How does India, a team that has never consistently staked a claim to No. 2, repeatedly manage to look the mighty Australians in the eye and not flinch?

Sidharth Monga07-Oct-2008

Dravid and Laxman run Australia down, again, in Sydney earlier this year © AFP
Somewhere along the way, around the mid-1990s, Australia grew sick and tired of beating the pulp out of South Africa, England and the rest. They needed – and deserved – rivals who would bring the best out of them and they would bring the best out of: an opponent against whom history would define Australia’s great teams. Rivals they would genuinely respect and desperately want to beat. West Indies were in gradual decline, England and South Africa too meek to stand up, Pakistan too inconsistent, and Sri Lanka and New Zealand played too sparingly.The call was answered, both surprisingly and expectedly, by India. Surprising because India have hardly ever been the second-best Test side in the world. Expected because India had begun to gather together all the ingredients needed for a healthy rivalry with the best team in the world.Over the last 12 years India have been the only team to have challenged Australia consistently enough for their contests to be termed a rivalry, unlike the Ashes or India v Pakistan, say. It has had all the ingredients. There has been great cricket – think VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid in Kolkata, think Harbhajan Singh in Kolkata and Chennai, think Ricky Ponting and Dravid in Adelaide, think Sachin Tendulkar in Sydney, think Michael Clarke in Bangalore. There have been extremely close matches, and dramatic subplots, in the form of captains who couldn’t stand each other, high-profile farewells, colourful characters, sledging rows, and one near-diplomatic crisis. They have stretched each other, the umpires involved (who know how much rides on every decision), and at times the playing conditions.Saving the best for Oz
Why should India produce their best against Australia, often bouncing back from pedestrian efforts against other teams to do so? The only year they have finished at No. 2 in the ICC’s Test ratings was 2006, a year in which they didn’t even play Australia. Before they beat Australia in 1997-98, they drew twice against Sri Lanka and lost to West Indies and South Africa. Before Steve Waugh’s farewell series, where India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, they lost to New Zealand away and managed a drawn series against them at home. Immediately after the exciting series in Australia earlier this year, India struggled to draw at home against South Africa. In each case, apart from the one disastrous series in 1999-2000, India have always given Australia a hard time on the field. Twice they stopped the victory march of the conquerors at 16 in a row, in Kolkata in 2000-01, and in Perth earlier this year.India have saved their best for Australia, the first box that needs to be ticked for any rivalry to thrive. They cherish the fight, and in this case the fight cherishes them too. Historically Australia have hated losing to England and New Zealand, but on the evidence of the recent exchanges, India may have usurped those teams. And with their new-found aversion to losing against India, Australia have shown they enjoy the contests.Well begun at home
India are good at winning in India, which means they know what it is like to beat Australia. When in the nineties Australia managed to beat most teams in their own backyard, the Final Frontier still remained. “Australia’s performances overseas are not matched by many teams,” says John Buchanan, whose first tryst with India was in the 2000-01 series. India had tasted success against Australia at home before that, in 1996 and 1997-98, and when under Sourav Ganguly and John Wright they became better travellers, they were hungry for more.That don’t impress me much
When Australia visited in 2000-01 they didn’t know what the wall felt like: they had rarely been pushed to it for two years. They had just completed a 5-0 drubbing of West Indies, of which Steve Waugh wrote in , “That wasn’t how Test-match cricket was supposed to feel.” All Australia were fighting at that point was themselves – and the complacency that creeps in at such times. Yet there was one team that plain refused to acknowledge their supremacy. India have managed to pull some of the Australians down. Once a team reduces Shane Warne to paying 47 runs for every wicket he takes, it wins more than half the battle Waugh mentions in his book how Ganguly managed to get under the Aussies’ skins, putting the boot on the other foot. “They have won most of their games at home, beaten West Indies 5-0 at home, beaten India, Pakistan at home,” Ganguly said in an interview before the series. “They toured here in ’96 and lost. They toured here in ’98 and lost. So obviously that’s going to be at the back of their mind.””You had to give him an ‘A’ for effort in his attempt to annoy us,” Waugh wrote, “and in particular me. It worked to a certain extent.” It helps that India are a naturally aggressive side. That they don’t give Australia a headstart.Ganguly got India to think big. He believed Australia could be beaten, and he got his team to believe that. There were men in the side who would stand up against Australia’s intimidatory tactics, so that when it came to the crunch Australia were not the predetermined winners. If others could choke against Australia, Australia could also choke against India – like they did in the final innings in Kolkata in 2001.Freakshow
To think big was one thing, to do big was another. India, importantly, has had players who have looked forward to the contest and have performed beyond themselves against Australia.Australia are a work of committee, more so now that Shane Warne is gone; they usually have everything down to a plan. They are professional, efficient and well-prepared. They are vulnerable against individual brilliance, the sort one doesn’t get to see everyday. South Africa try to play Australia’s game, and fail; India try to play their own game, and fight. It was Laxman and Dravid in Kolkata and Adelaide, Harbhajan in the 2000-01 series, Virender Sehwag in Chennai, and Tendulkar in Sydney. Ganguly stood up to Australia too, with that century under immense pressure in Brisbane. It has to be more than a coincidence that the freakish, once-in-a-generation type performances from India all tend to come against Australia.And it’s not just the Indians. It has usually taken individual efforts from left field (Brian Lara in 1998-99, Kevin Pietersen at times) or the unknown (the surprising early reverse swing in England in 2005) to topple Australia. Perth this year has perhaps been the only exception.”It’s actually a back-handed compliment. All it shows is – it’s a credit to them – it takes special performances to beat them,” says Dravid, who has produced two such and been close witness to a few others by Laxman, Tendulkar and Ganguly.What is it about Australia that inspires these efforts? “To be honest,” says Dravid, “personally speaking, we don’t go out thinking: this is Australia and I need to raise my game. Perhaps there is a huge sense of personal satisfaction because they have been such a competitive team for the last two decades. Perhaps you know subconsciously that when you perform against Australia there will be a high visibility.”It has also helped that the composition of the two teams hasn’t changed drastically over the years. That has helped the development of one-on-one rivalries. The England side that played in Australia in 2006-07 bore little resemblance to the one that saved the Ashes legend from becoming a myth two years ago. There was no Simon Jones to torment Michael Clarke. On the other hand, Harbhajan Singh still gets to have a go at Ponting.Change your enemy
Apart from raising their own game (Laxman averages 50.63 against Australia, as opposed to 43.79 overall; Tendulkar’s corresponding figures are 56 and 54.23, Harbhajan’s 28.81 and 30.87), India have also managed to pull some of the Australians down. Once a team reduces Shane Warne to paying 47 runs for every wicket he takes, it wins more than half the battle. It is a message that has been strong enough to push the Australians out of their comfort zone.

