New Series, Old Rivalry, Lots of Smoke, No Fire, Held Together by Money...

Border-Gavaskar trophy was the pinnacle of cricket rivalries of the first decade of this century. Ignited by one of the best series ever to have been played, 2000-01 series in India, where Indians came from behind and only second time in the history of test cricket, ended up winners after being made to follow on, set the tone for the explosive rivalry. The cricket between the two has always been electric, rivalry fierce and has often involved gamesmanship bordering on the breach of spirit of cricket, but all being taken as the spice that has made this rivalry a real Masala recipe; a typically Indian. To the credit of Aussies, whose visits to the sub-continent was once in a decade affair till 80s, changed their perception and made it a point to win this "Last frontier", especially since their world beating team had won every where else. After incredible arm-wrestle, eventually Aussies broke through for the first ever series win in India after 35 years of drought at Nagpur on a wicket hardly recognizable as a subcontinent wicket and totally favouring the visitor....that was the only way Aussies could have won a series in India!! Incredibly enough, in the very next test in Mumbai, they found the typical Indian beauty, spinning and charmingly devious, had Aussies slipping to one of their most embarrassing looses, loosing by 13 runs chasing only 107. The Nagpur test win on 29th Oct, 2004 on a typically non sub-continent wicket still remains the last test match win Aussies have had in India, as in the next series in India in 2008-09 they ended up loosing both tests! This was after the explosive series of 2007-08 in Australia made infamous by the so-called "monkeygate on SCG" and unfortunately hiding one of the most competitively played series between the two countries. The aftermath of the Sydney test was, if Indians had withdrawn from the series, likely to split the world cricket vertically along the racial lines. However wiser counsel prevailed when Harbhajan Singh was found not to be guilty of the racial abuse charge; something that would still be hotly debated in Australian pubs and talk back radios. In a typically Aussie way, we love to hate opponents who are like us! Saurav Ganguly and Arjuna Ranatunga understood this trait so perfectly that they made it into a subcontinental form of sledging! Steve Waugh's mantra of "mental disintegration of opponents" probably came back to bite the Aussies on their backside, when in the aftermath of Sydney test, one of the most read newspapers Sydney Morning Herald, published this on the first page, "Arrogant Ponting must be fired". This too, in a country where Australian cricket captainship is considered only second to Prime Ministership!!! Fortunately or unfortunately, money has a lot of power. Like the best solvent in the world, TV rights money that fills the coffers of any country that plays India, home or away, eventually dissolved the differences between the boards. And whatever painful memories players may have carried, further dissolved in the IPL money!! That said, perhaps the controversy that looked so from a distance to us the fans, was perhaps no more than a storm in the tea cup to start with, but was perhaps unwisely pushed by some Australian players to the front as a means of gaining some "mental disintegration" of Indian team which looked very competitive on field. Indeed but for Steve Bucknor's playing as an Australian team member, India would have registered a win in that Sydney test; something that stirred Peter Roebuck to write that Indian was dudded....Today, after half a decade, the event is more a conversation piece rather than a controversy. Either the claimed "facts" were not good enough to stand up to the test of times or not significant enough morally to uphold for long, or simply that, as I said before, economic perils of its adverse outcome, far too damaging for the stability of the international nature of the game; one will never know till a few people retire from international cricket and if they decide to spill the beans, once again for a handsome remuneration! It is quite a surprise that whenever I cast my eyes on the history of these two of my most favourite cricket nations ( I have been following Australian cricket as long as I can remember) the controversies come to the fore, more than the magical cricket it has produced. Perhaps the competitiveness that Indians have been able to show in their encounters since that 2000-01 series is the reason. Surely Australians still carry the scars of the defeats after dominating that series so much; the fact that VVS Laxman gained a Bradmanesque stature for many Australian fans is an evidence of that. That is why the last series in Australia that resulted in a total whitewash of Indians, not only came as a surprise but a distinct disappointment more for Australian cricket fans than Indians! However, the typical Australian bull that the sport fan is, is not so sure about his current team. The stalwarts have retired and now the team is being captained by a champion player but someone who is hardly seen as a representative of a typical, macho, beer-drinking aggro Aussie male. Michael Clarke is seen as quite a soft captain as compared to some if his predecessors like Ponting and indeed Steve Waugh; good captaincy results not withstanding. However, Captain Clarke is in such a sublime batting form that the detractors have been totally shut up!! Though, they are lurking somewhere in the back ground waiting to pounce upon him as soon as he fails. That is why Clarke has been so careful with his words in his interviews about Indian tour, calling it one of the toughest test of his captainship. He has also learned quite early in the piece that there is still a lot of baggage of that Sydney test being carried by an average Indian fan. Any overt aggression shown by Australian player can rekindle that emotion and fire Indian fans to an extent that they will start SUPPORTING THEIR TEAM!!!! I know this sounds funny; but today, I believe, Indian team has lot more problems than Australian team has. Their comprehensive defeats in England and Australia exacerbated by first loss to English at home in 26 years, has dropped Indian cricket team's popularity to a a very low level and indeed Dhoni's stature to a nadir! All the euphoria of world beaters that Indians were riding upon after the World Cup win in March 2011, has evaporated with a hiss like a beer thrown on a barbie; only the flavours of the over-cooked meat left! This must surely be one of the most unusual start to a compelling rivalry in test cricket....the softly softly approach of Australians and the missing tigers-at-home bravado of Indians are both new and shockingly unfashionable!! It is like neither the fans nor the players know what is expected..Since that Sydney test in 2008, Aussies have been pussyfootying around Indians, for whatever reasons. Indians on the other hand, have been scoring their self-goals. There is a lot of smoke of uncertainty replacing all the fire and brimstone we were so used to see, when these two met in the past. However there is one small chance this may still ignite. Many of Aussie players on this team will play test cricket for the first time In India. Even under quiet Captain Clarke, there are ignitable characters like Davy Warner and James Pattinson; both will play in the first test. These guys are typical Aussies; constitutionally aggressive not only in their game but also in their expression. perhaps both could be said to be suffering from that white lie that was perhaps specifically coined for Glen Mcgrath, as white line fever. And on the opposition side, there is still that perpetual Aussie  baiter a lots of Australians love to hate, Bhajji Singh. It was quite a surprise that India team management while not announcing the playing eleven still decided to announce that Harbhajan will play his 100th test!!! Apparently, they are intent upon using Bhajji not just as a bowler! In any case, India V Australia is a compelling drama, ready to unfold, and I for one, am looking forward to that......isn't it obvious since it is after over 13 months that I have  got inspired to write this blog??? Let cricket flow...and a few controversies here and there don't matter. Nothing will break this BCCI and CA partnership. They are in it for life time as they are bound by only one thread that is unbreakable in this world; the thread of love.....................for rupee!

 

Of late it has been very quiet on the Gavaskar Border..cheerio!