The Hindu : Sport : Australia was outplayed

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Tuesday, Nov 11, 2008
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Australia was outplayed

What really disappointed me was the lack of spark in the Australian side, writes Steve Waugh

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy changed hands after being in the safekeeping of Australia for four years. India outplayed the visitors after being dominated in Bangalore, and under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, this could just be the start of a great run for the Indians.

Australia’s inability to take 20 wickets in the first three Tests and the fact that nobody among Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke averaged near 50 is what cost Australia the series. As an Australian, what really disappointed me was the lack of spark in the Australian side right through this series.

There seemed to be a flatness that never left them, and the intent to win was somehow missing right from the moment they allowed Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan to cobble together a match-saving partnership in Bangalore.

I never thought I would say a batting partnership between Zaheer and Harbhajan was the turning point of a series, but I feel that it was the moment when Ponting lost the opportunity to press for a win and the Indians gained the upper hand.

Plenty has been said about the opportunity lost after tea on the fourth day of the last Test, when Ponting was bowling the likes of Michael Hussey to catch up with bowling rates.

It was a very confusing decision by the senior members of the side, and it seems incomprehensible how any captain would want to play catch-up when he should be pressing for a win.

The other mistake the Australians made was not to play Jason Krejza earlier in the series. He was an attacking option. He should have been in the side from at least the second Test.

For the Indians, it was a case of everybody contributing to make this series a wonderful farewell gift to both Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble.

The Indians have plenty to cheer about. Though two stalwarts are retiring, they have their succession plans in place with Amit Mishra looking promising, and young batsmen like Rohit Sharma and S. Badrinath showing potential. And if one adds into the mix Yuvraj Singh, the batting looks in very good shape.

In fact, I was also very impressed with M. Vijay who looked very assured and added a lot of energy to the fielding.

The captain also looks like a natural leader, and the team looks very comfortable with him at the helm.

Superstar in the making

However, the true superstar in the making is Ishant Sharma. India has unearthed a superb bowler in him. He has incredible accuracy, is fast, has height and is a quick learner. He reminds me of Glenn McGrath in his accuracy and of Jason Gillespie in his hand speed.

The series did not live up to its billing with a lot of defensive fields and safety-first strategy from both sides, at various points in the series.

India-Australia tussles over the last eight years have been very hard-fought, but these four Tests were not in that league because Australia were outplayed in Mohali, Delhi and Nagpur.

Gameplan

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