So what makes India versus Australia an eyeball-grabbing match-up in the cricket calendar? For the connoisseur it’s the sheer quality that these contests dish out. For the commoner, it’s the competitiveness that makes them skip office hours and stick to the television set. For the statisticians, this brings another challenge to dissect the prowess of two peerless batsmen of this era — Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting — in their ceaseless bid to settle the ‘best batsman of the era’ debate.
Maybe, only a series against Pakistan fuels a wider canvas of emotions in India. But the sparseness of the contests with the neighbours has led fresh rivalries to blossom. And of late, brotherly geniality has replaced antagonism during India-Pakistan contests.
In contrast, a sense of anticipation prevails when India take on Australia. Sure, the forthcoming series will miss quirky tongue-waggers like S Sreesanth, Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds. But the ‘obnoxious little weed’ Harbhajan Singh will be sharpening his tongue as well as doosras to inject into the series an extra bit of intrigue. Also, the swelling frequency of the meetings has bred a sort of ‘hostile camaraderie’ and mutual respect among the players themselves. It’s only a matter of time before the mind games start.
Everything to play for
Coming into the series, a lot is at stake for both sides. But the battle for top spot in the ICC rankings will be the leitmotif of the plot when the contest unravels in Vadodara. For the past decade, Australia have clutched the sceptre with hegemonic authority, with perennial fringe-dwellers South Africa challenging them but not overwhelming them.
Of late, India have emerged from self-doubt to be reasonable contenders. In fact, the Men in Blue were temporarily on top of the cricketing world after snapping the stopover Compaq series in Sri Lanka. So, with only four points separating the two teams, this series could well determine the toppers, at least for the present. That India play Sri Lanka shortly after accentuates the chances of MS Dhoni & Co to extend their stay at the pinnacle. But they must first prove canny enough to edge out Australia.
India faltered in 2007 (4-2), the last time the sides were entangled in a bilateral series. But the dynamics of the game itself have changed, rather drastically, in this two-year interlude. The advent of T20 has heralded a revolution, thus eating into leisure space of cricketers. These are days when there is talk of modifying the 50-over structure. So, limited-overs cricket needs such vibrant rivalries as between India and Australia to flourish.
Pride at stake
The pre-series conditions aren’t dissimilar. In 2007, India were riding the crest of wave after MS Dhoni’s bunch of youngsters affirmed their dominance in the shortest version of the game, claiming the inaugural World T20. But Australia promptly deflated their ego with a thorough performance. They underlined that India, under the fresh regime of cricketers embodying the Australian spirit of cockiness, had to traverse quite a few miles before they could challenge them in the arena of 50-over cricket.
But India caught up. They avenged the embarrassment with a clinical performance in the 2008 Commonwealth Bank tri-series, followed by bi-lateral series wins against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England, New Zealand and West Indies before claiming the Compaq Cup recently. But unlike Australia in full flow, India were too inconsistent to scale the peak of the ICC rankings. They slipped too often, once notably to the wiles of Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis in the Asia Cup and before that to Pakistan in the Kitply Cup. Then again in the Champions Trophy, that one loss to Pakistan and a rain-hit match against Australia sealed their fate.
Between the Australia series in 2007 —that was Dhoni’s maiden assignment as ODI skipper — and now, India have won 36 matches and lost 19. Though Dhoni would have loved more silverware in his kitty, he hasn’t conceded a bilateral series at home since Australia’s visit in 2007. And this is a record he would want to defend at all costs.
Back to the basics
Some reckon that Dhoni’s captaincy record has more to do with the rub of the green than ability and he has run out of luck. Realistically, he has missed some of his senior match-winners and the younger replacements have either failed to rise to the occasion or been dogged by lack of confidence.
Ishant Sharma is a case in point. Until this year’s IPL, he was deemed India’s finest pace prospect since Javagal Srinath. Endowed with both the arsenal and height to be a successful fast bowler, he had enough pace and variation to drive Ricky Ponting to his tether. He was an asset before he dumped all his confidence. Technical flaws like his stumble to the left in the load-up and a faulty wrist position at the point of release have crept in. He has started bowling either too wide or obscenely full.
The Delhi youngster, trying to restrain his pace and bowl a fuller length, draws criticism from former pacer TA Sekhar. “His strength is the pace and the bounce he gets from length and back of the length. I see no reason why should he cut down pace just to bowl a fuller length,” says Sekhar.
