 |
|
| SPORTS TRIBUNE |
|
INDIA VS AUSTRALIA Ever the bridesmaid IN THE NEWS |
|
|
|
INDIA VS AUSTRALIA
India’s
first Test against Australia beginning on October 6 will renew the rivalry which has seen numerous nerve-wracking contests. Sachin Tendulkar’s brutal assault on Shane Warne, Laxman’s artistry at Kolkata, Harbhajan’s hat-trick at Eden Gardens and Maninder’s involvement in the tied Chennai Test have all become part of cricket folklore. The Australians seem to bring the best out of the Indians. Their repeated visits to India in search of elusive series win — final frontier as they call it — have proved futile for the past 35 years. Tendulkar, Laxman, Harbhajan and Anil Kumble, among the current set of players, seem to thrive against the mighty Australians. Laxman and Harbhajan caused quite a stir in the now-famous Kolkata Test in 2001, where India managed an amazing turnaround. The stunning victory, from an seemingly irretrievable position, snapped the Australians’ run of 16 consecutive Test victories. In 1998 series, Australians were brutalised and traumatised by a rampaging Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar, taking guard well outside the leg stump and whacking Warne over mid wicket is still fresh in mind. Warne suffered from nightmares after he was savaged by the little master. Tendulkar not only won the three-Test series for the country 2-1 but was also instrumental in Ranji Trophy champions decimating the Australians by 10 wickets. In 2001 the Aussies made a perfect start. Led by tenacious Steve Waugh, they cantered to a fluent 10-wicket victory in the first Test in Mumbai as Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist made centuries. The Australians had the second Test in Kolkata firmly in their grasp. With India following on, Test and series victory looked on the cards. Unfortunately for the Australians, Laxman and Rahul Dravid came in the way. Batting session after session, Laxman hit a monumental 281 while ‘The Wall’ Dravid scored 180. Both crafted a 376-run partnership. Harbhajan Singh, in the absence of Anil Kumble, bamboozled the rival batsmen. Australians fell to the guile of the Punjab off-spinner. Harbhajan completed a hat-trick in the second innings, the first by an Indian bowler in Tests, as India emerged a comfortable 171-run winners and levelled the series 1-1. Replying to Australia’s 391, India, in the decider in Chennai, posted 501 thanks to a superlative 126 from Tendulkar and useful contributions from Dravid, SS Das, S Ramesh and Laxman. Hayden, who was in great form throughout the series and scored 549 runs, hit a double century. Wily Harbhajan remained an enigma for the Australians. He took 15 wickets in the Test as India managed a two-wicket win to clinch the series. With 32 wickets in the series, Harbhajan’s role proved decisive in the series. During the 1998 series, Tendulkar served notice of his form and skill with his 192-ball 204, which paved the way for a sensational 10-wicket victory for Mumbai. The knock gave a glimpse of the things to come. Leg-spinner Shane Warne was carted all around the park and ended with the pathetic bowling figures of 16-0-116-0. In the first Test in Chennai, Sachin was in imperious form in the second innings. Out to settle a score with Warne, he took guard six inches outside the leg stump. The ensuing assault demoralised Warne as well as the Australian team. Tendulkar returned unbeaten on 155. Kumble took four wickets in each innings as India romped home by 179 runs. Captain Mohammad Azharuddin displayed his wristy magic, blasting an unbeaten 163 in the second Test in Calcutta. Tendulkar, maintaining his form, chipped in with an 86-ball 79. Javagal Srinath bowled a torrid spell taking six wickets while Kumble had an eight-wicket haul as the Australians lost by an innings and 219 runs. However the Aussies regrouped remarkably well in the last Test in Bangalore. Tendulkar’s 177 went in vain as centuries from Mark Waugh and Taylor helped Aussies score an eight-wicket victory. In the one-off Test in 1996 at Ferozshah Kotla, 152 by wicketkeeper Mongia, who was promoted as an opener, and 66 by Ganguly laid the foundation for a victory. Kumble, exploited the track well, taking four wickets in the first innings and five in the second. India won by seven wickets. A double century by Dean Jones, a scintillating century by Kapil Dev and 90 by Sunil Gavaskar ensured a riveting contest in the 1986-87 Madras Test. When off-spinner Greg Matthews trapped Maninder Singh lbw, the match ended in a tie. This time the Australians, after successful tours of Sri Lanka and Pakistan, fancy their chances against India. They have will as well as skill to earn the elusive series win. An engrossing battle could be on the cards in the four-Test series. For that to happen the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up will have to start firing as effectively as it did during the previous tours of Australia and Pakistan. |
|
Ever the bridesmaid
So