Battles within wars: Harbhajan v Ponting is among the key rivalries that India v Australia has spawned over the years © AFP
The last time Australia toured India, in 2003-04, they gave up their preferred mode of out-and-out attack and employ – quite successfully as it turned out – a defensive approach. That India got Australia to change their game is a credit to them; that India did not then manage to get a step ahead is a discredit.What makes Australia play a game they are not used to is a mix of conspicuous disregard and self-belief from the opposition.”The bowling attack has been important for us,” says Dravid. “We know that we have the capability to take 20 wickets. Not only on turners, but even if the opposition gives us tailor-made tracks. Actually we have won a lot of our away Test matches on tracks that have assisted bowlers.”We are not just looking to draw Tests against Australia, we are looking to win. It is a big switch.”A grudging respect
Buchanan agrees with Dravid’s assessment. “India is a very strong side in terms of quality players,” he says. “They have a strong batting side, backed up by good bowling and strong leadership. In terms of all-round strength, it is one of the sides – perhaps the side – that can challenge Australia.”Australia have started acknowledging, grudgingly perhaps, that they are in for a long fight whenever they face India. While Waugh criticised Ganguly, he didn’t miss the fact that Ganguly was a proud man who injected toughness into his side. “I know that they know they are in a contest,” says Dravid. “I think they enjoy that. For a lot of time, Australia has had it really easy against many teams. Probably we are the only team over the years where they have gone in knowing there is competition.”But despite all that has been going for India, Australia have been the better team in this rivalry. Dravid acknowledges that. “Let’s be fair, even though we have competed, they have played some really good cricket. They have won at home, they won against us last time, they hold the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.”Interesting times await the rivalry. Australia are a team in transition, India won’t be able to resist change for long. The new personnel will have a legacy to carry. The two teams owe each other a lot: they are as much partners as they are rivals. But it suits all concerned that the moment they are on the field, the gloves are off.

Plays of the day from day one of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and South Africa at the MCG

