The Hindu : ON TOP DOWN UNDER

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 07, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

ON TOP DOWN UNDER

IF IT IS possible to emerge victorious from a draw, then India just did this. The four-Test cricket series against Australia might have been tied 1-1, but the honours clearly belonged to an Indian team that was all but written off before the tour began. The significance of the performance goes well beyond the fact that India has retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Of the two sides, only India looked like scoring a series victory. This was extraordinary given the total, no-second-in-sight hegemony Australia had established over the long form of the game. Although somewhat weakened by the absence of a couple of key bowlers, the present Australian side is one of the great Test teams of all time, certainly the best after Clive Lloyd's all-conquering West Indians of the late 1970s and early 1980s. To have won one Test and almost pulled off another on Australia's home grounds is an inspiring achievement.

When India narrowly beat Australia in the 2001 Test series, that triumph, laudable above all for the manner of the comeback, owed a fair deal to playing conditions, most importantly to the spin tracks that favoured the Indian spinners and took the sting out of the Australian quicks. Nevertheless, mastering Shane Warne, the genius of leg spin, under these conditions took some doing. What made India's retention of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy especially sweet was the neutralisation of Australia's home advantage — hard bouncy tracks that its batsmen are used to and its fast bowlers are adept at exploiting. With the latest consistency in performance, India's batting line-up has proven itself, arguably, as the best in the world. The player of the series award went justly to Rahul Dravid, who took technical soundness, elegance of stroke making, determination and doggedness to great heights. With others — Laxman, Sehwag, Tendulkar and Ganguly — making substantial contributions at the right time, India was able to post imposing totals more often than any other team playing Australia. In the bowling department, Agarkar and Kumble excelled. The former ripped through the Australian second innings at Adelaide with a fiery and winning burst (6 for 41) and the latter bowled consistently well with three five-wicket hauls. This included a heroic 8 for 141 in the Sydney Test that set up India with a fighting chance of victory.

India has, in recent years, enjoyed a fair amount of success in the one-day version of the game. By contrast, performance in Test cricket has been indifferent — in fact, dismal when playing abroad. India has not won a Test series outside the subcontinent since 1986 and the Adelaide victory came 22 years after the last one in Australia. In this context, the recent Indian performance is heart-warming. Is this a real breakthrough? It is perhaps too early to answer this question. The team needs to become well rounded and better balanced. The bowling attack has too many gaps and lacks a competitive edge applicable to all playing conditions. The tail is much too long. The fielding and tactics, good in parts, need reinvigoration. India clearly is in need of a better wicket-keeper than young Parthiv Patel, who needs to go back to the basics if he is to have a future behind the stumps. However, down under, the Indian side showed that it has the capacity to be mentally strong, to remain calm in the face of adversity, and to fight every inch of the way when required. These are the very qualities that made Steve Waugh, who has just bowed out of international cricket, a world champion. If Ganguly and his men continue to exhibit the same qualities and attitude, India's fortunes at the Test level can head only in one direction — upwards.

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