near yet so far. Like Sourav Ganguly’s India, the England one-day cricket team suffers from the ‘final’ jinx. It has played in four finals of major tournaments in the past 25 years and lost them all. England faltered at the last hurdle for the first time in the 1979 World Cup. Put into bat, the West Indies piled up 286 for nine in the allotted 60 overs, thanks to a brilliant 138 by Vivian Richards and a whirlwind 86 off 66 balls by Collis King. In reply, England made a solid start, with openers Mike Brearley and Geoff Boycott putting on a partnership of 129. However, after both of them left, the England innings fell like “a row of bicycles”. The last eight wickets fell for just 11 runs, and the wrecker-in-chief was big Joel Garner, who returned figures of five for 38. In the 1987 World Cup final, David Boon’s 75 and Mike Veletta’s 45 took Australia to 253. England were going along nicely at 170 for three, but a needless reverse sweep by Mike Gatting off Allan Border proved to be fatal. Allan Lamb (45) tried to salvage the situation but England ultimately fell short by seven runs. England in the 1992 World Cup was a strong one-day side, boasting of Graham Gooch, Ian Botham, Alec Stewart, Graeme Hick, Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis. In the final, a 139-run third-wicket partnership between Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, along with some big hitting by Wasim Akram, took Pakistan to a total of 249. England’s chase began badly as they lost four wickets for 69 runs. Neil Fairbrother and Allan Lamb then began a rearguard action. Just when their partnership seemed to acquire threatening proportions, Akram came up with a beauty that castled Lamb. He did an encore on the next delivery, getting rid of Chris Lewis first ball. England never recovered from this double blow and lost the match by 22 runs. The ICC Champions Trophy 2004 was England’s first final in a big tournament in 12 years. This time it was bad batting, (Courtney) Browne and (Ian) Bradshaw that led to their downfall. However, England can draw some solace from the fact that three other countries — India, the West Indies and Australia — have had mixed luck in the big finals. Prudential World Cup (1975): West
Indies b Australia by 17 runs. Prudential World Cup (1979): West
Indies b England by 92 runs. Prudential World Cup (1983): India
b West Indies by 43 runs. Benson & Hedges World Championship of
Cricket (1985): India b Pakistan by 7 wickets. Australasia Cup
(1986): Pakistan b India by 1 wicket. Reliance World Cup (1987):
Australia b England by 7 runs. Nehru Cup (1989): Pakistan b
West Indies by 4 wickets. Australasia Cup (1990): Pakistan b
Australia by 36 runs. Benson & Hedges World Cup (1992):
Pakistan b England by 22 runs. Hero Cup (1993): India b West
Indies by 102 runs. Australasia Cup (1994): Pakistan b India by
39 runs. Wills World Cup (1996): Sri Lanka b Australia by 7
wickets. ICC Champions Trophy (1998): South Africa b West Indies
by 4 wickets. ICC World Cup (1999): Australia b Pakistan by 8
wickets. ICC Champions Trophy (2000): New Zealand b India by 4
wickets. ICC Champions Trophy (2002): India-Sri Lanka final
washed out. ICC World Cup (2003): Australia b India by 125
runs. ICC Champions Trophy (2004): West Indies b England by 2
wickets. Pakistan have been the best finishers, winning five of the
seven finals in which they have appeared. Australia have won three
finals and lost an equal number. The West Indies and India have each won
three finals but lost four. Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand
boast of a 100 per cent record, emerging victorious in the solitary
final each of them has figured in. England, of course, are the only
major Test-playing nation who have yet to lay hands on a big ODI trophy. |
|
IN THE NEWS After a dismal summer, the performance at the tournament came as a timely boost for the Caribbean team. The team played with gusto, displaying a never-say-die-spirit, which was missing for the past few years. Wicketkeeper Courtney Browne and bowler Ian Bradshaw staged an astonishing rearguard action for the ninth wicket to wrest the initiative and the trophy from England. |
sm
Rathore deserves Khel Ratna “Flying Sikh” Milkha Singh has rightly commented that this year, the highest sports award of the country should have been bestowed on Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who won a silver in shooting in the Athens Olympics. This year this award was bestowed on Anju Bobby George, who did not win even a bronze medal in her event of long jump at the Athens. Her coach, Bobby George, and she herself had been saying that she would win a gold in the Olympics and would jump more than 7 metres. She could neither win any medal, nor achieve the distance in long jump. Narinder Singh
Chandigarh CBSE meet The present state of India sports is discouraging. During the CBSE cluster meet at Chandigarh’s Sector 46 sports complex, no prior intimation was given to any school about the cluster meet. At the last minute certain schools registered their entry. But many more failed to gain entry due to which many good sportspersons were deprived of a chance to participate in the meet. At the venue there was no proper announcement or proper management. There were no free snacks for athletes. The CBSE provides enough money to organise such events but where does the money go? Harish,
Chandigarh NatWest cricket After having been outplayed in all departments of the game in the first two ODIs of the Natwest series, India managed to salvage some lost pride by beating England in the last match of the tournament. However, their batting performance was below par as batting first, they could score only 204 runs which was not a winning total. Anyway it proved to be a blessing in disguise as England collapsed chasing the meagre total. India, who seemed all set for a whitewash, escaped the ignominy of defeat. In all three ODIs, India scored 170, 237 and 204, respectively. Such shaky batting will not stand them in good stead. It was heartening to see the ‘Turbanator’ regaining his form. Tarsem S. Bumrah,
Batala Congrats, Dravid Congratulation to Rahul Dravid, the stylish batsman, for bagging the ‘Player of the Year’ and ‘Test Player of the Year’ ICC awards. Gurudev S. Jain,
Baltana |
T