Home advantage
Considering that they have been on a sacking spree, axing five players from the Champions Trophy squad including Rahul Dravid and the bowling and fielding coaches, the selectors have been kind to Ishant. However unjustifiable it might seem to unceremoniously drop as experienced a batsman as Dravid, batting is India’s USP in subdued home conditions.
Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh, match-winners of calibre, are back from injury. Sachin Tendulkar has been batting as free-spiritedly as he did in his younger days, Dhoni has evolved into a circumspect accumulator, Gautam Gambhir has enhanced his versatility while Suresh Raina has shown fleeting glimpses of his precocious talent. Virat Kohli might find himself in if India decide to go with four bowlers.
But with the bowling seemingly lean, bereft of Zaheer Khan, Dhoni is likely to go with five pacers, at least initially. Munaf Patel’s return, after a promising start to the domestic season, should bolster the attack, which would be spearheaded by Ashish Nehra who, until a few months ago, seemed destined for oblivion. Harbhajan is still an enigma. Though he has been unpredictable, he has been a bogeyman for Australia in the past. In conditions that are likely to offer spin, leggie Amit Mishra is an automatic choice while Dhoni could persist with Ishant than go for Praveen Kumar or rookie Sudip Tyagi.
The faces in the India team, except for a few, are familiar. Still the side is in flux, as youngsters are still struggling to assert themselves. Raina’s is a fine case study. He, whom former coach Greg Chappell identified as a bright star, hasn’t quite settled down. A genuine aggressor, with an array of delightful strokes, batting down the order hasn’t quite catered to his instincts. But with more experienced players in the line-up, Dhoni can’t push him up the order.
The transition factor
Like India, Australia are treading a transition phase. This is a side devoid of Adam Gilchirst and Matthew Hayden to lend the initial impetus, or bludgeoner Andrew Symonds to fuel the middle overs. Michael Clarke and Nathan Bracken are out injured as well. But that doesn’t make India’s job any easier as the new set of Australian players have adapted to the machinery with seamless ease.
Peter Siddle oozes a Jason Gillespie-like menace; Cameron White is versatile and can shift gears; Tim Paine can shred the opposition though not with Gilchrist’s disdain; Ben Hilfenhaus is a workhorse like Michael Kasprowicz; and James Hopes can do Symonds’ role sans the panache.
Importantly, Shane Watson has finally got his bearings right. A spate of injuries and inconsistency had confined him to the fringes before he rediscovered himself on the tour to West Indies last year. The field-restriction phase is ideally suited for this maverick hitter, who also has demonstrated his acumen to read the context and bat appropriately. Coupled with his effective bowling, he has enhanced Australia’s balance. Australia’s batting looks typically formidable with Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Adam Voges. And the team is confident after hammering England 6-1 and defending the Champions Trophy in South Africa.
While India enjoy a slender edge over Australia in the batting department in home conditions, Australian bowlers are better off than their Indian counterparts.
Brett Lee has forged his way back into the side and, during the Natwest series and Champions Trophy, reinforced that he still has the unnerving pace to trouble batsmen. Mitchell Johnson has shrugged off his form woes and Siddle, adjudged the most promising player of the year, made an instant impression in the Test series against India, hitting Gautam Gambhir on his helmet with his first ball bettering his credentials since then. Siddle is pacy, extracts bounce and has the proficiency to swing the ball both ways.
Balancing act
Apparently, Australia’s sole weak-link is the absence of a quality off-spinner, which has been brought to the fore in recent Test series. Nathan Hauritz, a steady off-spinner, has experienced the sub-continent without having memories worth treasuring. Draftee left-arm spinner Jon Holland, whom Stuart MacGill reckons as gifted and natural, is pretty much untested proposition. As such, better Australian spinners such as Shane Warne haven’t quite relished the dexterous wrist work or the nimble-footedness of Indian batsmen. This makes them slightly one-dimensional and over reliant on fast bowlers.
But the Australians are unquestionably superior to India on the field, be it the running between wickets, catching both in the infield and outfield, and the efficacy in saving singles and cutting off boundaries. Conversely, Indian fielders’ propensity to fumble even sitters and concede extra runs has undone the team quite often in the recent past. The fielders raising their standards and the bowlers summoning discipline will be crucial to India’s fortunes.
And it’s high time some of the hyped-up youngsters delivered the goods. Else, Dravid can brace up for another comeback.
- sandipgopal@gmail.com