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG26-Dec-2008
Simon Katich: bowled off a dead-ball, and then raised 1,000 Test runs for the year © AFP
A series of unfortunate events
When Jacques Kallis fell over while sending down a delivery in his fourth over and left the ground a couple of overs later, it had far greater consequences than South Africa being a bowler short. It also meant a reshuffle in the cordon. Kallis’ position at second slip was taken by AB de Villiers, who usually stands at third slip, and his spot in turn was occupied by Neil McKenzie. In the final over before lunch Ricky Ponting, on 24, edged Dale Steyn to third slip where McKenzie spilled a sitter. It was the first drop of the series for South Africa. But for Kallis’ injury, Ponting would have edged to de Villiers, whose catching in Perth was as breathtaking as his batting. Ponting went on to score a century and McKenzie was still looking contrite when the milestone came.Dead bowled
Simon Katich might have had a brief moment of concern when he pulled out at the last minute as Morne Morkel was in his delivery stride. Morkel sent the ball down and it crashed into middle and leg stump and Katich looked up hoping to see a dead-ball signal from the umpire Aleem Dar. The call did come from Dar, who had been waving his hands around his face to shoo away flies as Morkel ran in and the activity could have been what distracted the batsman. Katich picked the ball up and walked down the pitch to hand it to Morkel, also giving the bowler an apologetic pat on the back.Scaring the new guy
JP Duminy showed his composure on debut in Perth but he was a little less relaxed on the first day at the MCG. Duminy and Hashim Amla both chased the ball when Ponting drove to deep cover and Amla reached it first. He turned to throw and his wind-up was so enthusiastic thatwhen he ended up just lobbing the ball to his mate to relay it back to the wicketkeeper, Duminy was ducking and covering his head to get out of the way. The ball thudded into the turf just over the crouching Duminy and despite the jeers from the huge MCG crowd, the two men were able tosmile about the comical mix-up.Two grand
South Africa entered the match with four batsmen who had scored 1,000 runs in the calendar year and Australia had none. But in the first session Katich and Ponting both went past the mark, Katich in his 11th Test for the year and Ponting in his 14th. Katich’s milestone came when he went to 46 with a boundary glanced off Steyn; Ponting got there with a quick single that took him to 18. It was the fifth year in which Ponting had collected 1,000 runs and he added another record when he passed Neil Harvey to become Australia’s greatest Test run scorer against South Africa.The perfect man for the job
Even two years after his retirement it’s hard to escape Shane Warne at the best of times, let alone at the MCG on Boxing Day. Warne is commentating for Channel 9 during this match and for a split second it looked like he was so popular that he had even been asked to sing theAustralian national anthem before play. On closer inspection it turned out to be Eddie Perfect, the star of Shane Warne the Musical, which is now playing in Melbourne. He was – wait for it – pitch perfect.Matching Marshall
When Makhaya Ntini found Brad Haddin’s edge late in the day he reached an important personal milestone. Ntini drew level with his hero Malcolm Marshall on 376 Test wickets. “He has always been my hero and I modeled my action on him after I had to change it through injury,” Ntini said. “Unfortunately I never got the chance to see him in live action but he has been a wonderful role model for me and this means a great deal to me. To emulate your hero means that you are going somewhere with your life and I hope I can now get to 400 wickets as quickly as possible.”

This result has showed Australia’s deficiencies cannot be covered unless a couple of the senior players carry the team, and one of those has to be a bowler.

Ali Cook21-Oct-2008

Until Ricky Ponting spoke after the game it felt like this Test was a throwback to the 20th century. Australia looked angry, upset and impotent on the field, and they were struggling again in India. Instead of showing his frustration, which has emerged a couple of times during the game, Ponting calmly outlined his plan for the rest of the tour.The players would rest, reflect and refocus for the third game in Delhi next Wednesday. On the form of the first two Tests it won’t be enough. The way India overcame Australia in Mohali was shockingly easy after the more competitive opening game in Bangalore. It looks like the teams have found their levels and the gap is significant – only the usual winners are losing.This result has showed Australia’s deficiencies cannot be covered unless a couple of the senior players carry the team, and one of those has to be a bowler. Ponting offered Brett Lee his support after the match following their on-field disagreements on Monday, when Lee was upset not to be used in the first session. But transforming from pedestrian to powerhouse in a week is unlikely to be helped by whichever holiday destination he chooses for the side’s mini-break this week.Fast bowling in India is one of the most difficult tasks and it looks like it will be beyond Lee in his first series in the country. None of the fast bowlers can expect help in Delhi, where the wicket will be made for spin, turn and more spin. It is where Australia are at their most deficient.The team arrived knowing this sector would be weak and it would have to rely on pace. If they could alter their outlook they would, but apart from Stuart Clark, who has an elbow problem, they played their best team in Mohali. The result was a 320-run defeat, the seventh-heaviest by runs in Australian history, and the side’s worst performance under Ponting’s captaincy.Australia’s best chance of revival revolves around them retaining their supreme self-belief. If that goes too, their first series loss since the 2005 Ashes could end in a 0-3 return. The arrogance was at its greatest when the batsmen swung like unmanned hoses in the second innings as they tried to prove the target of 516, almost 100 greater than any successful chase in history, was within reach. It was as out of touch as their wild attitude and 58 for 5 was a worthy result for the tactic. Not even Steve Waugh’s team would have done it that way.Matthew Hayden attempted to bash his way out of form but just looked like a man who had forgotten how to read a game. He has only 42 runs for the series – six more than Mitchell Johnson – and has been more like the player who turned up in England in 2005 than the hero of 2001. If Lee and Hayden are firing, Australia have a chance. Without contributions close to their career averages the team is likely to fold again. The spine is no longer strong and dreams of a reprise of 2004 should end.The inexperienced men have contributed usefully, particularly Shane Watson in the first innings and Brad Haddin in the second. It is too much to expect big centuries from these two, or five-wicket hauls from Cameron White or Peter Siddle. They are doing fine for men with such little experience in Tests or in India.When players enter a team they look to the top for guidance, but the new entrants have been let down by the on-field deeds of the senior men. Ponting knows this has to be fixed and after a couple of outbursts during the game he settled down at the finish. Cool heads work better than hot ones when teams are under pressure in India.

Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus and Stuart Clark all struggled at various junctures and, if not for a succession of muddle-headed strokes, Australia might have faced a more treacherous path over the coming four days

Alex Brown at The Oval20-Aug-2009It was a day on which England missed a trick, Australia got out of jail and The Oval pitch befuddled all. In this most unpredictable of series, Australia’s bowlers battled as much with themselves as they did the opposing batsmen, conceding boundaries (40) and extras (36, including 17 no-balls) with reckless abandon yet, somehow, almost managed to terminate England’s first innings in a day.Ricky Ponting will be quietly satisfied to have arrived at stumps with England stationed on 307 for 8. Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus and Stuart Clark all struggled at various junctures for accuracy, penetration and footing, and if not for a succession of muddle-headed strokes from the hosts, Australia might well have faced a more treacherous path over the coming four days.At least six England batsmen were left to rue the circumstances surrounding their dismissals, having again failed to convert solid starts into dominant innings. Not for the first time this series, loose strokes outside off-stump proved the downfall of many, eroding much of the foundation work laid by Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell in the first session.Precious little went right for the Australians on Thursday morning, beginning with the coin toss. Ponting called incorrectly for the fourth time this series, allowing England first opportunity to bat on a surface that proved far flatter than most had anticipated. The predicted pace and bounce lasted only as long as the lacquer on the Duke, and Australia may live to regret the decision to omit Nathan Hauritz in preference of an all-pace attack. Footmarks and clouds of dust were noticeable well inside the first session of play and Marcus North, a part-timer who had bowled just 13.3 overs in the series prior to the Thursday, immediately found sharp turn when introduced into the attack after lunch.England appeared well positioned for a final, glorious assault on the urn when Strauss and Bell headed to lunch with 108 runs on the board and only Alastair Cook back in the pavilion. Hilfenhaus, the rock of Australia’s attack entering the fifth Test, was guilty of straying both sides of the wicket in his first spell, but of more concern was the return of Johnson’s directional issues.Certainly, this wasn’t the Johnson of Lord’s, but neither was it the Johnson of Johannesburg. Eight no-balls and three wides indicated a general lack of rhythm, although his setting-up of the dangerous Matt Prior from around-the-wicket and wide on the crease was a worthy effort. Johnson rattled Prior with a shorter delivery, then coaxed him into a rash stroke to a wider, slower offering that flew to Shane Watson in the gully. His earlier bumper barrage to Bell was similarly entertaining, but for the most part,
Johnson’s 15 overs were notable for their errant lines and five-an-over scoring rates.Clark, too, struggled for impact, although he did succeed in drying up England’s scoring. Bowing a fuller line than his standard top-of-off-stump approach, Clark beat the bat infrequently and appeared down on pace, albeit on a pitch that hardly suited him. Still, with three of Australia’s four pacemen shy of peak form, and The Oval pitch flattening by the hour, all seemed in place for a day of English dominance.But, as has so often been the case in this series, conventional wisdom was not applicable. Careless batting, an indefatigable Peter Siddle, and the magnificent run-out executed by Simon Katich at short-leg steadily whittled away England’s advantage over the course of the afternoon. Siddle was an early beneficiary of several of the aforementioned loose strokes, but also produced one of the deliveries of the day – brisk, full and angling – to remove the in-form Bell. His dismissal set-up a final session in which Australia claimed 5-127, and removed their head from what appeared an ever-tightening noose at the lunch break.Undoubtedly the highlight of the day was Katich’s run-out of Trott – a manouvre that required the fast-twitch muscle fibres of Usain Bolt, and the precision of Phil “The Power” Taylor. By that stage, England were acutely aware that the day was slipping from their grasp, and only a dogged eighth-wicket stand from Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann restored parity to proceedings.

Indian team management’s newest instructions to its cricketers is breeding ground for lewd jokes, opportunity, sledging, and also social study

24-Sep-2009″I would just like to say that this is the sort of forward thinking the game needs. I am assuming the directive is not for sex to take place within the team and that partners are allowed to be involved. If the ICC want to make this tournament more exciting, then fly in the wives and girlfriends, or other parties, to improve the standard of cricket… I wish Gary was our coach.”
“I don’t think we ever had anything about our sexual habits written down in a dossier, and I am pretty sure we won’t get an advisory on that ever.”
“There is no doubt that sex increases your performance, provided it does not disturb players’ sleep and has no negative influence.”
“Is that in the team’s vision statement? Hmmm. That is some vision. I really don’t know what to say… you’ve caught me slightly off guard. Oh, I’m still blushing.”
“Both [Gary] Kirsten and [Paddy] Upton should be given honorary posts in the BCCI for their services. Like everyone, the players also need to have a normal life when they are touring with the team and sex is very much a part.”
“Oh, I don’t know about all this. I’ve been away from home for four months. I have forgotten how to do the stuff.””In our culture, we abstain from discussing our sex lives openly, which is why this has created a stir. But once you are in the ring, these things don’t matter.””Not all the cricketers are single, and WAGs don’t always travel on tour. Attitudes to sex are becoming more liberal, but it remains highly unlikely an adulterous cricketer could placate his seething bride by claiming ‘the coach told me to do it!'”
Telegraph”This is a completely new thing to me. I have never come across a theory like this. However, the times have changed now.”
“A good performance in an indoor sport can lead to a fantastic performance in an outdoor sport.”

