India's Historic Win - International Media Reports Roundup

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India media hail cricket victory Indian newspapers hail the country's cricket team's one-day series victory over Australia. More... India media hail cricket victory Papers say India's victory points to a 'shift' in the world's cricket order Indian newspapers have hailed the country's cricket team's one-day series victory over Australia. India lost two of their first three games in the series, including one against Sri Lanka, who lost last April's World Cup final to Australia. But the team battled back to pip Sri Lanka for a place in the best-of-three finals series, going on to beat Australia 2-0. India last won an important limited overs series in Australia 23 years ago. Triumph Against All Oz, headlined the Hindustan Times newspaper on Monday. "The Men in Blue overcame insult and injury, hostility on and off the field from players, spectators and media, on the world's toughest tour against the world's best side," the paper said. "Australian captain Ricky Ponting admitted India outplayed them in the one-day finals. A more graceful captain would also have admitted that India had out-behaved Australia all summer." Controversy A race row and umpiring controversy had earlier threatened to disrupt the cricket tour. The controversial Sydney Test was blighted by contentious catches, a series of poor umpiring decisions and over-zealous appealing. Hours after it finished, Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh was banned for three matches for an alleged racist remark against Andrew Symonds Singh had denied the charge and the Indians threatened to abandon the tour. The controversy over Harbhajan Singh almost derailed the tour The charge of racially abusing Symonds was later downgraded to abusive language by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The ICC also accepted India's demand that West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor be removed for the rest of the series after the umpiring fiasco in Sydney. We Are The Champs, headlined The Times Of India. "MS Dhoni (India captain) and his men have probably accomplished even more. They may have signalled an impending change in the world cricketing order, while wrecking the aura of Australian invincibility," the paper said. "India has long had the financial clout. But now, with cricketing muscle lending that support, the power equations in the game seem to be shifting." They bury the biggest ghost, headlined The Indian Express. "For Indian cricket this is a red letter day. This young side has done what no other Indian team has done before - a series victory against Australia." Cricket website Cricinfo said: "India irritate Australia's senior men in a way no other team can manage and the uneasy relationship adds to the home side's confusion." Indian PM Manmohan Singh complimented the team on its victory. "It is a fabulous victory. This is victory based on teamwork and strong determination," he said. The Indian cricket board has announced cash awards to the members of the winning team.

