The ongoing Test series between India and Australia
has again given us a ringing endorsement why cricket’s
original format is still relevant and flourishing.
The first two matches have been unexpectedly close
as Aussie spinners thrived in excessively helpful
conditions for the slower bowlers on pitches that appeared to
be prepared as rank-turners from Day 1. The visitors caught an
apparently fatigued Team India napping to record a famous
win in Pune, but surrendered their advantage after wilting in a
fourth innings chase.
The evenly fought contests have also brought to the fore one
interesting part of the game -- the art of sledging. The Australians,
who had prepared for the series training on the arid dust
bowls of the UAE, surprised themselves by rolling over an uninspired,
lethargic opposition within three days in Pune, but
they were greeted in Bengaluru by a visibly transformed India
-- hostile, in-your-face hosts up for a no-holds-barred contest.
The match was an epic in itself but
something that aided India greatly
was their aggression as they got under
the skin of the Aussies. The visitors
were sledged mercilessly and
given the taste of their own medicine
and they hated it even as they
slumped to a defeat.
Interestingly, Steven Smith had gone on record before the series
stating that he wants Virat Kohli angry and saw a need to
ruffle his feathers a bit. After all, it’s in the Aussie cricketing
DNA. They flourish when they bark verbals against the English
in the Ashes. But not in the sub-continent. The best of the
Australian chirpers like Michael Slater, Ricky Ponting, Glenn
McGrath and Shane Warne have had Indian tours that turned
into nightmares and dented their morale. Their averages have
been abysmal and their returns diminishing. Steve Waugh
never realised the final frontier. Pitted against crafty spinners,
alien pitches, wristy batsmen, to say nothing of the weather
and a din beyond normal ranges, the Aussies have more often
than not succumbed and been shown their place. Sledging got
them nothing more than newsprint mention.
But the same Aussie tactic has been used by Kohli and his
men to their advantage to shoot at the Aussies on their high
horse. Unsurprisingly, Kohli has retaken his position as Australia’s
public enemy No. 1 with Fox Sport featuring the Indian
captain’s picture in a ‘Vettel of the week’ poll alongside that of
a puppy, a kitten and a panda as the ‘cheat-gate’ saga unfolded.
Although the two cricket boards have quickly reconciled
and decided to move on from the bitter controversy, it adds
to the intrigue of an already combustive series. As the contest
moves to Ranchi next, we could yet have another classic on
the cards.