England’s blocker attacks, the DJ plays crap music, and spectators pretend it’s summertime in Jo’burg

Gregory Anderson26-Sep-2009Choice of game
The voice on the telephone said: “We have tickets for England v Sri Lanka, you keen?” Of course! As for a prediction, following Sri Lanka’s annihilation of South Africa, and England’s recent forms against the Australians, Sri Lanka seemed the likely victors.Team supported
Supporting South Africa in this tournament feels like staying with a repeatedly unfaithful girlfriend, but the heart overrides the mind.Accesories
Field glasses – an inspired choice for all without bionic eyes. Highly recommended. Watch those batsmen and their feet moving around in the crease. It’s hypnotic.Key performer
Paul Collingwood, famous for using his trusty bat “Blockingwood”, accidentally walked onto the field with the wrong bat and proceeded to be possessed by the spirit of a batsman who scores at almost a run a ball. (In response, Shah blocked his way into the Cricket Boredom Hall of Fame.)One thing I’d have changed about the match
Sri Lanka lost their top four for a cumulative total of 12. You’d think it was South Africa in a semi-final. The advantage would not have been handed to England if at least one of them had made a worthwhile contribution.Face-off I relished
The prospect of watching Tillakaratne Dilshan flay the best efforts of England’s bowlers was tantalizing, but his two runs were an anti-climax.Wow moment
The instant Kumar Sangakkara’s lightning-fast catch and stumping ripped Shah’s innings out of ultra slow motion into high speed. Sangakkara and Muttiah Muralitharan deserve humanitarian awards for ending that innings.Shot of the day
Collingwood’s pull shot for six off Lasith Malinga. Who is Collingwood?Crowd meter
Percy, Sri Lanka’s 13th man, rallied the troops against the Barmy Army, who by all accounts were mostly AWOL. There was also an attempted Mexican Wave, which soon became a Joburg Ripple. If anyone else did anything noteworthy, it was well hidden.Fancy-dress index
To the man in shorts and a t-shirt, you prove the theory that no matter how cold it gets in Joburg, some lunatic will delude himself into believing it’s always hot, while sane people wonder what the first signs of hypothermia are.Entertainment
“Hang the DJ! Hang the DJ! Hang the DJ!” Combine this lyric with 1990s club anthems and it all makes sense. Totally random, arbitrary songs. At one point there was a Bob Marley tune, which proves that even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day.ODI v Twenty20
Twenty20 is cricket’s drive-through. It’s still fun, but at the cost of ODIs? Soon it’ll just be a coin toss.Marks out of 10
6/10. To win by six wickets is impressive, but good grief, couldn’t England have done it with some flair? Overall positive, but marks deducted for Sri Lanka’s batting collapse and lethargic fielding, England’s stodgy batting (Mr PC excluded), and the ghastly overage teenybopper PA muzak. However, it was amazing to see these world-class players outside of the bright box in my lounge

Stuart Clark on the question he least likes answering, the nickname he didn’t want, why sledging doesn’t work, and his other job

Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi07-Oct-2009You turned 34 a week ago. Have you achieved all that you thought you could achieve?
Yes. I’ve achieved more than I thought I could ever achieve. Nothing beats putting on the baggy green.Are you as disciplined in daily life as you are with your bowling?
I am in certain things and in certain things I’m not. I’m very good with my time, but if I’m not interested in doing something then I find it very hard to do.Has sledging worked for you?
In my experience, no. Sledging is very much overrated. If people sledge me then I know I’m getting under their skins and I take it more as a compliment. Have you ever taken an IQ test?
I’ve never done a test. I don’t think my IQ is really high.What’s the most embarrassing thing that happened to you on a cricket field?
In the Brisbane Test against New Zealand in 2008, I was running for two but I slipped and fell. As I got up I slipped again. I ran down the non-striker’s end and dived into the crease. Then I realised the fielder had yet to pick the ball.Tell us something we don’t know about you.
I still work part-time at a bank.Is there a moment in cricket history which you wish you could re-enact, where you would be the player who turned the game on its head?
When Sarfaraz [Nawaz] got nine wickets in a spell at the MCG in 1979. If I’m able to do that that’ll be great.Have you ever met Sarfraz Nawaz? How did you get the nick?
I’ve never met him. It was given by Mark Waugh when I was young. He thought I bowled in a similar style. I didn’t really like it and I objected to it. And when you object to something it sticks.Who is the Australian batsman you’ve always got out in the nets?
I used to get Steve Waugh quite a few times. It must’ve been a fluke.What’s your favourite Greg Matthews moment?
Last year we were playing Phil Jaques in club cricket. I bowled the first over and Greg bowled the second. Greg got him out first ball and ran straight to square leg, celebrating, and said to the umpire, “Give me 10”. The umpire didn’t know what to do!What is the one question media should be banned from asking you?
Nobody is allowed to ask about Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. They retired years ago. Nobody should ask about the rebuilding process.What’s one thing you do that McGrath couldn’t?
I bat better.