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Summer of spunk HT Sports Desk takes a look at the key men who made the summer Down Under special for India. More... Summer of spunk Hindustan Times March 05, 2008 First Published: 16:46 IST(5/3/2008) Last Updated: 16:54 IST(5/3/2008) The smiling assassin, Anil Kumble For long thought to be the most intelligent cricketer never to lead India, Anil Kumble, after winning against Pakistan at home, took the battle to Australian shores. That he presided over the most contentious and ill-tempered series in recent memory and came out with his reputation enhanced showed that he had the leadership qualities to go with his burgeoning list of performances. He was not afraid to take difficult selectoral calls and the Australians, who knew all about his aggression as an opponent, got a peep into his mind when he declared, "there was only one team playing in the spirit of the game," in that famous Sydney press conference. Had a lesser man uttered those words the Australians would have retorted with the sharpest of verbal volleys. Simply because it was Kumble who said those words the Australians were forced to sit up and think, even if they did not agree with what was being said. Rookie of the year, Ishant Sharma When his Test debut against a weak Bangladesh team yielded just one wicket in two innings experts were quick to dismiss Ishant Sharma as the latest in the line of tall, young Indian fast bowlers who disappeared before they could make a mark. It might have been a forgettable debut, but against the formidable Australians Ishant stood taller than his 6 feet 4 inches, bringing some of the best players of fast bowling to their knees. The spell he bowled to Ricky Ponting in the second innings of the Perth Test match was the most awe-inspiring performances from an Indian fast bowler in recent memory. He teased, pried, probed, pushed back and finally squared-up and knocked over Ponting, paving the way for India's first-ever Test win at Perth. Even Steve Waugh was impressed enough to call Ishant the "best thing to have happened to India". The maestro, Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Tendulkar scored more runs in this Test series in Australia than he has ever scored in a series in his life. He scored two crucial half-centuries on top of two scores in excess of 150. Statistically 2007 has been his most productive year in One-Day Internationals since that famous run in 1998 which included the desert storm series. Yet when the CB Series began there was constant talk about how he was out of form. He'd got starts but the big scores were not coming and the usual suspects began carping about Tendulkar not being a matchwinner. When it counted the most, in the finals, Tendulkar produced two innings of such quality that no other batsman in either team came close to matching him. His unbeaten 117 buried Australia in Sydney and at Brisbane he shut them out with 91. There's little more a captain can ask from his best batsman. The quick witted, M.S. Dhoni He announced himself in world cricket as a fearsome hitter of the cricket ball, the kind of manic batsman who dealt in fours and sixes and got crowds to their feet. By the end of the Austrlian tour Mahendra Singh Dhoni had established himself as a top-draw wicketkeeper in Tests and one of the coolest heads in the Indian one-day team. His batting had evolved into something far more valuable than big hitting, with construction of innings and control of proceedings standing out. That he stuck his neck out for a group of players that few believed in, at the exclusion of two of the biggest names in Indian cricket, and then managed to get the most of his group mean that he won't have to demand respect any more; with this group he commands it. Highs A Lax Special at Sydney After a disappointing start to the tour at Melbourne, VVS Laxman regained his silken touch - lighting up the SCG with a brilliant stroke-filled ton that went a long way towards lifting spirits. Perth Glory Going into Perth, there was talk of the bounce undoing the visitors — but it played to their advantage, for the young attack made the Australians hop, skip and jump. Ishant Sharma and RP Singh stood out as India won. Birth of a star There was one spell that defined Ishant Sharma's arrival in international cricket. It was the nine overs or so over which the lanky speedster made Ricky Ponting look nothing like the world's best bat or thereabouts. Ishant finally put Ponting out of his misery. The Show Must Go On The best part of the summer was that the cricket continued despite the innumerable stand-offs between the two teams. Anil Kumble displayed statesmanship and maturity time and again, handling India with dignity and grace. Rattling the Aussies The Australian top-order is often known for its imposing strokeplay early on in the innings. This time around, the Indian bowlers hardly allowed them to get away. That man, Sachin Sachin Tendulkar shrugged off concerns regarding his form when he delivered at times it mattered the most — in the finals. Of course, he was superb in Tests. G-force and PK factor Gautam Gambhir's maturity has been one of the positives for the Indians in the one-day summer. Praveen Kumar was drafted into the side in must-win matches and the lad did not disappoint. Lows Mauled in Melbourne India were low on practice for the Australian summer. With their tour match against Victoria rained out, they went in under-prepared for the first Test at Melbourne, where they were comprehensively beaten. The umpires strike back India got a whopping eight doubtful decisions in the Sydney Test, some of which definitely played a part in India narrowly losing the Test. Steve Bucknor's howler that gave Symonds a massive reprieve cost India dearly. Opening conundrum Over the Test series, India used three combinations in Dravid & Jaffer, Sehwag & Jaffer and Pathan & Sehwag. Jaffe looked horrible and his show was a big letdown 68 overs and gone Controversy aside, India were at fault for failing to bat out 70 overs in Sydney. Monkeygate Maa-ki or Monkey, whatever Bhajji may have told Symonds, this was the ugliest moment of the summer for both and for cricket. In the final analysis, Indian idols made the difference (by- Anand Vasu) IT'S NOT quite achieving the impossible, but the magnitude of what India did over this Australian summer cannot be overstated. It's premature to say the effects will be permanent or whether this is beginning of the end of Ricky Ponting's team of indomitable Aussies, but there is no disputing that for the first time, over an entire summer in both Test and one-day cricket, the Australians have looked vulnerable. Even as a young team of whippersnappers has doggedly come at them and given to them what they usually dish out, several un-Aussie like frailties have been exposed. Forget about showing grace under pressure, the Australians, individually at times and occasionally, collectively, seem to have fallen apart. The Sydney affair with its Harbhajan—Symonds monkey controversy threatened to put an end to the tour, and divided the cricket-watching world along racial lines. Even in Australia, opinion was far from homogenous and the game desperately needed a return to the business of bat and ball. That it did in Perth, with India's marvelously unexpected win in the world champions' best known 'graveyard for visitors' and from then on, it's been quite a rollicking, glorious ride. When the confetti flew into the Brisbane air as the Indians took over the podium to hold aloft the Commonwealth Bank Trophy, a series of two halves had come to a joyous end. When Mahendra Singh Dhoni spoke soon after the win - perhaps the only Indian in the squad calm enough to say a few sensible words - he, perhaps for the first time, referred to this bunch as "my team" rather than "the boys" or "our team." When the selectors left out Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid for this ODI series, and made it quietly clear that they had picked the team at Dhoni's behest, perhaps they thought they were shielding themselves from criticism; today, they better not take the credit away from Dhoni. Playing Australia in Australia is widely regarded as the game's most difficult task and halfway through the second final, the Indian team was coming apart at the seams. Ishant Sharma was out with injury, Sachin Tendulkar off the field after copping a painful blow on the shoulder, Dhoni had his back strapped on the field and could barely use his right hand. If Australia had held out, somehow, and lived to fight another day, it might just have been too much for the Indians to take, just physically, for some like Dhoni, who have now been playing non-stop for months. But Dhoni's team, the young and occasionally unknown, went the distance and sealed the deal. And while you're apportioning credit stop and look at what Sachin Tendulkar did. Come the two finals, and like the blue-chip stock that he is, 208 runs that stood defiantly in the way of Australia's bowlers. Those look suspiciously like the statistics of a match-winner. The team had come through, and now Dhoni can do what he wishes with it, taking it forward. The first half of the series, thanks to all the muckraking that has gone on off the field, now seems a distant memory. But Anil Kumble, perhaps only given the captaincy in the first place to keep Dhoni away from the big bad wolves for a while, showed what leadership was. He did not merely lead the team to victory in Australia's ultimate fortress, Perth, but barring some incredible 'misfortune' would have won, or at least drawn, in Sydney and walked away from the series with a more fair result than 1-2. Ponting admitted that India "outplayed" them in the ODI finals. A more graceful captain would also have admitted that India had out-behaved Australia all summer. A little more than a year ago, Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, and former Cricket Australia CEO, took a low blow at Indian cricket at an ICC press conference in Mohali, saying: "I don't judge (Indian cricket) by how much money they have in the bank. “I judge them on how their team performs on the field." India have just beaten the top-two teams in ODI cricket, and won the under-19 World Cup, all the while raking in the millions. How will they be judged now?

