Wow ! The Aussies really rubbing it in...

[Ram]

India v Australia, 2nd ODI, Kochi 'We'll play aggressive cricket too' - Gilchrist Dileep Premachandran in Kochi October 2, 2007 Adam Gilchrist: "I also saw a few things that I wouldn't expect from my son, Harrison, in a backyard game of cricket" © Getty Images In the end, Australia won by the proverbial mile, but much of the talk afterwards was of some heated scenes in the middle involving Andrew Symonds, Harbhajan Singh, Michael Clarke and the man who's quickly becoming the match referees' favourite, Sreesanth. And while Adam Gilchrist basked in the glow of an 84-run win, he was also less than complimentary about some of the things he witnessed. "I saw some really hard-fought cricket," he said after the game. "There were some comments between different players and that happens. I also saw a few things that I wouldn't expect from my son, Harrison, in a backyard game of cricket." 'He is leaving nobody with any doubt as to who he is referring to' The allusion to a certain individual wasn't missed by anyone. "Sreesanth was quite outspoken about how he was going to take the challenge to us," said Gilchrist later. "He's said a lot in the press, and we see it. That's fine. We're not questioning that. That's no doubt the way he wants to play cricket. When we get our chance, we'll play aggressive cricket too." Brad Haddin, named Man of the Match after his magnificent 69-ball 87, was less diplomatic. "There's a fine line between stupidity and the spirit of cricket," he said, referring to the run-out that never was. "You can judge for yourself." 'Almost calling Sreesanth stupid and making it sound PC by saying "judge for yourself" ' Gilchrist was at his most caustic though when repeatedly queried about how India's one-day displays stacked up against their Twenty20 heroics. "The quicker we move on from this Twenty20, the better," he said with a wry smile. "Everything keeps getting drawn back to that. Congratulations to India, they had a wonderful victory, beautiful celebrations ... we all enjoyed it, we've never seen anything like it. But I'm more interested in the fact that we're 1-0 up in this one. Notice how he sarcastically refers to the Indian celebrations with a ' we all enjoyed it , never seen anything like this before" "You can't compare. Twenty20 is a different form of the game. We're not sitting back and reflecting on that Twenty20. It means nothing to us now. "We're here, 50 overs, and that's what we've got to do. In 20 overs, there's so much good fortune that needs to go your way. If you play 10 Twenty20s in a row, you can't put money on who's going to win because it's so variable. But in 50-over cricket, the better side will win more often than not. That's what we're striving to be." Read as " 20/20 is fluke , 50/50 is more the real deal. We are better at that. You make your own judgement as to who is the better team" The win itself pleased him immensely. "To have that frustrating washout [in Bangalore] and then come down here and win in front of this crowd ... it's an amazing stadium," he said. "To get that win was very satisfying. "I was thrilled with that total, I must admit. They were very quick to win the toss and bowl. They thought there was going to be a little bit of moisture and movement in the air, which there was. And they did bowl particularly well at the start. They [sreesanth and Zaheer Khan] bowled in a very clever fashion - took a bit of pace off it, swung it, and were pretty accurate. They did have us on the back foot early. To climb out of that and then slowly accelerate to finish the innings off like we did was quality batting and I think our group will take a lot of confidence from that." Their [india's] captain said after Bangalore that it seems to have been a bit of a trend for them to let teams off a little bit. But I'm not saying it was their bad bowling. I prefer to think it was our good batsmanship Adam Gilchrist Once again, Australia had to do it the hard way though. In Bangalore, they had slumped to 91 for 4. Here, it was 66 for 3. "That's two games in a row now that myself and Brad Hodge have been knocked over and we've been under pressure a little bit with the bat," said Gilchrist. "But two games in a row, we've responded and rebounded really well. "The rest of the guys applied themselves really well. Those are the type of conditions we expect over here, those type of pitches. And we've discussed a lot about how we'll approach batting on these wickets." He was guarded in his assessment of the Indian bowling. "It was too good for me [laughs]. They obviously have a very aggressive game plan. They're talking up a very aggressive game. That's fine, and we expect that from any team we play against. They had us on the back foot in Bangalore, and in a similar scenario today. Their captain said after Bangalore that it seems to have been a bit of a trend for them to let teams off a little bit. But I'm not saying it was their bad bowling. I prefer to think it was our good batsmanship." India's run chase got off to a splendid start, despite the early loss of Gautam Gambhir, but the manner in which Australia stormed back to more or less seal the deal within 30 overs was a subtle reminder of why they haven't been on the one-day pedestal for nearly a decade. "I thought our bowlers started well, we got the early wicket," said Gilchrist. "And then they were very quick to adapt and change their pace a little bit. "They went a little bit hard and a few boundaries came from bowling a bit too quickly, but they were very quick to adapt eventually. James Hopes came in and bowled a particularly good spell, but we were able to take wickets as well." Australia's dominance extended to the spin department as well. Whereas Harbhajan and Ramesh Powar went wicketless while conceding 87 from 15 overs, Brad Hogg and Clarke had combined figures of 5 for 75 from 18.3 overs. "I thought our spinners did a particularly good job," said Gilchrist. "Clarke is not considered a frontline spinner, but he came on and bowled beautifully. Hogg's had his first bowl today since the World Cup final. He'll be better for that. The ball came out of his hand very well." Haddin smiled quietly as his captain answered most of the questions, and he could afford to after his bat had done the sort of damage that you normally associate with Gilchrist. "I'm just enjoying the opportunity now to play as a batsman," he said. "It's a new role for me, and one I'm enjoying. It's my first time touring India and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. You don't get opportunities to play in a unique cauldron like this very often." As for the nonsense that went on, it was all water off a quack-quack's back. "I didn't take too much notice of what was going on," he said wryly. "I wasn't really interested." Some of the players involved in those distasteful scenes will count themselves very fortunate if the match referee takes a similar view. Given Chris Broad's reputation, they won't be holding their breath though.

