side.”
It was a sort of comeback after some poor shows in the period.
Unlike the 1983 World Cup, a lot of youngsters in India would have
seen
the
1985
World
Championship on television in India. In the World Cup, India had to beat Zimbabwe to qualify
and Kapil made a brilliant 175, but it wasn’t shown in India due to the broadcast strike. But the
1985 tournament was followed
by many people back home, and that would have inspired a lot of them. VVS Laxman still talks about
waking up early and watching
that tournament, so it was a big inspiration for many. The
1985
proved
that
victory the
definitely
World
Cup
victory was not a one-off or fluke. Both happened overseas and in different conditions.
Finally, what did the victory do for Indian cricket? That victory did a lot of wonderful things for Indian cricket. The likes
of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman,
the victory. When you inspire
remember
become great cricketers. They
Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly the
1985
World
Championship as one of the best
Indian performances they have seen.
A lot of youngsters including those legends were inspired by ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
youngsters, they are bound to evolve into great cricketers after
seeing such performances. We managed to inspire those four people, and those four people
inspired millions more in the coming years.
50 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
HIGH-IMPACT HISTORY The Indians who have done well on the high-pressure tours of Australia India have a dismal Test record in Australia. They have won just five of the 40 Tests played there – two in 1977-78 and one each in 1981, 2003 and 2008
– and never a series. So while identifying the highest impact Indian performances, detailed below, more consideration has been given to consistency,
ability to do well under pressure and contribution to the match, rather than the series-defining performances, which are few and far between.
Highest Impact Batsmen Number
Name
Matches
Batting Impact
SDs
Runs Tally Impact
Pressure Impact
Failure Rate (in %)
1
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi
3
3.76
1
2.16
1.59
0
2
Sandeep Patil
3
3.58
0
2
1.17
0
3
Gundappa Viswanath
8
2.64
0
2.02
0.49
25
4
Sunil Gavaskar
11
2.58
0
2.19
0.14
36
5
Rusi Surti
4
2.42
1
1.67
0.13
29
Minimum number of matches: 3 SDs: Series-defining performances All Impact numbers between 0 and 5
51
BATTING IMPACT Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi led India in three Tests in Australia in 1967-68 and was the highest impact batsman of the series. He scored 75 of a total of 173 (from 25 for 5) in Melbourne, and 74 (from 9 for 3) and 48 (from 61 for 3) in Brisbane. He absorbed the pressure of falling wickets better than any other Indian batsman.
healthy strike rate, in all three Tests on India’s 1980-81 tour: 65 off 78 (from 70 for 4), 174 off 240 (from 130 for 4) and a series-defining performance in the final Test at MCG, where coming in to bat at 243 for 3 – India had faced a deficit of 182 so were only 61 runs ahead) he smashed 36 off 26 balls. Gundappa Viswanath was the highest impact player of
he scored a brilliant 114; the second-highest score was 25). Sunil Gavaskar has the highest Runs Tally, Partnershipbuilding and New Ball Impact (ability to see off and score runs off the new ball) among all Indian batsmen. His 113 in the second innings of the first Test at the Gabba in 1977 almost helped India pull off a victory. Chasing 341 in the final innings, the visiting
Highest Impact Bowlers Number
Name
Matches
Bowling Impact
SDs
Wickets Tally Impact
Economy Impact
Failure Rate (in %)
1
Bishan Singh Bedi
7
2.8
0
3.14
0.16
14
2
Kapil Dev
11
2.61
0
2.56
0.19
9
3
Shivlal Yadav
5
2.52
0
2.62
0.15
40
4
Dilip Doshi
3
2.48
0
2.07
0.44
33
5
Anil Kumble
10
2.32
0
2.78
0.04
30
Minimum number of matches: 3 SDs: Series-defining performances All Impact numbers between 0 and 5
His Runs Tally Impact (proportion of runs scored in a match) is second only to Sunil Gavaskar’s – an incredible feat, considering he batted at No. 7 and 5 in the series. Sandeep Patil scored tough runs under pressure of falling wickets, and that too at a
the 1977-78 tour. He scored 89 (coming in at 23 for 2) and then 73 (from 79 for 2) in a final-innings chase of 493 in Adelaide. India fell short by 47 runs. Viswanath’s seriesdefining performance came in the final Test of the 1981 tour, when coming in to bat at 22 for 2 in the first innings, ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
Indian team fell short by just 17 runs. Rusi Surti was consistent in the four Tests he played in Australia in 1967-68 with his highest impact batting performance coming in the third Test at the Gabba. Walking in to bat at 5 for 2, he
52 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
scored 52 in the first innings and backed that up with 64 in the second (from 48 for 2).