[Sachinism]

Dhoni commended Harbhajan for standing up to the pressure and gave a backhanded compliment to the Australian cricketers and media for keeping him stirred. "As a captain it helped me. More controversies and he became more determined. He is an aggressive, expressive player - someone who fights hard and wins the game. "The backlash worked for us. After sometime we got used to it. We knew everyday we open the newspaper there would be something.

:D Nel to Sreesanth. result: nel gets smashed for 6 Jellybeans on pitch. Result: Zaheer rips through them Broad to Ganguly. Result: Next ball 6 T20, Flintoff to Yuvi. Result: Broad gets hit for 6 sixes Aussies cheat at SCG. Result: we merk them at the WACA Hayden opens his mouth: Bhaji deals with him People question Sachin: Moves to No. 1 in Ranking after 3 spectacular innings most of australia give India BS: WE Destroy Them!! when will these people learn (Any more to add)

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One of India's finest wins: Sidhu 'The best among all,' says the former opener and BJP MP, 'was India's win over the Australians in the recent third Test against Australia in Perth, as it came on Australian soil.' More... One of India's finest wins: Sidhu Onkar Singh in Delhi March 05, 2008 18:02 IST Former opening batsman and BJP Member of Parliament Navjot Singh Sidhu says the triumph over Australia in the Commonwealth Bank tri-series is among the "finest" registered by Indian cricketers. Talking to rediff.com, he rated it among the five best in India's cricket history. "The first one came in 1983, when Kapil Dev [images] and his men defeated the mighty West Indies [images]. It was a pleasurable feeling to see the Indian captain hold aloft the trophy from the balcony of Lord's cricket ground," he said. "Then there is the Twenty20 World Cup victory by Mahendra Singh Dhoni's [images] and his boys, defeating Pakistan in the final. But, I would say, the best among all was India's win over the Australians in the recent third Test against Australia in Perth, as it came on Australian soil. "That win added to back-to-back victories over the Aussies in the tri-series brought those stars back to earth," he added. He praised Sachin Tendulkar [images] for his two good innings in the last two matches of the series, which were in the main instrumental in India coming out trumps, and felt the time has come for Dhoni to take over as captain of the Test team too. "[Anil] Kumble should have been made captain five years ago; it is now time for Dhoni to take over. I also feel that the Indian players need to be more aggressive in their approach in handling sledging. There is nothing wrong in fighting aggression with aggression!"