“Sledging is very much overrated. If people sledge me then I know I’m getting under their skins and I take it more as a compliment”

What’s the most important thing a hotel room should have?
Beds. Big beds.Ever had a funny incidents with an umpire?
Once, during a domestic game in Australia when I bowled a bouncer and the umpire signalled a wide. I was like, “Are you kidding?” He just looked at me and asked me to piss off back to my mark. I started laughing and he started laughing. It was funny and calmed everything down.Who is the best character you’ve played cricket with?
Darren Lehmann. He was a fun guy who played the game hard but enjoyed himself as well.Who is your favourite athlete outside cricket?
Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Roger Federer. It is very hard to look past athletes who make the game look so easy. We’re all playing the game, but they were playing a different game.What’s the one thing you should never do in Australia as a tourist?
Never go and try and drink with the locals.Name one of your favourite cricketing moments.
The day Warne got his 700th Test wicket: I remember he bowled Andrew Strauss with a proper, big legbreak that drifted in and spun and he just took off in front of the 90,000 who erupted. The emotions that came out were unbelievable.

Tony Cozier recounts the memorable moments and phases in West Indies cricket during a decade of struggles

Tony Cozier03-Jan-2010For ages strong and dynamic, universally envied and admired, pride of the people of the small, scattered otherwise insignificant third world territories it represented, West Indies cricket had suddenly gone into sharp decline in the last decade of the 20th century. The first decade of the 21st century accelerated its degeneration as it plummeted inextricably towards irrelevance, even towards its eventual demise.The stories of doom and gloom, and the reasons for them, are well documented. They have generated arguments in bars and living rooms throughout the Caribbean, filled the pages of our newspapers and magazines, taken up hours of radio and television time.Yet, through it all, shafts of light occasionally broke through to lift the darkness and kindle the hope that somehow all was not lost, that the good days would eventually return. All were fleeting and illusionary but we embraced them just the same.Here are a few such instances that lifted my own spirits in following West Indies on their repeatedly futile travels the world over or else turning myself into a zombie watching their fortunes unfold through the night on television. There were others as well. Prominent among them were Jerome Taylor’s 5 for 11 spell that despatched England for 51 at Sabina last year and clinched a victory that was enough to regain the Wisden Trophy after nine years, the emergence of the allround ebullience of Dwayne Bravo, Fidel Edwards’ pace and swing and, most recently, the promising debuts of Kemar Roach and Adrian Barath.But these are the ones that stick most in the memory.The Lara factor: Brian Lara had long since confirmed his credentials by the turn of the century but, within two months, he had relinquished the captaincy to take a break “to seek the assistance of appropriate professionals to rebuild all facets of my game”.He returned with all facets clearly rebuilt to fashion some of the most compelling performances of the era. Three especially typified the willpower and the sense of timing that accentuated his talent.He arrived in Sri Lanka late in 2002 with the publicly stated intention of scoring the 613 runs needed in the three Tests to lift his Test average, from below 48 where it stood to above 50. It was an unlikely goal but the magical left-hander reached his goal with an aggregate of 688 and an average of 114.66, utterly mastering the otherwise mystifying spin of Muttiah Muralitheran and swing of Chaminda Vaas.Within a year, his Test record score of 375, compiled against England at the Antigua Recreation Ground in 1994, had been surpassed by the Australian Matthew Hayden’s 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth. It was a jolt to his ego. Those who knew him were in no doubt he would trump Hayden. He required only 185 days to prove them right. In April 2004, on the same ARG where he eclipsed Garry Sobers’ mark ten years earlier and against the same opposition, he amassed 400, still unbeaten when he closed his, and the team’s, innings. The statistic and the circumstances of it were hard to comprehend.The following year, Lara marked what he surely realised would be his last Test in Australia with another grand, and statistically significant display. His 226 carried him past Allan Border as Test cricket’s leading scorer.The downside to it all was that such brilliance could not prevent 3-0 whitewashes in Sri Lanka and Australia. Even his ARG marathon simply ensured a draw that prevented a similar outcome.By April 2007, following the failed World Cup campaign, he was gone, with little fanfare. Whatever his other flaws, his batting left an indelible legacy.Chris Gayle has engendered an obvious loyalty among his players•Getty ImagesThe Chanderpaul follow-up: Once Lara made his final exit, someone was needed to fill the breach, a seeming mission impossible. Throughout his career, Chanderpaul was content to be in Lara’s shadow. Slim and frail, he constantly fidgeted at the crease and gathered his runs mainly from pushes and nudges rather than breathtaking cuts and drives.With Lara gone, Chanderpaul recognised his additional responsibility. He became the game’s most immovable object, his consistency evident in his 1933 runs in 22 Tests (seven hundreds, average 71.59) and his 1476 runs in 31 ODIs (three hundreds, average 73.80).Usually, he has either won or saved matches. His award of International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricketer of the Year for 2008 was a boost for West Indies cricket and a deserving honour.The Gayle development: For all his straight talking, anti-establishment defiance, his quoted indifference to Test cricket and his laid-back approach, Chris Gayle has engendered an obvious loyalty among his players and, without losing