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Before India played Australia in a one-off Twenty20 match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, India had lost just one International Twenty20 match… against New Zealand in the ICC Twenty20 World Cup last year. By the time the match ended, India had not only lost for a second time but also achieved the dubious record of scoring just one more run that the lowest Twenty20 international score ever.

The big crowd at the picturesque MCG felt let down that a Twenty20 match did not last for even 30 overs. Not surprising as on the previous day the Indian captain Dhoni had shockingly called the match a “practice match”. The Indian fans can only hope that the Indian team has finished their “practice” and will pull up their socks for the ODIs.

Justice John Hadsen has cleared Indian Offie Harbhajan Singh of racial abuse but the matter does not end there. Why has Andrew Symonds been allowed to go scotfree without a fine? It was a friendly gesture by Harbhajan Singh towards Brett Lee that caused the altercation between him and Andrew Symonds leading to allegations of racial abuse against the Indian off-spinner. 

According to Hansen, Lee had bowled a yorker to Harbhajan which the off-spinner played to fine leg. He then patted Lee on the back while taking a single as a gesture of appreciation. The incident prompted Symonds to approach Harbhajan and tell him he had no friends among the Australians in foul and abusive language. ”A Test match is no place to be friendly with an opposition player” Symonds said. Justice Hansen rightfully says “If that is his view, I hope it is not one shared by all international cricketers. It would be a sad day for cricket if it is.”

So why has Symonds not been slapped with a fine? And why is the ICC silent on why no action is been taken against Mike Proctor. His action against Harbhajan on the sole basis of the Aussies’ word is rascist to say the least.

Indian Selection Committee chief Dilip Vengsarkar has rightly called for Symonds & Proctor to be punished. But will the ICC take any action? If not, one can see why the Indian team is having the dubious record of maximum cases of breaching the ICC’s Code of Conduct and not Australia !! 

The tours Down Under have mostly been disappointing for the touring Indians…largely remembered for the whipping the touring Indians get in the test series (scorelines read as  0-4 and 0-3 in 1992 and 1999). But the Test series during the 2003 series and the just concluded test series were fought competently and instilled some kind of fear in the Aussies.

There were quite a few positives for the Indian team that emerged during this series. This series was considered as the last tour for the ‘Fabulous Four’ and Anil Kumble. They did exactly what was hoped for. Anil Kumble emerged as the highest wicket taker for the Indians. Sachin Tendulkar emerged as the highest run getter in the series (he surprised many, may be even himself). Very Very Special Laxman played his role perfectly as the crisis man for India (he is born to whack the Aussies). Rahul Dravid (who was crucified as the makeshift opener in the first two tests) and Sourav Ganguly had a mixed series, but still can hold their heads high…which means the ‘Fab Four’ still have some more gas in the tank and will continue to be a part of the Indian middle order, probably the best around.     

The young bowling attack outdid itself and played above their potential (more praise worthy considering Zaheer Khan had to return home midway, similar to the way he had in 2003). Last time around Irfan had emerged.. this time Irfan resurrected himself and Ishant was discovered.

Sehwag’s comeback is the story of the tour…difficult to digest that a batsman who was struggling to put bat to ball in first class cricket suddenly found his touch against the Aussies (even more perplexing than his selection for the tour, when he was not in the probables list)

The emergence of Kumble not just as good leader of men, but as a statesman.. probably the best captain after Ganguly.

And to cap it all, one development which others  might feel as a negative but could turn out to be positive is the horrid form of Yuvraj and average series Dhoni had. Both were branded as messiahs of Indian cricket after the 20-20 win and the Pak series and made them out to be much better than they were actually…this series has brought back both of them to ground and made them realize that only spunk and attitude will not take you through in tough arena of  Test cricket .. and off course will make them work on their faulty techniques.

You can blindly trust the ‘Band of Wise men’ ( Five selectors) to spoil the party everytime … they have managed to make us rack our brains in disbelief  after the euphoric victory at Perth …they are playing their favourite tune of  ’Stress on youth and fielding’. What is befuddling is that they have selected this tough series to bring back  the young turks and disband the ‘Fabulous Four’.

Dravid who possesses the best technique among the Indian batsmen and Ganguly who apart from Perth test has had a sparkling tour, have been dropped on the pretext of being slow movers and possessing weak arms. The selectors also snubbed out Laxman who is not a one day regular but must have had hopes of getting the nod after his performance in the Tests …and have backed  Suresh Raina & Gautam Gambhir (both possess suspect footwork and loose techniques) to fire on the bouncy Australian tracks. 

Any person with Common sense and some logical reasoning would have persisted with Dravid and Ganguly.. where else do you need technique and experience the most , if not in Australia…All this drama of youth , could have been postponed to the upcoming tours. The selectors could have referred to the precedent of playing Laxman in the ODI’s during the 2003-04 tour..what a series he had, smashing three hundreds.

What has happened now, is that a  young pack of batsmen , half of whom have not played in Australia before, have been lined up against the in-form Aussies and the resourceful Lankans.

PS: Rumours are abound that Dravid and Ganguly have been dropped to make Dhoni feel comfortable on the throne. 

15th March 2001: India ends Australia’s 16 consecutive Test wins chain in Kolkata.

19th January 2008: India ends Australia’s 16 consecutive Test wins chain in Perth.