[Zakhmi]

http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=93537 have a look.

[Hawkeye]

:two_thumbs_up: In answer to your question, losers don't learn and that in turn is why we just keeeep on winning...

[Zakhmi]

Australia's identity crisis At the start of the season Australia were intent on retaining their world-beating status and by the end were just trying to limit damage. With much hindrance from a committed opponent, they failed with both aims. The No. 1 one-day ranking will be lost to South Africa if they beat Bangladesh 3-0 this month and the drop would be another dent for a team that has struggled with its identity since the fractious Sydney Test. In the first week of the New Year Ricky Ponting won a world-record equalling 16th Test in a row and was preparing to head to Perth for what should have been the easiest contest of the series with India. Instead it became the most difficult due to a mix of public reaction to Sydney, a flat surface and a touring team that had been galvanised during their threats to take all bats, balls and briefcases home. Australia lost at the WACA and over the next two months were mostly unrecognisable from the all-conquering outfit of 2007. Read this interesting article by Peter English, the Australasia editor.

[Zakhmi]

Passing the toughest test Few teams come through a full tour of Australia with their heads held high. India managed despite several of their players touring Australia for the first time. We look at six first-timers who came through with their reputations enhanced. details

[Zakhmi]

Australia need to learn from India Ian Chappell reviews the CB series and says that while a young and vibrant Indian team can take a lot of positives out from the series, both Australia and Sri Lanka need to inject youth into what have become ageing one-day sides. for more comments...

[Zakhmi]

Tired Australia consider more breaks Australia will consider giving players operating in both the Test and one-day teams more in-season rest so they can be fresh for the most important contests. "We've only got a changeover of one or two players between the Test and one-day teams," Ponting said after the second final in Brisbane. "That's really unusual for us. "In the past couple of years we've had probably up to five or six changing over. When you have that it gives a bit more life to the group." more...

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We need a break, say delirious Team India The day after the historic ODI tri-series triumph was an extremely hectic one for the champions, by all accounts. More... We need a break, says delirious Team India Agencies Posted online: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 at 1701 hrs IST Print EmailTo Editor Melbourne, March 5: : The victorious Indian team spent a busy last day in Australia before boarding the flight for back home with the entire squad in a delirious state of mind and braced up for the hysterical reception that awaits them in India. "It was a very busy day. The boys returned from the ground late and the celebrations continued in the bar of the hotel till early morning," said an elated team manager Dr Bimal Soni a couple of hours before the team was to board the 12.30 am (local time) flight for Mumbai. Soni, and the rest of the team, were preparing themselves for the hectic schedule in India. The team will arrive in Mumbai at 10.30 am in the morning and then be flown on a chartered plane to Delhi where a massive reception will take place at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground between 3 and 6 pm. The day after the historic ODI tri-series triumph was an extremely hectic one for the champions, by all accounts. "It's been really busy. After we retired to our rooms last night, there was this flight in the afternoon for Melbourne and before the day is out, we would be on plane for back home," stated Dr Soni. By the look of it, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's wish for a quiet few days with his family would remain just that - a wish. "I haven't driven a bike for a long time," Dhoni said after he had secured the second straight win for his side in the CB series finals in Brisbane on Tuesday night. "If the series had gone to the last game, we would've boarded the flight on 9 and hardly got time for ourselves. We need some rest, either you take a break or God gives you the break," he quipped. A swooning nation though is unlikely to provide the cricket stars with some private moments as more and more gushing cricket experts join in to praise the team's achievements. "I have no doubt, this is the biggest Indian one-day triumph since 1985," stated former Indian captain Ravi Shastri as he boarded the flight for back home. "The 1983 World Cup and the 1985 Benson and Hedges series in Australia and then is this present one," he added.