Pataudi, Gundappa Viswanath, Mohinder Amarnath and Ravi Shastri.
Highest Runs Tally Impact batsmen (proportion of runs scored): Sunil Gavaskar, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Gundappa Viswanath, Sandeep Patil and Rusi Surti.
Most consistent batsmen (lowest failure rates): Rusi Surti, Dattu Phadkar, Sandeep Patil, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and Gundappa Viswanath.
BOWLING IMPACT
Highest Pressure Impact
Kapil Dev was India’s most experienced and consistent bowler over three tours – 1980-81, 1985-86, 199192. His most memorable performance came in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval in 1985, when he picked up 8 for 106 off 38 overs in the first innings. His highest impact bowling performance came at the same ground in
Highest all-round impact Number
Name
Matches
Overall Impact
SDs
Batting Impact
Bowling Impact
Failure Rate (in %)
1
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi
3
3.76
0
3.76
0
0
2
Sandeep Patil
3
3.63
1
3.58
0.13
0
3
Rusi Surti
4
3.56
0
2.42
2.03
0
4
Manoj Prabhakar
5
3.51
0
1.87
1.79
0
5
Kapil Dev
11
3.36
0
0.89
2.61
0
Minimum number of matches: 3 SDs: Series-defining performances All Impact numbers between 0 and 5
batsmen (most pressure absorbed of falling wickets): Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Sandeep Patil, Manoj Prabhakar, Dattu Phadkar and Rusi Surti. Highest Partnershipbuilding Impact batsmen (ability to occupy crease and build partnerships): Sunil Gavaskar, Mansur Ali Khan
Bishan Singh Bedi took 35 wickets in seven Tests in Australia and has the highest Wickets-Tally Impact. He was the highest impact bowler of the 1977-78 tour, with his highest impact performance coming in the second Test in Perth – 5 for 89 off 31 overs and 5 for 105 off 30.2 overs (eight top/middle-order wickets).
1992, in the fourth Test, when he picked up eight wickets, including seven top/middleorder ones. Shivlal Yadav, the offspinner, gave three noteworthy performances in the five Tests he played in Australia. His most significant was in the last Test of the 1985-86 tour, at SCG, when he took 5 for
53
99 off 62.3 overs in the first innings and backed that up with 3 for 19 off 33 in the second. He was the highest impact bowler of the series with a high propensity to take top/middle-order wickets. Dilip Doshi is India’s most restrictive bowler in Australia. His 3 for 146 off 48 overs and 3 for 49 off 33 in the second Test at the Adelaide Oval in 1981 was his highest impact bowling performance from three Tests. Anil Kumble had a disappointing tour in 19992000, but emerged as not only the highest impact bowler but also the highest impact player from both sides in 2003-04. He led the aggregate wicketstally and bowling average charts too. His highest impact bowling performance came in the fourth Test at SCG in 2004, when he picked up 8 for 141 off 46.5 overs in the first innings and 4 for 138 off 42 in the second. He was also India’s highest impact bowler on their next tour in 2007-08. Note: Ajit Agarkar, who is at No. 6 on the bowlers’ impact list, produced a match-winning
6 for 41 off 16.2 overs in the second innings in Adelaide in 2003, which gave India a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. India had not beaten Australia in a Test in Australia for 22 years then. This performance changed the momentum of the series and gave Agarkar a series-defining performance. No other Indian has recorded a series-defining performance in Australia purely for his bowling efforts. Highest Top/Middle-order Wickets Tally Impact bowlers (wickets of top/ middle-order batsmen): Bishan Singh Bedi, Anil Kumble, Shivlal Yadav, Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan. Highest Economy Impact bowlers: Dilip Doshi, Erapalli Prasanna, Lala Amarnath, Kapil Dev and Bishan Bedi. Highest Pressure-building Impact bowlers (taking wickets in quick succession to build pressure): Bishan Bedi, BS Chandrasekhar, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri and Irfan Pathan. Most consistent bowlers (lowest failure rates): Manoj ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
Prabhakar, Bishan Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Rusi Surti and Irfan Pathan.