[Lurker]

Another reason for freaking Buddhas to be dropped. Let the young guns take over. They might lose, heck we are losing now anyway, but they will learn and also give it back to the ill-mannered Aussies. I mean isnt it the greatest irony that Aussies are the one complaining about discipline here? Suppose Sree and co really got into them here. Ah by the way SRT has a solid 230 runs or so against Aussies in last 10 LOI, including 150 in the first 2 games(way back in 2003/04). In other words 80 runs in last 8 LOI..wonder if Uthappa, Gambhir or Sehwag would perform any worse!

[yoda]

mm, you are talking like an aussie fan. these guys are the inventors of trash talk and outright despicable behavior.

[Ram]

mm' date=' you are talking like an aussie fan. these guys are the inventors of trash talk and outright despicable behavior.[/quote'] Nah.. I aint justifying anything. Couldnt miss the sarcasm in the press-conference, just wanted to share it with the posters.

[Lurker]

Nah.. I aint justifying anything. Couldnt miss the sarcasm in the press-conference' date=' just wanted to share it with the posters.[/quote'] Fact is this wont be the first time India has been at the receiving end of sarcasm. Remember the "good" Murali claiming after SL beat India in WC - India are a great team.....on paper. Which is why I support youngsters that they dont take sh*t. Again I reiterate that we are not the best team in the world..not even by a far chance but atleast we have been able to rub it in so much to Aussies that even Gilly is starting to come out with his comments. xx

[coffee_rules]

No point in trash-talking with trailor-trash. I think Indians are taking the wrong route. Up the performances, hit some bloddy balls and then let's see who will look stupid doing the trash talk.

[Rahul Khan]

Another reason for freaking Buddhas to be dropped. Let the young guns take over. They might lose, heck we are losing now anyway, but they will learn and also give it back to the ill-mannered Aussies. I mean isnt it the greatest irony that Aussies are the one complaining about discipline here? Suppose Sree and co really got into them here. Ah by the way SRT has a solid 230 runs or so against Aussies in last 10 LOI, including 150 in the first 2 games(way back in 2003/04). In other words 80 runs in last 8 LOI..wonder if Uthappa, Gambhir or Sehwag would perform any worse!

http://www.indiancricketfans.com/showpost.php?p=190879&postcount=359 Attitude is something very important as you say ... we need someone like Rudy of Windies to incorporate positive and bold spirit in our team... on the other hand, besides our senior players we must have another potential consisting of whole team on our bench ... our bench strength must be strong, so that it inculcates winning spirit... say what!

