Sportsnob – Critics Corner

The fortress has finally been breached. As expected it was not one or two individuals who stormed the fortress but an entire team led by a very able general.

India beat Australia in Perth after playing some fantastic cricket over four days. This has to be without a doubt India’s most memorable victory overseas. For all the brouhaha about being such a dangerous venue for India, Perth has been kind to the Indian team- Kapil Dev got his 400th wicket here, Tendulkar took one giant step forward in his career when he hit 114 in 1992, Kumble took his 600th wicket on the second day and now we have beaten the Australians.

Consider the odds- full strength (barring Hayden) Australian line up, four dangerous fast bowlers, a fast pitch and coming off a very emotional two weeks after accusations and counter accusations have been bouncing off the two teams. And India had two players coming in after a full year away from the side, a very inexperienced bowling line up, and yet managed to win the game in four bloody days!

Team Performance

What is most heartening about the test win is that almost every player contributed: Jaffer and Sehwag gave us two good starts and Sehwag took those two crucial wickets on the fourth day. Dravid made that fine 93 in the first innings and reminded us why he is considered to be one of the best at the number 3 in the line up. Tendulkar made a crucial 71 in the first innings. Laxman made a top class 79 in the second innings and continued to be a big thorn in the Australian plans.

Ishanth Sharma has been bowling so well in all three test matches he has played that it seems to me that Sreesanth is going to find it tough to get his spot back. His first spell on the fourth day was absolutely top class and the way he tormented Ricky Ponting will be a talking point for years to come. RP Singh was fantastic in the first innings, swinging the ball both ways and pitched in with two crucial wickets in the second.

Irfan Pathan- it is so good to see the smile back on his face. Crucial wickets in both the innings and pitching in with an invaluable 40 in the second innings as a night watchman. The decision to keep him out of the final eleven in the first two matches seems utterly ridiculous now.

And Anil Kumble, at the age of 37, he hits his first 100, he takes his six hundreth wicket and leads India to such a victory. It couldn’t have happened to a more committed cricketer and the way he is going, it looks like he definitely has another two years of test cricket in him. Expect a post about him soon.

The Australian Performance:

The Australian team never really got out of second gear in this test match. Barring Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, and Michael Clarke to a certain extent, none of the other players established their authority in the course of the four days. Shaun Tait looked totally out of sorts and surely there must have been tremendous pressure on him considering all the expectations. One feels for Chris Rogers, Hayden will come straight back into the squad in Adelaide and he will probably continue there for another couple of years.

Ricky Ponting’s dream run over the past two years has ended and it looks like the law of averages has finally caught up with him. The 16 overs which Symonds and Clark bowled on the third day as Ponting tried to catch up with the over rate clearly made a big difference in the final result.

The Final Result:

The Perth test couldn’t have come at a better time for both the test series and world cricket. All the nonsense that has been come out of the Indian and Australian medias finally stopped as everybody started to take stock of the drama that was unfolding at the WACA. More importantly, this victory should give heart to the other teams that Australia can be beaten and beaten at home, but as Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark showed in that fantastic partnership, the Australians fight and fight hard till the last man.

On to Adelaide. Can the Indians do the unthinkable and make it in two in a row? Or will the Aussies revert to the status quo and kill the series at the Oval. It all remains to be seen.

Watch the video of Ponting struggle Ishant Sharma here