ALL-ROUND IMPACT Rusi Surti played four Tests on the 1967-68 tour, giving consistent performances. The most significant was his performance in Brisbane – a match haul of six wickets and two half-centuries. India had been 5 for 2 and 48 for 2 when Surti came out to bat in the two innings. He is the highest impact allrounder for India in Australia. Manoj Prabhakar gave stellar performances with the bat and ball in the first and fourth Tests in Brisbane and Adelaide, scoring valuable runs under pressure and picking up crucial top/middle-order wickets. Highest Impact AllRounders (in a match context): Rusi Surti, Manoj Prabhakar, Kapil Dev, Dattu Phadkar, Abid Ali.
54 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNT
‘SPINNERS ARE AS GOOD AS THE CAPTAIN LETS THEM BE’ A bowler’s perspective on playing in Australia ERAPALLI PRASANNA
P
laying in Australia
has its own set of challenges. It can
be an intimidating experience
challenge was to sustain that when we travelled overseas.
Australia is a great place to play
for
cricket because the people are
the first time. It was certainly
at an arena like Melbourne Cricket
someone touring the country for that way for many of us when we
toured in 1967-68. We weren’t a great team at home, but we used to compete well. So as a unit, our
extremely passionate. But playing Ground can be an intimidating
experience at the best of times,
particularly if you are on your first tour of the country. What you
don’t want is to misfield or drop a catch near the boundary. If you do, you’ve had it. That tour was
a learning curve for many of us. We lost 4-0, but the experience made us richer. The thing about
Australia is, if you fail to arrest the slide early on, it can become
a mentally draining tour, because
every aspect of your cricket is tested.
55
impatient.
In
subcontinent, can
expect
the
you
one
wicket to lead to two
more on dust bowls. But
in
Australian
conditions, you need to set up a batsman. Over the years, I’ve constantly
been asked why spinners are
unlikely to succeed in Australia.
It’s a question I’ve found tough to answer. The surfaces may not exactly be conducive to spin,
barring Adelaide and Sydney, to an extent. But what you will get there is bounce, and if you are
tactful, there is no bigger weapon than that.
One of the lessons I learnt
very early is that you shouldn’t
experiment. You need to have one stock ball. Back then, during my time, variation meant variation in
length and not deliveries like the
doosra or the carrom ball. That is also the reason why some of the great bowlers like Richie Benaud
and Shane Warne were very successful in their own conditions. Another mistake you shouldn’t
make in Australia, and I learnt
during my first tour: Don’t be
The ones during
my time were particularly
good. Ian Chappell was one of the best I’ve bowled to and I enjoyed our tussles. He didn’t
let you relax and would read your mind. So the challenge
was not just to deceive him in
flight, but also in the mind. And for that, you needed a sound
attack, bowlers who could sustain pressure and keep a
check on the runs at the other end.
That
is
something
we
managed to do successfully when we went back almost
a decade later, in 1977-78, although we lost the series 2-3. It was a great team
performance, one that all of us remember fondly. Our win in Melbourne is particularly
memorable because of the manner in which we fought
back to win (by 222 runs) ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
TOUR HISTORY 2007-08 (4): AUSTRALIA 2 INDIA 1 Here, the off-field controversies hogged the headlines. In Melbourne, India were looked uncomfortable – none more so than Rahul Dravid, who made an agonising 66-ball 5 and a 114-ball 16. In Sydney, they were quashed by Andrew Symonds‘s unbeaten 162, allegations that Harbhajan Singh had racially abused Symonds, Michael Clarke taking three wickets in five balls, and questionable umpiring. A threematch ban on Harbhajan had India ready to hop on the next flight home. At Perth, better batting, a mesmerising spell by 19-year-old Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan‘s all-round efforts inspired India to a rousing win. The Adelaide Test, which Adam Gilchrist announced would be his swansong, ended in a high-scoring draw. India ultimately won the PR war: the ban on Harbhajan was revoked, while Symonds was never the same player again. – Nisha Shetty Most runs: Sachin Tendulkar – 493 runs at 70.42 (India); Matthew Hayden – 410 runs at 82.00 Most wickets: Brett Lee – 24 wickets at 22.58; Anil Kumble – 20 wickets at 34.45 (India)
56 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
You don‘t want to misfield or drop a catch near the boundary. If you do, you‘ve had it. after losing the first two Tests. It showed the team’s character.
Similarly, I hope the current
throat at the same
time. There was no
let-up in intensity.
We were successful because all of us had
an attacking mindset and that stems from what your captain expects from you.
