How odd cricket is! After casting aspersions on their spinners only a month or two ago following England's triumphant walloping of their former colony, the Indians trumped an arguably more intimidating Australian outfit on yet another dustbowl in Chennai. It seems that spinning a web around the 'Roos is considerably easier than doing it to the Poms. And Australia shall now really have to pull off something extraordinary in the coming days to avoid further embarrassment ahead of the Ashes.
The great thing to have come out of recent test cricket in India is further proof that cricket still is unique in being so vastly diverse a game. How one team dominating in a particular part of the world is so easily thwarted a few thousand miles away is so intriguing and exciting. The purists in Australia and England so often harp about how cricket in India is so "farcical", sidelining the traditional excitement of pace bowling and making cricket so boring and dreary. To many purists in the Westernized world, test cricket in India is essentially a game played in "slow motion" on "slow tracks" where the ball refuses to go to the batsman and the batsman tires in despair against the turning, twisting leather - so much in contrast to the tall, intimidating paceman steaming in on a "green top", threatening to take out the head of any soft-hearted batsman 22 yards away!
What the contrasting performances of the touring English and Australian batsmen has shown is so very different. The England team, desperate for a win and well aware of the dusty pitches the Indians were laying out for them, went on a countrywide hunt ahead of the tour looking for potential weapons and pulled out Monty Singh Panesar back from the graves, along with a certain unassuming Joseph Root from good old Yorkshire. The Australians, on the other hand, stayed true to their traditional strengths and vowed to bring along an extra-charged pace battery to the subcontinent, although including the off-spin of Nathan Lyon for academic purposes.
The Poms struggled in their first outing in Ahmedabad after keeping out Monty Panesar from the playing squad, but on correcting their mistakes in the dustbowls of Mumbai and Kolkata, reaped rewards that few of their ancestors had ever tasted before. It was England's most emphatic show of strength in India since the Battle of Plassey and the joy was more than evident. The star cast of England didn't just include their new-found spin twins Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar; in fact a more predominant performer in the tournament was their eternally classic captain Alastair Cook. Digging deep and grinding long, Captain Cook earned much accolade for his sense of application in alien conditions.
Cook's batting exploits throughout the tour was a fitting answer to the Western purists. He showed how classic test cricket is when a batsman patiently grafts the twisting, twirling ball, countering the spinner's tricks with a few of his own. The Indians had few questions to ask the English captain as he played on their patience and wore down their minds. The Australians in contrast so far have adopted their 'natural game', summoning courage and aggression with the hope of hitting the Indian spinners out of the game. The disdain hasn't worked.
Judging from their first game, the Aussies have much to learn about adapting to modern cricket's diverse playfields. They might also have to take a leaf or two out of Captain Cook's book. Test cricket in India is now the real deal. Playing spin isn't all about "slow motion" hurling or easy slogging. It's about beating the opponent in the mind. And that's what makes it ever so classic.
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| Turning the Tide: The Aussies were 'spun out' |
What the contrasting performances of the touring English and Australian batsmen has shown is so very different. The England team, desperate for a win and well aware of the dusty pitches the Indians were laying out for them, went on a countrywide hunt ahead of the tour looking for potential weapons and pulled out Monty Singh Panesar back from the graves, along with a certain unassuming Joseph Root from good old Yorkshire. The Australians, on the other hand, stayed true to their traditional strengths and vowed to bring along an extra-charged pace battery to the subcontinent, although including the off-spin of Nathan Lyon for academic purposes.
The Poms struggled in their first outing in Ahmedabad after keeping out Monty Panesar from the playing squad, but on correcting their mistakes in the dustbowls of Mumbai and Kolkata, reaped rewards that few of their ancestors had ever tasted before. It was England's most emphatic show of strength in India since the Battle of Plassey and the joy was more than evident. The star cast of England didn't just include their new-found spin twins Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar; in fact a more predominant performer in the tournament was their eternally classic captain Alastair Cook. Digging deep and grinding long, Captain Cook earned much accolade for his sense of application in alien conditions.
Cook's batting exploits throughout the tour was a fitting answer to the Western purists. He showed how classic test cricket is when a batsman patiently grafts the twisting, twirling ball, countering the spinner's tricks with a few of his own. The Indians had few questions to ask the English captain as he played on their patience and wore down their minds. The Australians in contrast so far have adopted their 'natural game', summoning courage and aggression with the hope of hitting the Indian spinners out of the game. The disdain hasn't worked.
Judging from their first game, the Aussies have much to learn about adapting to modern cricket's diverse playfields. They might also have to take a leaf or two out of Captain Cook's book. Test cricket in India is now the real deal. Playing spin isn't all about "slow motion" hurling or easy slogging. It's about beating the opponent in the mind. And that's what makes it ever so classic.
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