the awesome power-hitting on which it is based, brought a new maturity to his batting.Especially in Australia recently, he and his team revived waning respect for West Indies cricket. The first victory over South Africa (after eight losses and a draw) was achieved in his first match at the helm in 2007. Last season, he was in charge as the Wisden Trophy was regained from England.In 21 Tests since he took over on Ramnaresh Sarwan’s injury in England in 2007, he averages 46.73, with five of his overall 12 hundreds. His 197 against New Zealand in Napier just over a year ago and his unbeaten 165, batting from first ball to last, against Australia in Adelaide last month exemplified the term “captain’s innings”.He now says he is “the right man to lead West Indies through this challenging period.” At 30, he has ample time to prove it. The recent evidence indicates that he is up to it.The ARG run-chase: Emboldened by their team’s victories in the first three Tests in 2004, Australian supporters turned up at the ARG carrying brooms to mark the inevitable clean sweep. When they set West Indies more than any team had ever scored to win a Test, 418, the dust pans were at the ready.What followed wiped away the years of tears that had gone before, even if temporarily. Hundreds by Chanderpaul and Sarwan carried West Indies to within sight of the target but 46 were still needed when the seventh wicket fell. It proved no sweat for Omari Banks, a seemingly nerveless 20-year-old in his second Test, and Vasbert Drakes, a seasoned, travelling 33-year-old latecomer.Captain Lara called it “the zenith” of his career. Along with his unbeaten 400, it is one of the few remaining West Indies records.The two bold Bs: West Indies had not won a global tournament since the World Cup in 1979. They looked unlikely to do so when their eighth wicket went down in the final of the Champions Trophy, at the Oval in London, on a dank, chilly September day in 2004.They were 71 away from the modest target of 218 set by England when the two Bs from Barbados, No.10, wicketkeeper Courtney Browne, and No.11, left-hand seam bowler Ian Bradshaw came together.Beaten by England in all four Tests in the preceding series, it was surely the end of the line. But there was a rare tenacity in the ranks, generated by the desire to uplift the spirits of those in the Caribbean just devastated by hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne. Carefully at first and then with increasing confidence, the two advanced towards their objective.The outcome almost certainly hinged on their decision to decline the umpires’ offer to end play for the day in the increasing darkness. England captain Michael Vaughan’s jaw visibly dropped at the sheer bravado of it. At that moment, victory was assured.When it came, with Bradshaw’s Lara-like square-driven boundary, it was greeted by an invasion of the field by their hugging, kissing, flag-waving team-mates and similar celebrations among West Indians in the stands and in front of television and radio sets throughout the Caribbean.Within a month, the euphoria was doused by the renewal of the unrelenting feud between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), characterised by language more identifiable as North Korean and Iranian political invective.That, more than anything else, has been at the heart of the problem throughout the last distressing decade. Is it too much to hope for harmony and better days in the decade that started on Friday?

A free ticket to watch your team? Doesn’t get much better than that

Siddhesh V01-Apr-2010The game
I got a free ticket for this game and went in hoping for a Chennai Super Kings revival. Thankfully I got what I wanted – a Chennai win that would be revenge for the defeat against the Royal Challengers Bangalore during the first leg.Key performer
M Vijay for his amazing knock. The 24-run over was nerve-wracking to watch because from where we were sitting every delivery looked like a wicket-taking ball.One thing I’d have changed
The catch Manpreet Gony dropped off Robin Uthappa. The entire stand was on its feet thinking it would be first blood for Chennai. Instead we got a dropped catch, followed by a boundary off the next ball. Really disappointing.Face-off I relished
I was looking forward to Kumble v Hayden. Unfortunately Hayden didn’t last long.Wow moment
Vijay’s second six in that mammoth 24-run over was spectacular. We turned to see the ball deposited in the adjacent stand.Player watch
Vijay and Gony fielded near us and we called out to them. Vijay often waved at us and responded. During the second innings we cheered for Pietersen but sadly didn’t get much of a response out of him.Shot of the day
Suresh Raina’s expansive hit over cover for six off the fifth ball of the 19th over came at a time when things were looking pretty bad for Chennai. That one shot settled the match.Crowd meter
KP hit a mammoth six that landed a few rows below us – the only one that landed in our stand. Two of Vijay’s sixes landed in the stands on either side of us. From where I was sitting, the ground was a sea of yellow. After the initial enthusiasm, though, I tired of taking part in endless Mexican waves that were going around faster than the ball was flying around the park.Hardship factor
The canteen was packed during the innings break, which meant a mad grab for whatever you managed to get your hands on. It would have helped if the food counters were better managed.Entertainment
When Sivamani is around, entertainment is never far away. The PA system was belting out the Chennai theme song and there was plenty of dancing.Twenty20 v ODIs
Twenty20 is pure entertainment. ODIs, on the other hand, are good value for money.TV or stadium?
Stadiums are always a lot of fun. Twenty20 is best watched in a stadium. The television gives you experts’ analysis and other technical details but you don’t need that in a Twenty20.Marks out of 10
8. The atmosphere was very lively throughout. The cheering went on for a while after the winning runs. It was not the perfect game for Chennai, but what matters is the win was achieved over one of the table leaders, and that is always memorable.