[Cricketics]

mm may be i should say u ppl really overated India a lot after we won 2020 wc.. i remember seeing one of ur posts saying similar stuff "we will crush them, bring it on" well mate we might have won 2020, aussies still rule in 5050.. now we might win this series after losing the first odi.. still aussies are the world champs for now.. and this should not be ignored..

[veer]

i would still like SS to let his bowling talk rather than press conferences.. he sometimes go over-board..

[Ram]

mm may be i should say u ppl really overated India a lot after we won 2020 wc.. i remember seeing one of ur posts saying similar stuff "we will crush them, bring it on" well mate we might have won 2020, aussies still rule in 5050.. now we might win this series after losing the first odi.. still aussies are the world champs for now.. and this should not be ignored..

C'tics , i have to admit , my wont for seeing my team win EVERY match it plays dwarfs my cricketing intelligence ( if i have any ) many times. If you notice , before the start of EVERY series , i come up with exuberant statements that would make it seem as though i am bit of a mental , but pardon those as just some excited ramblings by a passionate fan ! :D

[gs]

I am glad that Bangalore ODI got washed out, or else the score would have been 2 nil by now!

[King]

Bullies can't take another bully and this is an example of that. I think Sreesanth has successfully got into the skin of the Aussie players. They are talking about Sreesanth more than anything else on this tour and most players have discussed Sreesanth publicly. This is a very good sign. Whatever Sreesanth is doing is great, it's not easy to get under the Aussie skin. I think he has annoyed them so much they can't stop thinking about him.

[Lurker]

Bullies can't take another bully and this is an example of that. I think Sreesanth has successfully got into the skin of the Aussie players. They are talking about Sreesanth more than anything else on this tour and most players have discussed Sreesanth publicly. This is a very good sign. Whatever Sreesanth is doing is great' date=' it's not easy to get under the Aussie skin. I think he has annoyed them so much they can't stop thinking about him.[/quote'] I concur Ravi. What worries me a bit is that Aussies, all the players, shall come heavily on Sreesanth so as to make a point. I just hope the Indian team sticks together and fires back as a unit. It would be a crying shame if players took a step back and watched Sree getting flogged. My personal worry is probably partly stoked by the fact that while Aussie seniors like Ponting and Gilchrist will leave no stones unturned to have a go at Sree, Indian seniors like Sachin/Dravid/Kumble/Ganguly will choose to stand back and not get involved...hopefully I am wrong. xx

[beetle]

They won the match....they have the rubbing it in rights! For the time.. .agla match hamara hai!

[fineleg]

mm may be i should say u ppl really overated India a lot after we won 2020 wc.. i remember seeing one of ur posts saying similar stuff "we will crush them, bring it on" well mate we might have won 2020, aussies still rule in 5050.. now we might win this series after losing the first odi.. still aussies are the world champs for now.. and this should not be ignored..

C'tics , i have to admit , my wont for seeing my team win EVERY match it plays dwarfs my cricketing intelligence ( if i have any ) many times. If you notice , before the start of EVERY series , i come up with exuberant statements that would make it seem as though i am bit of a mental , but pardon those as just some excited ramblings by a passionate fan ! :D

I'll have to agree with C'tics and MM's highlighted post :D Just kidding. On a more serious note: It seems like we do well in 2020 (short burst of energy and focus), and reasonably ok in Test matches (ppl like AK, RD who can be slow, but steady for a long duration). 50-50 --> we are unable to sustain the energy and focus for a longer duration. People like AK and RD who are slow and steady cannot help in 5050 becos you need more energy and you need to sustain as well. I see a year or two ahead, where we will get thrashed in 5050s not just by world beating Aussies, but even Pak, NZ, SL will keep beating us in 5050s.

[Don]

6 wkts in 2 games...............21 wkts in 7 games. i will take that.

[Gambit]

Each one of India's last 13 ODI wins over Australia has seen SRT(and in some games Laxman as well) produce a sterling performance. His recent trough against them has seen us lose each and every game. I guess it's fair to say that against them we need him to fire.

[Lurker]

^^ The last of these wins came in 2004 January....40 months or so since today Gambo. :sad_smile:

[Gambit]

Yup. And his trough against them started back then.

[coffee_rules]

The last win was in 2004 series when laxman scored a 100 in Australia. 7 losses since then and 3 abandonned (thanks to rain)...