If he wants you
Indian team on tour in Australia
to keep the runs
need to be mentally tough. The
automatically
exhibits grit and determination and they are capable of it. You
team lost an opportunity in England, but the overall balance of the squad is good.
In the 1977-78 series, we played
three spinners. I had Chandra (BS
COVER DRIVE
Erapalli Prasanna made his Test debut in 1961-62. After playing a few Tests, he took a break of five years to finish his undergraduate studies (he did engineering) and returned to the team in 1967.
Chandrasekhar) and Bish (Bishan Singh Bedi) for company, and all of us were at the batsman’s
down
and
sets
defensive fields, then are
tied
you
subconsciously
before
down
even
bowling
a
ball. The challenge
is to bring the closein fielders into play.
DON’T EXPERIMENT “That’s why Richie Benaud and Shane Warne were successful”
And for that you need to attack. So, if I were
to pick a side, I’d definitely have two spinners straightaway along
with three pacers, which means someone like R Ashwin, who has batted well, should also double up as an allrounder.
Two attacking spinners would
give the captain the luxury of
attacking from the middle overs till maybe the second new ball.
But again, as I have stressed repeatedly, your spinners are only
as good as the captain lets them be.
The fast bowling department
looks well stocked but I expect the spinners to have an equal impact
and if India are to do well, then they will have to play a vital role. As told to Shashank Kishore
57
INTERVIEW
‘OUR SPINNERS COULDN’T GET AN U-16 OUT’ Matthew Hayden on the India-Australia rivalry and the teams’ chances ahead of their next meeting KRITIKA NAIDU
T was
owering, dominant and
Prior to his maiden first-class
Ahead of India’s four-match Test
resolute,
game, he had asked if anyone had
series in Australia, he reflects on
Australian opener,
which set the tone for his career.
in India, and what makes for a
Matthew Hayden, the
essentially
a
former
one-man
wrecking crew. His batting, led
by power and precision gave him the aptitude to single-handedly demolish opponents to take the game away from them.
scored a double-century on debut.
He then went on to score 149, After his fair share of initial
disappointments since making his debut in 1994, he sealed a spot as
a Test regular in the series against India in 2001, and went on to be a part of a great Australian side. ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
what exactly it is like when the teams meet, the rivalry, his stint successful side. Edited excerpts:
What are areas in which you think the current Australian side has scope for improvement?
58 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
TOUR SUMMARY
Definitely
to
bounce
play
against spin, from a batting
2011-12 (4): AUSTRALIA 4 INDIA 0 Determined
their
back
from the 3-1 Ashes loss at home, Australia hammered India 4-0 in the four Test series and handed the visitors their eighth consecutive away Test loss in the final game. India’s batting let them down as they crossed the 300-run mark just once in eight innings. For Australia, this series threw up many positives. Michael Clarke scored a double and a triplecentury, Ricky Ponting was among the runs and while Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle wreaked havoc, James Pattinson, just two Tests old at that time, impressed everyone. This series posed questions of the Indian management and the players. And for Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, it would be the last tour to that part of the world. – Akash Sarkar Most runs: Michael Clarke – 626 runs at 125.20 (Australia); Virat Kohli – 300 runs at 37.50 (India) Most wickets: Ben Hilfenhaus – 27 wickets at 17.22 (Australia); Zaheer Khan – 15 wickets at 31.80 (India)
perspective.
We
probably
don’t help ourselves. But I
guess we’re not the only ones; when India come to Australia
India have gone through that transition phase better than we in Australia have
or when they tour elsewhere
really get that bank of experience
that
conditions where I felt like I was
where conditions aren’t their own, they struggle. The way the
programmes
are
set up, you never really get a chance to catch up in your preparation.
You’re
always
basically going straightaway to fixtures and matches.
In my first Ashes series, we
had close to two months of match play before the first Test match. These guys are put straight into matches and
tournaments and that affects
the way they go about trying to make the changes necessary to adjust to those conditions. So what it really means is that the
guys are going to be preparing in their own country, in their home conditions.
In fact, one of the strengths of
my campaign in India was to
give myself a chance while I wasn’t playing Test cricket, to
and thinking around, getting accustomed
to
subcontinental
going to make contributions in
the future. And that was mainly because I wasn’t really good enough to play for Australia at that time.
Would you say bowling is Australia’s strength like batting is India’s? I actually think bowling is our strength. We have quite a settled bowling line-up. If you bring back
Ryan Harris, who’s just taken
seven wickets in his last Shield
game… put him, (Peter) Siddle, Mitchell Johnson together, and maybe
Josh
Hazlewood,
and
they’re as good as they can get. I
think Hazlewood is a really good bowler. For me, he’s almost come into his own a bit now.
