India versus Australia One Day Match at Adelaide

A Repeat of Last Year’s World Cup Quarter Finals

What a great match it was! I watched the one day match in TV with great expectation. The match took my memories back to the quarter final between the same teams during last year’s World Cup. I wrote in my columns yesterday that this Australian side is not as invincible as say the Australia in seventies under Ian Chappell or Australia in the eighties under Alan Border. The brand name ‘Australia’ instils fear and respectability to the current Australian side. In the forest, even a dead lion will be feared by other animals. The same psychology works here also. But I also wrote that if a person like Sehwag or Dilshan tears the Australian bowling to pieces, the myth will be shattered.

Without That Explosive Start by Sehwag, Pakistan Would Have Won the World Cup

That is what happened in today’s match. The only difference was that it was not Virender Sehwag, the swashbuckling Indian opener who tore the Aussie attack, but it was rather Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and in the end, captain Dhoni who were behind Indian pursuit of the given target of 270 runs. Sehwag did create an explosive start for India as he is wont to. This explosive start helped India finally to win the match in a nail biting finish. I remember last year’s semi final match between India and Pakistan at Mohali in the World Cup Cricket tournament. When India batted first, it was Sehwag who gave an explosive start. He tore the Pakistani bowlers to pieces and hit five fours in a single over. Had Sehwag not given this start, Misbah-ul-Haq would have finished the match in Pakistan’s favour and maybe, Pakistan would even have won the World Cup for the second time before the huge Indian crowd at Wankhade Stadium, Mumbai.

Gambhir’s Innings Was like the One He Played in World Cup Finals

Only Virender Sehwag can provide this kind of a start and he should be preserved in the team as an insurance against any emergency. I was happy that Gautam Gambhir played a remarkable innings and scored eight short of a well deserved century. Gambhir also contributed to India’s success in the World Cup finals last year when he scored 97 against Sri Lanka in the finals.

Rohit Sharma Is Coming To Terms At Last

Rohit Sharma is at last coming to terms with the Australian conditions. Though his 33 cannot be described as an outstanding innings, nevertheless the fact that he is shaping up with every match gives Indian fans the satisfaction. Rohit Sharma is only 23 years old and will probably be the backbone of Indian batting in the 2015 World Cup to be played in Australia and New Zealand. Rohit will be benefitted now as he is acclimatising the Australian conditions for his future performance. Dhoni’s rotation policy seems to be paying dividends though it attracted the initial criticism from big cricketers of yester years like Sunil Gavaskar and Wasim Akram.

Raina Is Tailor-Made For A Crisis Situation

Suresh Raina is a man tailor made to handle a crisis situation. Australians will never forget Raina, for it was Raina who tore their top bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Lee along with the mercurial Yuvraj Singh. Lee came back to bowl even after getting injured on his head and face with blood flowing down his forehead. But the Aussie fielders stood bewildered as Raina and Yuvraj plundered their bowling. When Raina was hitting the Australian bowlers ruthlessly in Adelaide, it reminded me the World Cup quarterfinal clash. I thought Raina would finish the match single handed with captain Dhoni giving him support by playing second fiddle. A huge six signalled that Raina was in form. But Doherty, the spinner, had the last laugh when he had Raina’s stumps upset.

Australia Had Their Chance Even In the Last Over

With Dhoni and Ashwin at the crease, Indian fans’ heartbeats would have risen a great deal. Dhoni was calm and never went for the big hits except during the final over. He was content in converting singles into twos. He was lucky to escape from being run out towards the end. In the final over with Ashwin to take strike and 13 runs still needed, the match was in Australia’s favour. Ashwin missed the first ball with a wild swish. That left five balls to go and 13 runs to score. Ashwin luckily connected the next ball off McKay and scored a single. That left four balls and 12 runs to win for India. Dhoni predictably went for a big hit and had it too with a huge six that covered a distance of 114 metres in this famous Adelaide Oval. That left three balls to go and six runs to score. At this stage, Australia still had a fifty fifty chance.

No Ball Handed Over Victory for India

But alas, McKay bowled a no ball which Dhoni tried to hit for a six, but the ball landed straight into the hands of the fielder on the boundary line. Had it been not called a no ball, India would have been in the same position as Sri Lanka was in their previous match against Australia. The great 46 runs stand between Mathews and number eleven batsman Prasad went in vain as Sri Lanka lost in the last over, trying to go for that big hit. Dhoni had the stars shining in him and the match was won.

That Famous Tied Test in Brisbane

I remember distinctly the nervous final over of the now famous tied test between Australia and West Indies in Brisbane in 1960. Speed machine Wesley Halls was the bowler. Every run counted for both West Indies and Australia. Before the start of the over, the West Indies captain Frank Worrell told Halls, “If you bowl a no-ball now, I will….” Perhaps Clarke did not give any such ‘advice’ to McKay in the final over and lost the match.

Doherty Is Gifted

For Australia, David Hussey and Peter Forrest played well, each scoring half centuries. Per se, the Australian total of 269 was not a poor total. It was a total sufficient to bowl out an opposite side if and only the bowlers had done their jobs well. But Australia should be happy that Doherty is shaping up well as a reliable spinner for it.

Australian Invincibility Exposed

Now that the Australian invincibility has been broken, the triangular series will take off to more interesting proposition. The next match between Australia and Sri Lanka (before that India will play Sri Lanka) will be interesting as the Lankan lions would have taken a cue or two from the Indians to sharpen their strategies. For the Aussies, it will be better to bring back Pattinson and Lee as and when they are fit. Only if the Aussies sharpen their bowling attack can they hope to instil the fear complex once again in the minds of their opponents. Otherwise they will become the present West Indies side, which was once dreaded by all cricket playing nations when Roberts, Holding, Garner and Croft were in their side.