Has Indo-Aussie rivalry surpassed Indo-Pak and England-Aussie rivalry??

[suraj]

I think it has- although there is bad blood I think it may end up being good for cricket I don't think the Indo-Pak matches evoke the same passion anymore except maybe for a few matches. The thrill of a victory vs the gloom of a loss is not the same as it was years ago. The Aussie-England rivalry was limited more to tests anyway but the results of last series were so lop sided that despite off-field remarks there is little to get excited about in the matches. Compared to this the Indo-Aussie teams and fans have really started getting into tussles & some (not all) matches have been really competitive too so at present this might be the rivalry to follow. Of course this will only be maintained if India performs well against the Aussies in the future otherwise the off-field antics of both teams are just going to fizzle out. Post your thoughts here

[coffee_rules]

May for the nuisance value, the rivalry is being hyped. But Ind-Pak has historic rivalry going back to the birth of Pakistan, border disputes, religious conflict, and military wars as well. Altho, the intensity has dropped now exponentially since 2004, as Pak is turning out to be a minnow for India.

[suraj]

May for the nuisance value' date= the rivalry is being hyped. But Ind-Pak has historic rivalry going back to the birth of Pakistan, border disputes, religious conflict, and military wars as well. Altho, the intensity has dropped now exponentially since 2004, as Pak is turning out to be a minnow for India.

Well thats my point- it may have started because of nuisance value but it can develop into a healthy rivalry if India puts up good performances specially in ODIs where Aussies have dominated in the past

[Cricketics]

the controversiez weren't really that big the way they have been hyped..

[cochise]

Not yet, but it has potential. Not a fan of all the hullabaloo and rancour of this tour though.

[Gambit]

It's more between the fans now that it is between the teams IMO.

[Dravid]

It's more between the fans now that it is between the teams IMO.

i think its equal i mean look at this: pup mouthing off too srt jumbo-punter symo- bhajji hayden- bhajji sharma- symo..

[Lurker]

If by rivalry you mean cricket fans fighting on messageboards 24*7 like little kids then yes Indo-Aussie rivalry is the biggest one right now. It is also the most nonsensical at the same time.

[coffee_rules]

It's more between the fans now that it is between the teams IMO.

I don't think so. Certainly what has been said in the field, hasn't stayed in the field. So, bickering and rancour is shown outside the field as well. Ponting accusing Indian journalists of questioning his integrity, Judge Hanson doing the same for Symonds, etc.

[suraj]

If by rivalry you mean cricket fans fighting on messageboards 24*7 like little kids then yes Indo-Aussie rivalry is the biggest one right now. It is also the most nonsensical at the same time.

Bhajji- Symonds, Hayden-Bhajji, Ishant-Symonds, Ponting-Bhajji, Clarke sledging, Dhoni's comments, Hogg abuse............................................. all happening on messageboards:rolleyes:

[cochise]

http://www.theage.com.au/news/cricket/oh-to-weed-out-the-ill-will/2008/02/28/1203788542286.html

Oh, to weed out the ill will Email Printer friendly version Normal font Large font Peter Hanlon February 29, 2008 Advertisement BRETT Lee was reiterating his rose-coloured view of Australia-India relations this week — "There have been some great friendships formed over the summer … every player has played a part in that" — when the hotel fire alarm went off. It was a polygraphic moment. An increasingly embittered summer of cricket is about to spit, hiss and cuss its way to an end, and not before time. The cricket has become a sideline, the schoolyard tit-for-tat the main event, the reason to turn up or tune in. Matthew Hayden thinks Harbhajan Singh "an obnoxious little weed", which is not terribly nice, even if he meant noxious (Hayden is obviously more cook than gardener). Harbhajan has branded the Queenslander one of the game's most hated figures. Hayden was charged, reprimanded, and offered an apology to rank alongside Wayne Carey's infamous, "If I have offended anyone, I am sorry". Without the phoney war, the dying of the tri-series format that has been a summer staple since 1979 might have been remembered for the swansongs of Adam Gilchrist and Sachin Tendulkar, the former going to that great IPL in the sky, the latter unlikely to be seen here again. Instead, its echo will be: "But Miss, he hit me first!" Today's final preliminary-round match between Australia and Sri Lanka has so little appeal — the last of Gilchrist notwithstanding — it will be lucky to quarter-fill the MCG. Sunday's first final between the host and India and meetings in Brisbane, and Adelaide if required, will be more keenly monitored. There are some who feel the tourists could even pinch the series, whatever that would mean. But for most, the appeal lies as much in seeing whether the contests can sustain a level of acrimony that could only be enhanced by staging a three-round Ben Cousins bout in the innings break. Newly crowned Allan Border medallist Lee said on Wednesday that the Indians were held in "the utmost respect by all the Australian players", and that while Sunday would mean a return to "fireworks", the contest would be as ever, "hard, tough, competitive cricket — played in the right spirit, of course". Hayden, too, invoked "the spirit of our own code of behaviour and our great game of cricket". Words as thin as tempers. Lee reckons you only needed to see how the Australians responded to Tendulkar's Test centuries in Sydney and Adelaide — by applauding — for proof that all is hunky-dory. Lee seems like the sort of bloke who'd rather have a friend than a fight, but this is tosh. Everyone has applauded Tendulkar this summer. His valedictory has been stunning, and no one has been spared a final wave of his wand; in Melbourne, we feel almost short-changed that he made only 62 in the Boxing Day Test. The royal tour took in Hobart this week, with another sublime half-century. But even the on-drives, square cuts and clips to leg of one of the greatest ever to take block have struggled to retain their clarity amid so much slinging of mud. The Milo Have-A-Go cricket summer also winds up this weekend, and all over the country, boys and girls aged 12 and under will put down their plastic bats and balls and move on to the next game. It's been great to see them playing cricket. Hopefully, they haven't been watching it, too.