[siddhu]

The day after the historic ODI tri-series triumph was an extremely hectic one for the champions, by all accounts. More... We need a break, says delirious Team India Agencies Posted online: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 at 1701 hrs IST Print EmailTo Editor Melbourne, March 5: : The victorious Indian team spent a busy last day in Australia before boarding the flight for back home with the entire squad in a delirious state of mind and braced up for the hysterical reception that awaits them in India. "It was a very busy day. The boys returned from the ground late and the celebrations continued in the bar of the hotel till early morning," said an elated team manager Dr Bimal Soni a couple of hours before the team was to board the 12.30 am (local time) flight for Mumbai. Soni, and the rest of the team, were preparing themselves for the hectic schedule in India. The team will arrive in Mumbai at 10.30 am in the morning and then be flown on a chartered plane to Delhi where a massive reception will take place at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground between 3 and 6 pm. The day after the historic ODI tri-series triumph was an extremely hectic one for the champions, by all accounts. "It's been really busy. After we retired to our rooms last night, there was this flight in the afternoon for Melbourne and before the day is out, we would be on plane for back home," stated Dr Soni. By the look of it, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's wish for a quiet few days with his family would remain just that - a wish. "I haven't driven a bike for a long time," Dhoni said after he had secured the second straight win for his side in the CB series finals in Brisbane on Tuesday night. "If the series had gone to the last game, we would've boarded the flight on 9 and hardly got time for ourselves. We need some rest, either you take a break or God gives you the break," he quipped. A swooning nation though is unlikely to provide the cricket stars with some private moments as more and more gushing cricket experts join in to praise the team's achievements. "I have no doubt, this is the biggest Indian one-day triumph since 1985," stated former Indian captain Ravi Shastri as he boarded the flight for back home. "The 1983 World Cup and the 1985 Benson and Hedges series in Australia and then is this present one," he added.

Symonds ki bahot jalne waali hai....

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Youth policy pays off for India India's selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar believes the decision to send a young squad to Australia has been vindicated after winning the Commonwealth Bank Series. More... Youth policy pays off for India 6/03/2008 8:14:18 AM PA Sport India's selection committee chairman Dilip Vengsarkar believes the decision to send a young squad to Australia has been vindicated after winning the Commonwealth Bank Series. India won the second of the best-of-three finals against Australia in Brisbane on Tuesday to secure the series 2-0, after it had won the first final clash in Sydney. Pacemen Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar, batsmen Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma and Robin Uthappa along with spinner Piyush Chawla all made impressive performances throughout the tour on their first trip to Australia. The victory has been a fitting response to criticism levelled at the selectors for dropping the likes of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly in favour of relatively inexperienced players. "Everybody has criticised this young team. Many said Mahendra Singh Dhoni's boys would return empty-handed. I am glad we have proved them wrong," Vengsarkar told the Asian Age. "It also tells us that our win in the Twenty20 World Cup was no flash in the pan. The level of commitment we showed in beating Australia twice in succession was fantastic." "I have always believed in investing in youth. Fresher legs will bring you results more often than not." Seniors Dravid and Ganguly now face an uphill battle to make the one-day squad after Vengsarkar indicated the selectors would prefer to stick with the victorious young guns. "I am not in a position to comment on Ganguly and Dravid. They have served Indian cricket for so many years," he said. "Having said that, cricket nowadays needs players who are super-fit and can handle the grind. Generally we should not change a winning combination."

[Zakhmi]

The day after the historic ODI tri-series triumph was an extremely hectic one for the champions, by all accounts. "I have no doubt, this is the biggest Indian one-day triumph since 1985," stated former Indian captain Ravi Shastri as he boarded the flight for back home. "The 1983 World Cup and the 1985 Benson and Hedges series in Australia and then is this present one," he added.

Shastriji, unnecessary hailing will only harm the team. Whenever you have tried to comment higher about anyone, he has crumbled very badly. For Shastriji's information, this tour's results are no way in comparison or in row with 1983 WC and 1985 B&HC. Let the team players live with their fighting/winning spirit so that they yield better results in the time to come.

[Zakhmi]

Ponting calls for new blood RICKY Ponting has flagged a searching review of Australian cricket and says the world champions may be forced to steal India's "policy of youth" in a desperate bid to stay at the top of the pile. As Australia came to terms with its dramatic tri-series blowout, the captain admitted his team might be forced to take drastic action and inject new blood to reinvigorate after the retirements of senior citizens Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg. As the blame game hit full swing, Australia admitted it was outfoxed by India, which sent home ageing warriors Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and V. V .S. Laxman and flew in new-age stars Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Praveen Kumar. more...