Thilan Samaraweera showed what he was truly made of, and his chemistry with Ajantha Mendis at the crease came at a time when things were going horribly wrong

Sidharth Monga at the P Sara Oval06-Aug-2010Get the erasers out and start removing the asterisk against Thilan Samaraweera’s record. Two days ago, his century in difficult conditions was being belittled by critics, who find him boring, a flat-track bully, or a fair-weather batsman, or all of them. He laughed at the suggestion that most of his centuries have come after the top order has scored heavily, and then disagreed.”I have got some hundreds at crucial moments,” Samaraweera had said after his first-innings century. “When the top order has not scored runs, against Pakistan we were 9 for 3 (in Faisalabad), I got a hundred, and against Bangladesh we were 20 for 4. I don’t think I have got (all the) runs when the top order has scored runs. I have scored runs when they were important for the team. But this is a special one because this is a real Test wicket. Your skills are tested here unlike in SSC. I am happy to get a hundred here.”His first-innings century didn’t come in a dire situation. Sri Lanka were 241 for 4 when Samaraweera came in to bat, and then he had a good partnership with Angelo Mathews too. Although not a crisis, it was a time when all could have gone wrong. Samaraweera didn’t let that happen.In the second innings, though, all had gone wrong. Sri Lanka were 87 for 7, leading by 76, the rest of the line-up had combusted, and the word going around was “now we will see what he (Samaraweera) is made of”. When he walked off for a smartly made 83, featuring partnerships of 38 and 118 with Lasith Malinga and Ajantha Mendis respectively, he was greeted by an appreciative crowd.For company during a major part of his effort, Samaraweera had a familiar ally. In Mendis’ last three Test innings, he has had partnerships of 73 (19.3 overs), 35 (13.4 overs), and 118 (38.4 overs) for the ninth wicket with Samaraweera. All against India.Both of them must be doing something right, India must be doing something wrong too. Samaraweera, for starters, has been batting until the end despite the fall of wickets. He is also an under-rated tactician. He reads situations fast. He plays spin superbly, with quick feet and soft hands. He compensates for lack of power with cricketing acumen and graceful strokes.Samaraweera trusts Mendis, who has worked hard on his batting. He also knows which bowlers might trouble Mendis. He is not uniform with farming the strike. In the first innings, for example, he took singles in the first half of the over, except when facing the dangerous-looking Pragyan Ojha. In the second innings, even long after Mendis had started looking like a proper batsman, Samaraweera kept making impromptu decisions of turning down singles. He had the pitch and the bowling sussed out.

Samaraweera trusts Mendis, who has worked hard on his batting. He also knows which bowlers might trouble Mendis. He is not uniform with farming the strike

In between, Samaraweera struck opportunistic boundaries too, using his feet to upset the spinners’ rhythm. He first drove Amit Mishra through the covers, and then charged at Ojha and lofted him over mid-off. At that point the field was spread for him, something he perhaps relished. The late-cut was used for singles and the occasional four. He didn’t shy away from the powerful sweep, a shot he doesn’t normally employ.In the over that Samaraweera reached his fifty, he was at his best. First he swept Virender Sehwag and bisected the gap between deep square and deep midwicket. Then came the paddle sweep, fine enough to take two. Then a punch nicely placed between long-off and sweeper-cover for two. And then, off the last ball of the over, a better placed inside-out drive to let him take three and retain strike.Mendis responded to Samaraweera beautifully. He stayed alert for the calls for singles, he didn’t run away from bouncers, and also played a few smacking shots. For long has he been a thorn in India’s side. Today he did that with the bat. At times MS Dhoni placed three fielders at third man for Mendis, and asked his quicks to bowl bouncers from round the stumps. Mendis still survived. It was his batting that got the crowd involved. His family and his partner were there too. Percy Abeysekara, the famous Sri Lankan cheerleader, wanted to kiss him on the cheek.For the purists who miss proper tailenders who provide funny moments by backing away, playing with eyes closed, Mendis saved the best for until Samaraweera got out. The inside edge, the top edge, the lovely correct straight loft and the awkward defensive shot were all there. All through, he couldn’t stop grinning. India will remember that grin from two years ago.