[Predator_05]

Bhajji- Symonds, Hayden-Bhajji, Ishant-Symonds, Ponting-Bhajji, Clarke sledging, Dhoni's comments, Hogg abuse............................................. all happening on messageboards:rolleyes:

Who cares ? It's all being blown out of proportion. I think the Gambhir-Afridi incident during the IND-PAK ODI series was far worse than any of the exchanges that happened on this tour, yet no one made such a big deal about it. I'd say calling someone a bhadwa, maa ke lode, teri maa ki ****** is a lot worse than the harmless diatribe said by guys like Hayden, Harbhajan, etc.

[suraj]

Who cares ? It's all being blown out of proportion. I think the Gambhir-Afridi incident during the IND-PAK ODI series was far worse than any of the exchanges that happened on this tour, yet no one made such a big deal about it. I'd say calling someone a bhadwa, maa ke lode, teri maa ki ****** is a lot worse than the harmless diatribe made by guys like Hayden, Harbhajan, etc.

I think thats because the contests were lop-sided

[IndianRenegade]

If by rivalry you mean cricket fans fighting on messageboards 24*7 like little kids then yes Indo-Aussie rivalry is the biggest one right now. It is also the most nonsensical at the same time.

Is it just the fans who are fighting?

[Gambit]

i think its equal i mean look at this: pup mouthing off too srt jumbo-punter symo- bhajji hayden- bhajji sharma- symo..

I don't think so. Certainly what has been said in the field' date=' hasn't stayed in the field. So, bickering and rancour is shown outside the field as well. Ponting accusing Indian journalists of questioning his integrity, Judge Hanson doing the same for Symonds, etc.[/quote'] I think the players don't really take much of it to heart(Sachin wouldn't even have batted an eyelid when Clarke said what he said) and laugh it off in the dressing room. Fans from either sides though do take it much more seriously.

[King Tendulkar]

Is it just the fans who are fighting?

You joking? The players despise each other!!

[IndianRenegade]

You joking? The players despise each other!!

Are Bhai... me bhii yeii kayearatha.... I was asking whether the fans are the only ones fighting? - in reply to Lurker's post.

[Ram]

I would take an India-Australia match any day of the week, over an India-Pakistan match. The India-Australia rivalry has come to define the sport in the last few years. It is by far the single most talked about test series and produces the most entertaining cricket of all. With regards to the other two test series that are mentioned, namely Ind-Aus and Aus-Eng, well, we know that history has got to do a lot with all the hype and controversy. ANY India-Pakistan encounter will have some amount of needle to it, given the historical tensions between the two nations. Cricket, played between these two sides, with the backdrop of political tensions, is always going to evoke increased interest. I vivdly remember, the WC 1999 match was right in the middle of the Kargil war. It was almost like the match was another forefront in the battle. I even remember our soldiers, who were fighting the war then, coming on TV and celebrating the Indian victory. And who can forget the first ball of the first test played between India and Pakistan in chennai in 1999 ? That was the FIRST test match played the two teams in a LONG time. As Javagal Srinath ran into the bowl his first ball to Afridi, one could almost sense that history is being made here. But from then on, relations between the two countries have considerably thawed. There is no explicit political tension anymore. Consequently, the intensity surrounding the matches have also considerably dropped. With regards the Ashes, it has got its own historical significance too. The Ashes will ALWAYS manage to attract a lot of media attention because the mainstream cricket media is still dominated by the English. However, because of the one-sided nature of the contests so far, the Ashes is losing its place as the most talked bout bilateral series. In 2005, things changed a bit when England won, but the fortunes and media space of the Ashes will rise and fall with the performance of the English team. For now though, its India-Australia all the way. Not in just in terms of the quality of cricket, but also in terms of controversies and media attention, it has far surpassed any of it contemporary cricket series.

[Mr. Wicket]

England/Australia's really about 11 men from both sides going at it. India/Aus these days seems to be about a boatload of fans who can't stop whinging, nitpicking and complaining about every little thing the opposition does instead of enjoying the cricket. But there's some cricket going on as well. I think. I'm sure I've seen a couple of threads here or there on this forum about the match(es), rather than just the ones whining about Gilly's walking, Dhoni's gloves, Hayden's sledges and the latest rude thing said about Harbhajan...

[King]

Not a positive rivalary really. Players from both sides have been guilty of over shading cricket with their antics. The latest is the Hayden comment. Sometimes I feel both Australia and India have mistaken playing aggressive cricket for loud mouthing. I don't want to name but some of these blokes belong in a kindergarten more than a cricket pitch. I think some players need to freakin grow up.