CHENNAI: 'Yugon kee ladai (Battle for the ages)' reads the screengrab of Tuesday's newspaper front page with a massive portrait of Virat Kohli in the middle. One might assume that it's a regional Hindi daily from India, but it's not.
From The Daily Telegraph to The Australian to The Courier-Mail, it's the page one of almost every print subsidiary owned by News Corp Australia. Yes, you read that right. As you skim through this one here, every single person in Australia will be greeted with a front page that reads in Hindi.
If there ever was a scale to measure the popularity of an Indian Summer Down Under, this should be it. It's not just about cricket, the sport, but what an Indian tour brings to the table. A fierce rivalry, a dominance that has led to back-to-back defeats for the home side across eight years. And of course, the revenue and attention that comes with every Indian visit.
This Australian summer, it all seems to have gone up a notch. After all, the last time Australia beat India in a Test series was more than a decade ago.
This time, however, they smell blood. India are coming off a historic 0-3 defeat against New Zealand at home and in all likelihood, they will miss the services of their captain Rohit Sharma in the very first match in Perth.
Understandably, one can expect them to feel the heat come November 22. In fact, head coach Gautam Gambhir would have felt a little bit of it already while addressing the media before leaving for Australia on Monday.
Since the loss against New Zealand on Day 3 in Mumbai, the team management has had a review meeting with the BCCI top brass with questions over selections, pitches and team combinations. It is not the kind of start Gambhir expected for his coaching tenure with the Indian team.
On Monday, from form of seniors Rohit and Virat Kohli to Harshit Rana not joining the India A team to Nitish K Reddy being groomed as a seam-bowling all-rounder, transition of the team to hunger of the veterans, Gambhir had to tackle some tough questions. And the former India opener and captain handled it in his usual way, giving the necessary clarity for direct queries while resorting to platitudes on occasions.
Gambhir, while backing the squad the selectors have picked, reiterated that it is all about moving forward. He said that they are not thinking about the World Test Championship final before adding that every series is important while playing for the country.
Take, for example, his response to the question on the conversations he has had with the youngsters in a transitioning team.
"The only conversation I have had — be it with the seniors or be it with the experienced players or the youngsters — is to keep Indian cricket ahead of any other thing. To keep the team ahead of their personal milestones. Because that is what team sport is all about. And that is how team sport is meant to be played. I am sure that is something that will continue to happen in future as well. We will keep having the same conversation," he said.
Ask him what will be the first challenge for India, he would say "conditions."
"We have got a lot of experienced players who have been to Australia a lot many times. So, obviously, their experience will come in handy for the young players as well. These ten days are going to be very crucial, but come (November) 22nd morning, we should be absolutely ready and ready to fire from ball one," Gambhir said.
"The hunger in that dressing room is incredibly important for me and for the entire group of people as well and especially after what has happened in the last series," he added.
From the outset, Gambhir is the kind of personality the media — especially the Australians — would love on a tour Down Under. India might set the stage on fire in Perth and live up to the hype the series has or things could go downhill and turn out to be a long, sulking summer. It all will depend on who gets going in Perth come November 22.