Then our spinning department
is just still. It needs something to
59
AGGRESSIVE David Warner will be someone to look out for, says Matthew Hayden.
Spending long periods of time at the crease, accumulating runs, spinning patiently, leaving balls – those are a few things I’d say are needed to be successful here (Virat) Kohli, I reckon. He has been
knocked back and now he has that hunger, and he understands
where he can toe the line. He has performed really well in the last bring it up to be compared with
bowlers and attack, but that’s just
stops seaming and swinging, you
got to lift in this next series if he
Indian players. In the middle stages of the game, where the ball
have the likes of (Shane) Watson,
but he’s always on the verge of getting injured. And you have a spin bowling line-up that couldn’t
get Under-16s out. That’s how
tough it is. That’s our Achilles heel.
That’s our Achilles heel in our
batting as well because when Michael Clarke is out, looking at
our line-up, you wonder who’s
going to play spin. David Warner is not a bad player of spin either. He’s going to go after the spin
the way he plays. Buck Rogers is a
woeful player of spin. He’s really gets a go, and unless you can play
spin, I’m not sure that’s going to happen.
You were always an aggressive batsman at the top... do you think David Warner has filled in that role well? I like how Warner plays. I like the
way he goes about his business. He is a much improved player,
he really is. He has the hunger of ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
one year. He stepped up a lot. He
will be someone to look out for in the series because he can play spin well. He’s a little bit like Gilly
– as far as he can be so brilliant, and because he is, he plays some shots where you wonder how he can do that! It’s like a complete
brain fade. That’s the charm of watching someone like him. He can devastate you or the new ball will expose you.
What do you make of the current Indian Test side? They are a very good Test side. They’ve got a very high level of players. Obviously they’ve lost the former set of great players that are
60 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
subcontinental
CITY CONNECT “Not only was I successful in Chennai, I became part of that community.”
conditions,
we
have battled with that challenge. I
feel like India has really grown as well. When I first started playing against India, it was always… not
subservient, but it felt like it sort
of didn’t fit. But in the last ten years, that has changed and the
attitude is like, ‘Hang on a second, we not only own the game, but
we are the game. We’re going to
play accordingly.’ That is the sort of feeling about the flex of Indian muscle behind cricket. And that
has created a competitive sense to which Australia would say, ‘Hang on, not under our watch.’
But it’s a pretty cool focus for the hard to replace. It’s the same with
captain the country, but it worries
stepped into their shoes really
be on his swansong. Whereas,
Australia as well. But for me, guys
like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, have
well and have really pinned down
their best spots and proven their potential. I think India have gone
through that transition phase better than we in Australia have.
Beyond Michael Clarke, who is injured now, our next captain is someone who is basically almost
ready to retire and that’s not a
good sign. I do think Brad Haddin
is the right person for the job, to
me that we are looking at a captain
who is in his 30s and looking to
India probably have four or five guys who can actually lead their
country and that is a very healthy sign for Indian cricket.
Why are India-Australia clashes looked forward to as much as they are? It has been a long rivalry. I think it’s
been built on the fact that Australia
love a challenge. Especially in
tournament.
We tend to play each other a lot. We play with Indian players in the IPL. I wish there was enough time
in the cricket calendar for Indian players to come to Australia and
play within the franchise-based competitions. It would further enable the relationships to grow.
Your favourite memory of facing India
Probably the conditions in Madras
(Chennai). Even though we lost
that Test match, it was amazing. That series in particular was an
61
amazing series where it went up
USP Hayden says he was helped by an understanding of the strategy behind spin bowling.
and down like a yo-yo and we were
at the end of the beating in that series. But to me it was memorable
because, 2001 was when I came back into international cricket and I started to make my mark on the game.
I saw Chennai for the first time in 1995-96 when a small unit of
Australian batsmen was selected to practise at the MRF Pace Foundation. There was also a
When I go to my son’s coaching camp, I see that there aren’t too many aspiring to become the next Shane Warne or Harbhajan. They want to bowl fast
small spin-bowling camp that was going on under Bishan Singh Bedi. I’ll never forget I was walking
off the ground and I turned to
Matthew Elliott and said: “One day
I’m going to get a Test hundred here.” You say these things in jest often, but I really felt a strong connection with that particular ground and the experience.