[Sachinism]

Star News :hysterical:

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Prem Panicker: Pop goes the champagne Pop goes the champagne The delicious irony of India winning the last ever CB Series and keeping permanent hold on the trophy will not be lost on a few. On Andrew Symonds, who has made much of how India, as a country, celebrated its T10 triumph, suggested it was way over the top, and suggested too that when push came to shove, India would find that ODIs against the world champions were a totally different cup of tea. India did find out, but not the way he meant it. On Ricky Ponting, who suggested that the loss in the final league game against Sri Lanka was just one of those days, and prophesied that a third final wouldn’t be required. It wasn’t, but not the way he meant it. On Tim Nielsen who, with his team in the finals ahead of schedule and sighing for fresh worlds to conquer, suggested that India should stop worrying about Australia’s gamesmanship, real or imagined, and concentrate on its own game instead. India did, with effects Nielsen did not anticipate – while his own team went on to lose three straights. Lesson one: getting to the final does not mean winning the final; it just means the work is actually ahead of you. On the Australian team, which was so focused on its time honored strategy of ‘disintegrating’ chosen members of the opposition that it forgot the prime purpose of playing: to get across the finish line ahead of the other bloke. In more than one media outlet in recent days, there has been the suggestion that the captain and the team was wearying a bit of all the controversy – how delicious, to think that for the second time (the first was at home, when Steve Waugh and his men cut loose in a bid to conquer the Last Frontier, and found themselves outplayed at that same game by Sourav Ganguly and his team), the Aussies find their own tactics backfiring to their cost. At the end of the T20 series, Ricky Ponting suggested that his team was guilty of not taking the format too seriously, of not giving it enough respect. Ironically, the same was equally true of these ODIs – apparently the only game plan the Aussies had was to come out swinging and keep swinging – with the result that they went down swinging. How strange, that it was the young Indian team that sussed out the right way to play in a series dominated by low to middling scores – keep wickets in tact at the start, and look to consolidate, even accelerate if possible, towards the end. Against that, the Australian tactic was to try and finish the game off as a contest inside the first 15 overs – with the result that time and again, during that period, it was two, three or more wickets down and in deepest doo-doo. Australia, to repeat a point already made, was not so much on winning games as on proving points, leaving their mark on select members of the opposition. Harbhajan Singh has been the main stalking horse (and while on that, he deserves enormous credit, not only for drawing the collective fire and managing to withstand it, but to come back and play a stellar role when it mattered most), and the off spinner will love that he ended up with the wicket of Symonds in both finals, Hayden in one, and a joint effort to dismiss the burly opener in the other. Similarly, the Aussies apparently could not take the sight – and slight – of Pravin Kumar, with his bewildered smile and gentle medium pace, knocking them over at Sydney, so of course today he just had to go, even if that meant Gilchrist had a waft outside his off stump, Ponting parodied a pull and his successor in waiting Michael Clarke played another. Such targeting has worked in the past (ask Zaheer Khan, who tends to lose the plot when confronted by the Aussie openers), but failed this time against youngsters who had no memories, no baggage, and hence no fear. It wasn’t all bad – the Australian bowling was almost uniformly superb; the fielding oftentimes out of this world. In the former, Nathan Bracken and Brett Lee were the cynosure – Bracken steady as you like and always on target; Lee fast, furious, and almost unstoppable, all of that with the gentlest of smiles and a total absence of lip. On the fielding side, the team performed as one, but if you had to pick one player who was most inspirational on the field it had to be Andrew Symonds – uncanny anticipation, the agility of a – monkey, I almost said in all innocence, but in these fraught times, I’ll revise and just say, blob of mercury, and a positional sense that made you wonder if he had somehow smuggled a mini radar onto the ground under those dreadlocks of his. For India, the storylines were almost entirely to the good. Sachin Tendulkar, universally pilloried (and questioned by, among others, yours truly) for “not delivering when it mattered”, delivered when it mattered – an unbeaten century that saw India home in a tough chase, followed by an immaculate 91 batting first. Dhoni picked team with a finely honed strategic awareness (and an equal unconcern for the second-guessers in the media and the records and reputations of those he had to bench or, in the pre-series selection meeting, speak against), led with vision and courage, and showed in his bowling changes and field positions, as also in his choice of when to attack or defend, that he was his own man, unwilling to follow the time honored templates of the past. Various batsmen took turns to put their hands up; the bowlers for once bowled as a unit with very few off days and certainly none that saw more than one bowler under the hammer. But the storyline here that I found most fascinating was how, each time a lead bowler was knocked out, an unheralded alternative took up the responsibility. It all started with Zaheer Khan’s injury – a potentially crippling blow to the team’s prospects, but India weathered that and went on to a 1-2 series result in the Tests, a result universally admitted to having flattered Australia. In the one dayers, just when you were wondering where the next strike bowler was coming from after Munaf Patel turned in an indifferent performance, Ishant Sharma smiled his way to a man of the match; when Ishant got injured just when India could have least afforded it, Pravin Kumar teased his way to an award winning performance in his turn. India has won ODIs, even series, in the recent past, but always such wins have raised more questions than answers. For once, that is not the case – the toughest tour in recent memory is over, the team is in fine shape, and if the BCCI could now spend some time and energy on players benched with some injury or other, assisting in their recovery and rehabilitation, India could actually be looking at previously unimagined cricketing riches – and for once, you can use the word ‘riches’ without dollar signs on either side of the word. Celebrate – and while you do, leave comments behind: your thoughts on how the series went, your picks of the best moments, your views on where the team goes from here. This win is an opportunity—for the selectors, the captain, the players, the team; how do we ensure that opportunity is built on, not frittered away as so often in the past? http://www.prempanicker.com/index.php

