Over the past decade Indian cricket fans have been absolutely and utterly spoilt by the exploits of the team. True we have suffered some big setbacks (the World Cup this year) but by and large since 2000 we have been the second best team in the World. It is a fact that some meaningless one-day performances in between have removed the shine off what has been a fantastic seven years. Our performances in Australia, Pakistan, England, South Africa and even West Indies would have been hailed as brilliant in any other decade, but thanks to the incredible benchmark set by Australia we have not enjoyed our successes. All Indian fans want is for us to compete with Australia and if possible just knock them over. Very small expectations indeed.

After the Melbourne defeat I felt that we would have a tough time avoiding a three nil spanking (a draw in Adelaide of course!) and watching Symonds and Hogg tear apart our bowling attack didn’t make things any brighter.

And then Mr. Very Very Special Laxman got into the picture. Laxman showed us exactly why many believe that he has underperformed at the international level despite a test average of nearly 45. In his innings of 109, Laxman played every shot in the book and left men like Richie Benaud mumbling “extraordinary talent”. The cover drive, the pull, the little push that goes all the way to the long on boundary and of course the little flick of those rubber wrists- we saw them all. And he absolutely tore into Michael Johnson (who must have been thinking that test cricket was a piece of cake till then). Backed by a gritty Rahul Dravid at the other end (the pair brilliantly titled as Will and Grace by Sid V), Laxman turned the clock back and reminded us why exactly the Australians treat him with so much reverence. 167 in 1999, 178 in 2004 and now a 109 in 2008. How Laxman must wish the next two tests were played at Sydney too.

You can the video of Laxman’s innings here

Turn back the clock: You can also watch the videos of the 178 and the 167

Four years back, Sachin produced one of the greatest displays of grit and determination when he scored that fabulous innings of 241 at the same ground. In doing so, he almost stole the show from the real hero of that test match- Steve Waugh. Just last week I was left wondering whether he would even score another test century and as ever he went and did just that. A fantastic 154 gave the fans at the Sydney Cricket Ground full paisa vasool. And also led to what will go down as one of the most memorable banners ever- “Commit all your crimes when Sachin is bating. They will go unnoticed because even the Lord is watching”. He was superbly assisted by Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma who showed Yuvraj and Dhoni that Lee and co. can be conquered.

Watching Sachin and Laxman bat (and Ganguly to a certain extent), I was left wondering how things could have been different in the first test if only these guys could have gotten more match practice before Melbourne. And also watching them left me a bit depressed cause I know that they aren’t going to be around the next time India travels to Australia to conquer the final frontier.

Watch Sachin’s video here

Watch Sachin’s 148 ( in 1991 ! against McDermott and co.) and his epic 241.