History repeated itself and India scripted a sweet revenge over Australia in the Perth Test. This victory would be even sweeter for the Indian team since this comes right on the backdrop of the eventful Sydney Test and the subsequent events off the pitch and moreso as the Aussies lost in what was considered as their den at the WACA.

Here 2 records are worth mentioning. One, the last time Australia had lost a Test match at home was way back in 2003 and that too against India at Adelaide. And secondly, Australia lost at Perth for the first time since 1997.

Nobody would have expected India to beat Australia in Perth but India did just that.

The win can be credited to some lovely innings by Sachin Tendulkar & Rahul Dravid in the first innings, some wonderful batting by VVS Laxman in the second innings which justifies his Very Very Special status especially against the Aussies, an all round performance by comeback man Irfan Pathan, and a special spell by another comeback man Virendar Sehwag which mirrored Michael Clarke’s dream performance with the ball in the Sydney Test.

And maybe ….. can we say… because this time Aussies didn’t get any undue one-sided support from the umpires!!

Before the Perth test started, Ricky Ponting & Adam Gilchrist warned India by saying that the fast & fiery pitch at the WACA would favour the Aussies & their fast bowlers would rattle the Indian batsmen. But it was not to be.

After putting up a sizeable 330 in the first innings, the Indian bowlers ran through the entire Australian team in just about 2 sessions. With Irfan Pathan swinging the Aussie openers to his tunes, R. P. Singh picking up 4 & Ishant Sharma finally getting his first 2 official test wickets the Indian bowlers ran through the Australian batting lineup. Anil Kumble’s historical 600th wicket was the Cherry on the cake.

Australia were all out for just 212 runs on the board. It now remains to be seen if India can capitalize on the first innings lead & register a historical first ever win at the WACA.

Much to the delight of his fans, Rahul Dravid unleashed his textbook shots once again and showed that he is still and always be a player with the best batting technique of his generation. Rising to the situation, with India 59-2 in the Perth Test, Rahul Dravid along with the Little Master stuck to the pitch to show the cricketing world that ‘The Wall’ has not crumbled and that the Wall has the strength to stand tall and protect India. The duo put on more than a 100 runs in the post lunch session.

But much to the disappointment of the Indian fans, the rest of the team could not live up to the expectations raised by their seniors and the Indian wickets kept falling. Dravid missed out on a century and was caught by the Aussie captain at 93 of the bowling of Symonds. And Inspite of a fighting knock by their ex-captain, India ended the day 1 with a disappointing 297/6.

When the Indian team for the Test series was selected , sole objective the selectors had was to  accomodate Yuvraj Singh( who was supposedly in the ‘Form of his life’) in the packed middle order. Dravid was requested to open the innings . With Jaffer in top form , everyone believed that the opening slots were  sealed as Dravid was expected to take to opening , as a duck takes to water. Or else if there is a problem the captains favourite ( Karthik) or the captains dark horse( Sehwag)  were expected to step in.

Midway through the tour, and 2-0 down scoreline ,the slot  is up for grabs. Reasons being  Dravid not being his usual self in the openers role. Seeing him struggle and graft was a eyesore ,even for his loyal fans..And Jaffer did’nt know what hit him..Lee made him his bunny

The developments in today’s practice match against ACT XI has further complicated the issue. Jaffer fired , Sehwag and Karthik who were the other options disappointed and Yuvraj failed. Which means Yuvraj is certainly on his way out, 

So now playing Sehwag and Karthik as the second opener becomes a brave decision to take, Jaffer will have to be retained and Dravid is left hanging between one down and opening slot. This leaves Kumble exactly in the same situation where he must have been at the start of the tour

Sourav ‘Dada’ Ganguly continues his dream run in the ongoing Test series with sparkling strokeplay and effortless timing. Post his comeback he has been amongst the top run getters for India in both the forms of the game. What has been startling even for his critics , is the assured look he dons even against quality fast bowling. He scored heavily in South Africa, England and Australia.

The hardwork he has put in to iron out his weaknesses , has become self evident. If his comeback was a egg on Greg Chapell’s face, then Dada’s continued good showing must have given him a guilt feeling, for doubting this talented player’s calibre. 

The best gift Dada has given his die hard fans post his comeback, is the return of his exhilrating offside  strokes. There are fewer heart stopping sights in world cricket, than Ganguly piercing the packed offside field with his crisp strokes.        

Lets hope he will continue his good show and retain his place amongst the ‘Fabulous Four’ for a couple more years 

“Australia beat India by 122 runs at Sydney.”
This news is quite ordinary considering India’s performance in Australia in the first test at Melbourne. What is not ordinary is the manner of Australia’s victory.

“The umpires made one error after another.”
This news is also quite ordianry & happens many times in Test Cricket. What is not ordinary is except for a couple, all the decisions went againt the Indian Team.

Which brings us back to the same debate. Why is technology not made use of if its available.
Those who oppose technology come up with absurd reasons.

Reason 1:
Technology is not perfect. 100% decisions cannot be given correct even by technology.
Fair enough. But if the proportion of correct decisions can be increased from say 80% to 95%, then whats the problem with that.

Reason 2:
There will be wastage of time.
Again fair enough. But how much time are we talking of? And if some minutes are spent in getting the correct decision then whats wrong with that? Then won’t you keep 3rd Umpires for run out decisions also since that also consumes time?

Reason 3:
The importance of the on-field Umpires will be reduced.
This is the most ridiculous of them all. Is the Umpire more important than the Game itself  ?