By
Rohit on
February 1st, 2008
For any team touring Australia, winning the series is seldom the prime concern. Salvaging pride is the main deal. The Aussie wickets can be very unforgiving and the Aussies very merciless on it. The world looked forward to India to stop the Aussie juggernaut of 14 consecutive wins. India failed once, twice but won just in time to snap the winning streak to a record equaling 16 wins. The series had its share of ups and downs. It had its goods, bads and some really ugly moments.
The Good: The Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide tests were played in good spirits. Australia crushed India at the MCG, India crashed Australia at Perth and the Adelaide test ended in a closely contested draw. What was even better was the Australian crowd cheering every boundary scored of Tendulkar’s willow, every Sharma inswinger that had Ponting pulling out his hair. The Aussie audience showed the greatest humor seen on the field. They applauded Dravid for the single he took after almost 40 dot balls. They even mocked Symmonds for being a spoilt sport.
The Bad: The spirit in which the Aussies played the Sydney test. The Aussies might want to forget the match. So would the Indians for giving it away after a hard fought battle.
The Ugly: The alleged ‘racial slur’. It came as a surprise that the Indians were not on the receiving side of a racist comment. Harbhajan was later cleared but with a fine for not having done anything! What went unnoticed is the fact that Brad Hogg was fined lesser for saying the ‘B’ word (hint: Rhymes with ‘mustard’)!! Unfair or not, but the series will be etched into the record books as “Australia defeat India 2-1”.
Prize find for India: Ishant Sharma. India now has a decent fast bowler who can trouble the Aussies in their backyard. Had Ponting had an ounce of Gilchrist, he would have retired by now after those frustrating moments against the Indian quickie.
Prize find for Australia: That they can actually win a test match getting into the psyche of the umpires!!
The world’s favorite wicket-keeper retires!
Days after he broke the record for most dismissals, Gilly decided to quit tests partly because he was going through a ‘bad’ patch. He is tagged as the greatest ‘walkman’ of the game. On several occasions he has showed that when he thinks his time has come, he’ll walk away. His premature retirement reflects just that. Interestingly, Gilly has never missed a test match since he debuted! He has never been left out, never has he been injured since he debuted for his country in tests. That sums up what a gem he has been for world cricket. Adam Gilchrist, you’ll always be missed.
PS: Tendulkar stands by his claim that never will he give his wicket to Hogg again!!
Written by Angad Sodhi
Categories: Cricket
Tags: Australia, Cricket, India, Test Cricket
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