MUMBAI, 6 March 2008 — It just did not work. If anything, it actually backfired and Australia lost as much their pride as they did the triangular One-day series title to India.
One is talking of the misplaced arrogance of a formidable team, and world champions at that. This arrogance can be both constructive as well as destructive. On the positive side is the utilization of the formidable status to the hilt to beat all-comers. But the Australian team, led by Ricky Ponting, opted to use other means to browbeat the young Indian team.
The mean tactics used were in the form of extraneous pressures being brought to bear on a couple of players from the Indian squad, who they feared, would play an important role in the team’s overall performances. Ponting’s quartet of Andrew Symonds, Mathew Hayden, Michael Clarke and Brad Hogg first faked a racist charge against Harbhajan Singh, during the Sydney Test, and they were joined in this by a section of the media.
When the ICC-appointed independent authority (a high court judge called from New Zealand) cleared the Indian off-spinner of the racist charge, for lack of evidence, they picked on young fast bowler Ishan Sharma, who was proving to be a thorn in the side of their leading batsmen. Here too the bullying tactics did not work.
These slurs and insults only contributed to bringing about a greater unity of purpose among Dhoni’s boys and their challenge grew more resolute. Just before the best-of-three final, a particular section of the media, whom the rest of them dubbed as being highly irresponsible, again raised the racist bogey. This time they maintained that certain gesticulations of Harbhajan Singh amounted to a racist slur. Once again, the ICC found no evidence of any kind to even accept the charge.
What happened next must constitute a most abominable step ever taken in the annals of international sports. Channel Nine, the host broadcaster decided to install a dedicated camera constantly on Harbhajan Singh from the moment he entered the Gabba Oval for the second final last Tuesday. The camera picked up every movement, gesture and spoken word of Singh. The entire Indian team took it as an insult that one of its players was under a kind of surveillance, as if he was a criminal.
Burt neither Harbhajan nor any member of the Indian team allowed this to weigh on their minds lest they lose their concentration. Seeing the confidence of the Indian players, it was the Australian team that looked rattled and could not hold their nerves in a thrilling finish. India thus triumphed by nine runs to win two successive finals to lift the title.
In the end, one can only say that those who had planned a bitter psychological battle against the Indian team for the sake of bettering the chances of the home team, had rendered a distinct disservice to Australian cricket. Because true champions do not need such false props.