[flamy]

awesomeness. loved this season of cricket to bits. there is no fizz in other contests. india australia all the way!! Thankfully, we have another good series with SA..

[Rajiv]

Not a fan of shameful crowd behaviour http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/1,9191,23326560-2882,00.html SHAMEFUL cricket crowds and pathetic security have delivered a embarrassing blot on Australia, which is kidding itself if it thinks it does not have a serious problem on its hands. Crowds here are now the ugliest in the world, and that is no small statement considering some of the behaviour from fans at Indian grounds. In the ancient Indian city of Bangalore, ground officials string up fishing nets on ropes to separate fans from the players. In Kolkata, they have taken the extraordinary step to ban water bottles because they are considered a potential weapon that can be thrown at players. It is a terribly sad thing to say, but maybe we need to consider such measures here because unruly fans in Bangalore and Kolkata are not a patch on some of the crowd idiots in this country. In Brisbane on Tuesday, there were Indian fans bashed in the stands and the ugly scene of an Australian fan wiping his backside with the Indian flag. And don't forget the two streakers who ran on to the field in a major security breach which only a thundering shoulder charge from Andrew Symonds was able to halt. The second of the drunken buffoons ran close to Harbhajan Singh, taunting him, and it was thankful he did not make contact with the Indian. We have complained about Indian player behaviour all summer - and they have acted like whingers - but no one would have blamed them if they had walked off the Gabba and refused to return. Not only is crowd behaviour a massive concern, but so are the security officials who were slow to stop the trouble. After a combustible summer of cricket, how was it possible that a couple of drunks were able to run all the way to the pitch and potentially put player safety at risk? At one stage, about 10 security guards were gathered near the Gabba players' race, while only one was shadowing Harbhajan who was fielding near the boundary. Life bans and big fines are already in place for pitch invaders and Australian grounds have been repeatedly warned they can be stripped of their international status if crowd trouble persists. It does not seem to be doing any good. If there is any more trouble next summer, International Cricket Council officials should make good on their threat and wipe some grounds from the international schedule. Maybe only then will the yobbos get the message.

[Zakhmi]

Bond puts heat on Aussies Former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond believes Australia is no longer the world-beater it once was. India defeated Australia in the first two matches of the best-of-three ODI finals to clinch the Commonwealth Bank Series on Tuesday, and also caused problems in the Test series earlier this year. Australia stalwarts Justin Langer, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Damien Martyn all retired last year and the team have now lost the services of Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg. Bond, who is set to play in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) with the Delhi Giants, is convinced Ricky Ponting and his men will now find it hard to compete with cricket's top nations because of a lack of depth in their squad. "Australia are not as dominant as they have been," Bond told the Hindu. "The depth is missing and I think they would struggle in the sub-continent. "But we have to respect their cricket. Australia losing is very good for the game and it should generate interest, more so in Australia. "I am sure people will now come to a ground to watch the team not just thinking of what the margin of victory would be." http://cricket.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=41026