Not only was I successful at that
ground and scored a double century, but I became a part of
that community and that ground (in the IPL). It’s a remarkable story.
What different would India have to do in order to do well in Australia? I think it’s very important for ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
them to learn how to leave the
ball. The hardest thing to do here
in Australia is to actually leave the ball. Whereas on Indian wickets,
the ball never really bounces over the stumps, so you get drawn into playing shots.
Additionally, it is a different brand of cricket as far as you have to
run in this country. You need to be a good runner to score runs.
62 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
QUIZ, DOWN UNDER: ANSWERS 1. Vijay Hazare 2. ML Jaisimha 3. Hundred by a nightwatchman 4. Sadanand Viswanath 5. Sachin Tendulkar 6. Jaywant Lele, the then BCCI secretary 7. Anil Kumble 8. Bill Woodfull, Australian captain during Bodyline series 9. Praveen Kumar 10. Virender Sehwag
In India, you might hit the ball and it’s a four, but here you hit
it and it might go for one or two.
So, spending long periods of time at the crease, accumulating runs, spinning patiently, leaving balls – those are a few things I’d say are needed to be successful here.
How was it working with Bishan Singh Bedi and other Indian spinners to
learn a style of batting that would work on the subcontinent? It helped me a lot. I guess when
I arrived in Test cricket, facing off against Anil Kumble and
Harbhajan Singh in that period, I knew their mentality. I knew that
if Sourav Ganguly set a 6-3 field, I
knew exactly what Harbhajan was trying to achieve.
So the focus was in and around
batting, but what actually gave
me the insight was understanding the strategy behind spin bowling,
which I never had learnt in my development. It’s not part of our curriculum. Even when I go to my son’s coaching camp, I see that
there aren’t too many aspiring
to become the next Shane Warne or Harbhajan. They want to bowl fast.
What is the key to being successful in the subcontinent? I think being successful in the subcontinent has a lot to do with
the person first, then a player. Off the field is where it comes first.
Things have really changed there since I first travelled there. It’s
quite a different place now. But I
COVER DRIVE * Of the 11 batsman who have hit 30 Test hundreds, Hayden has reached there the fastest with respect to number of matches played. * Sachin Tendulkar’s 1809 runs is the fourth highest on Australian soil by an opposition player and the highest by a non-Englishman.
think having a really good attitude
to do the things that we’re not used to and adjusting is the key. For instance, the mass of people,
dealing with that, the closeness of people, the interaction…it’s
very different from here. It’s busy,
very busy. For me it was easy to embrace the food because from
a culinary point of view, I loved
the experiences I had there. The heat –coming Queensland was
lucky for me because it is so hot here anyway. Acclimatising your
body to that climate and having a general sense of wellbeing
really helped me. I always felt really comfortable around Indian people and I think they did so in
my company as well. That in turn has always spurred me to feel calm and achieve the success I have had there.
63
FIXTURES
INDIA’S TEST SQUAD
TEST SERIES
FOR AUSTRALIA TOUR 2014 - 15
Dec 9-13: 1st Test Adelaide Oval
Dec 17-21: 2nd Test Brisbane Cricket Ground
Dec 26-30: 3rd Test
MS DHONI
VIRAT KOHLI
Melbourne Cricket Ground
SHIKHAR DHAWAN
M VIJAY
Dec 9-13: 4th Test Sydney Cricket Ground
TRI-SERIES 2014-15 Jan 16: 1st ODI Australia v England
CHETESHWAR PUJARA
AJINKYA RAHANE
ROHIT SHARMA
SURESH RAINA
KL RAHUL
NAMAN OJHA
RAVINDRA JADEJA
WRIDDHIMAN SAHA
R ASHWIN
KARN SHARMA
BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR
MOHAMMED SHAMI
Sydney Cricket Ground
Jan 18: 2nd ODI AUSTRALIA v INDIA Melbourne Cricket Ground
Jan 20: 3rd ODI ENGLAND v INDIA Brisbane Cricket Ground
Jan 23: 4th ODI AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND Bellerive Oval, Hobart
Jan 26: 5th ODI AUSTRALIA v INDIA Sydney Cricket Ground
Jan 30: 6th ODI ENGLAND v INDIA WACA, Perth
Feb 1: Final TBC v TBC WACA, Perth
ISHANT SHARMA
ISSUE 6, DECEMBER 2014
VARUN AARON
UMESH YADAV
64 − INDIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
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