BOMBAY, 26 December 2003 — One had never noticed so much hype before the start of a Test match in Australia in recent times, as one is seeing now on the eve of the Boxing Day match at what is arguably the biggest cricket ground in the world.
Calcutta’s Eden Gardens packs in more spectators, over a 120,000 on a house-full day, to be precise, but the most gigantic and beautifully-structured stadium is undoubtedly the MCG at Melbourne. Anything of great significance that India have ever achieved at this famous venue is the winning of the Olympic hockey gold at the 1956 Olympics. Yes, the MCG was also the main Olympic stadium then.
This is something that the present Indian team can take inspiration from, apart from the pleasant acclaim that followed their stupendous victory at Adelaide. It is this ancient record more than any previous cricketing feat at the venue that is bound to encourage the tourists.
India are one-up with two to go, the one at Melbourne, starting Friday, and the fourth and the last at Sydney. However much the die-hard followers of the game at home may wish that India win, or at least not lose the next two Tests, the challenge for the Saurav Ganguly-led Indian team is going to be formidable. There can be no denying the fact that India were the better side, if not at Brisbane, certainly at Adelaide, and the four-wicket victory was highly deserving. But even their most faithful and loyal supporter will admit that the Australians were caught when they were not at their best. The second innings batting collapse was unexpected. Just as inexplicable was Steve Waugh’s policy of containment of the Indian batting machine than the prime objective of wrecking it by going for the wickets.
A readymade excuse for the Australian captain was that he did not have the bowlers to do either. Be that as it may, the Australian team not only surrendered the initiative, but also a big chunk of psychological advantage to their less fancied rivals at the start of the series. All the hype built up in the independent media and raised by the public relations men connected with the Australian team, has been directed toward achieving just one objective of softening the triumphant Indian team and halt its march to greater success.
This Indian team, led by a captain who wears belligerence on his shirt-sleeves and rarely shows signs of sulking, is thus made of sterner stuff than even the more fancied sides that had undertaken the tough tours of Australia.
Australian coach John Buchanan did something that may not be in keeping with the accepted ethics for men in such positions, He wrote strange letters to every member of the team at the end of the fourth day of the Test itself. He then had the contents of the private letter cleverly leaked out.
Cricket Australia did not take kindly to this act, but the Indian team just did not bother about the whole business that had received widespread publicity and was the talking point for the last several days. When asked, the Indian captain said, with enough scorn, “What letter? Well, we have no time to read our own received from home.” He finally said that it was a private matter concerning the Australian team and that he was least bothered.
Similar was the response when a couple of newspapers wrote that Glenn McGrath, who is out of action with ankle injury, has passed on an effective plan he has evolved to stop Rahul Dravid in his high-scoring stride, as also to contain Tendulkar and Laxman.
Quite a few well-worked out plans are making the rounds of both the print and electronic media, all aimed at the Indian team. The return of Brett Lee in the team is being bandied as a major boost to the Australian team. Although official records rate Shoaib Akhtar as the fastest bowler in the world, the Australians seem to live in their own belief. One newspaper came up with a big headline that said “World’s fastest bowler has come to destroy the Indian batting.” So much for words, let us see what really happens on the field of play.
The Indians have deliberately kept a low profile and even the players’ celebrations after the Adelaide victory was low key. They have decided to spend more time in introspection and planning for the next match. So pre-occupied were the players in this task that they treated their three-day side game against Australia “A” at Hobart lightly. They did not want to risk any injuries and so kept their main players away from the action. The Australian media did not miss the occasion to berate the Indian team’s casual attitude.
The unflappable attitude of the Indians is going to stand them in good stead. Despite all the hype, inwardly, it is the Australian team that is worried. The outgoing captain Steve Waugh might even be desperate, as he does not want to spoil his excellent record, which includes the rare feat of never losing a series at home. The Australian team too must be trying to preserve their hard-earned pride of being the reigning world champions.
Whatever may be the ultimate outcome of the Melbourne Test and the overall result of the series, it is, for once, advantage-India at the start of the third Test. The Australians are shaken, but have not been comprehensively beaten as yet. Ganguly would like to complete the job sooner than wait for Sydney. A grueling battle is indeed on.
