There can be various reasons for this shift and the 2 that
immediately come to my mind are India's historic victory in that 2001
series and the fact that since 2002, no other country has won even a
single test match in Australia, while India has won 2!!!
This rivalry shift is not limited to India only, and in Australia too, people now consider Border-Gavaskar trophy almost as big as Ashes. They have their own reasons for this: India has twice broke their record winning streak (and both times it was remarkable wins against all odds), Steve Waugh called India the final frontier, Ricky Ponting has been an utter failure with bat in India (scored next to nothing in 2001, and played only 1 match in 2004 - which apparently was the only match they lost) and even the great Shane Warne had nightmares about bowling to Indian batters, FOR Crictime Server 2.
Almost every cricket fan in Australia is looking forward to this forthcoming series, all of my colleagues at work are talking about and betting on the result of this series, the TV channels are buzzing with news about Aussies arrival in India, their first press conference, first practice session and even the first meal they had.
I thought the interest for cricket in Australia was dying because of their dominance for such a long time. The test series against Windies barely got a mention in the news and the ODIs against Bangladesh were only in news because of Symonds' fishing incident.
But the India series has changed all of that. Cricket is back into radar and I am enjoying it.
The series has huge implications for both sides. Australia will definitely miss the ever reliable Gilchrist and Symonds who is a very good player of spin. Ponting will be under huge pressure (remember that Bhajji is back in the team) and the bowling looks terribly weak, especially the spin department.
On the other hand, India have their own set of worries. After the dismal show against Lankans, the fab four will be under tremendous pressure to perform. They all are experienced enough to know that this is their do-or-die chance. If they don't perform in this series, this very well might be their last series. So it will be interesting to see how they perform and what will be their future after the series.
I don't want to make any prediction about the outcome of the series, for me its anybody's game with India having a slight advantage.
This rivalry shift is not limited to India only, and in Australia too, people now consider Border-Gavaskar trophy almost as big as Ashes. They have their own reasons for this: India has twice broke their record winning streak (and both times it was remarkable wins against all odds), Steve Waugh called India the final frontier, Ricky Ponting has been an utter failure with bat in India (scored next to nothing in 2001, and played only 1 match in 2004 - which apparently was the only match they lost) and even the great Shane Warne had nightmares about bowling to Indian batters, FOR Crictime Server 2.
Almost every cricket fan in Australia is looking forward to this forthcoming series, all of my colleagues at work are talking about and betting on the result of this series, the TV channels are buzzing with news about Aussies arrival in India, their first press conference, first practice session and even the first meal they had.
I thought the interest for cricket in Australia was dying because of their dominance for such a long time. The test series against Windies barely got a mention in the news and the ODIs against Bangladesh were only in news because of Symonds' fishing incident.
But the India series has changed all of that. Cricket is back into radar and I am enjoying it.
The series has huge implications for both sides. Australia will definitely miss the ever reliable Gilchrist and Symonds who is a very good player of spin. Ponting will be under huge pressure (remember that Bhajji is back in the team) and the bowling looks terribly weak, especially the spin department.
On the other hand, India have their own set of worries. After the dismal show against Lankans, the fab four will be under tremendous pressure to perform. They all are experienced enough to know that this is their do-or-die chance. If they don't perform in this series, this very well might be their last series. So it will be interesting to see how they perform and what will be their future after the series.
I don't want to make any prediction about the outcome of the series, for me its anybody's game with India having a slight advantage.
Comments
Post a Comment