S P O R T S

Lost on field, chirpy Aussies ramp
up verbals
New Delhi, March 24
The Shane Watson-led Australia, despite the defeat within three days, fought tooth and nail in the fourth Test. No effort was spared, not even words spoken in anger or provocation, or words designed to provoke.

Man-of-the-Series R. Ashwin; Man-of-the-Match Ravindra Jadeja returned the favour. Tribune photo

Don’t speculate on Sachin: Dhoni
New Delhi, March 24
Has Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 32 and 1 against Australia in the fourth Test, which India comprehensively won at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground here today by six wickets, played his last Test on Indian soil? “Don’t speculate”, snapped Mahendra Singh Dhoni, though the captain said he himself would be around may be only for four years.

Sachin Tendulkar holds aloft the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. — Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

If Sachin Tendulkar can struggle, so can we: Watson
New Delhi, March 24
The failure of Australia's top order with the bat was one of the main reasons why the men from Down Under were whitewashed by India 0-4 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Sunday. In almost every Australia innings, the highest score came from a batsman batting below No. 6.

One of the greatest batsmen of all time, Sachin, also struggled our youngsters can take heart that it is not just them — Shane Watson

Day 3 highlights

Malaysian GP
Vettel victorious
Sepang, March 24
World champion Sebastian Vettel incensed Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber Sunday as he pulled off a risky overtaking move to snatch victory in a pulsating but contentious Malaysian Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber of Australia leads team mate Sebastian Vettel of Germany during the Malaysian GP at the Sepang International Circuit. — Reuters

Lost on field, chirpy Aussies ramp up verbals
Rohit Mahajan
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 24
The Shane Watson-led Australia, despite the defeat within three days, fought tooth and nail in the fourth Test. No effort was spared, not even words spoken in anger or provocation, or words designed to provoke. One consequence was that it became the most edgily fought match of the series; another consequence was that angry words were exchanged by several players, angry send-offs given to players dismissed.

Thus it was that Ishant Sharma today found himself fined for breaching ICC Code of Conduct, and fined 15 per cent of his match fee.

Ishant had, after getting the wicket of James Pattinson in the 45th over today, pointed out the way to the pavilion to the departing batsman. He also spoke words that were designed to burn the batsman’s ears. A few other players would consider themselves fortunate for not having incurred the ref’s wrath.

David Warner was “aggressive” all of yesterday. His send-off to Virat Kohli yesterday was less than completely polite, laced with obscenities as it was; Kohli, no slouch with expletives, responded in kind. Ed Cowan, Matthew Wade, Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and James Pattinson all chipped in with words at every opportunity.

At one point, umpire Aleem Dar warned MS Dhoni for running on the danger area; at this Warner unleashed an unending stream of words at the Indian captain. He was eventually restrained by Watson, and shooed away by umpire Richard Kettleborough. Dhoni said it was just a case of “schoolboys” acting like older men.

“The schoolboys just graduated into college for a while!” he said. “One thing I always tell the match referee is that whichever team starts it, the other team has an equal right to give it back to them — and then you should stop it, saying: ‘No more, now both the sides need to be disciplined’.”

“Because if you stop one side from saying a few things that need to be said at that point of time, the individuals in that side just keep it on, keep it on,” the captain added. “And some times, they just blow it out on the opposition, that’s the time when people get fined and disciplinary action is taken. I was very happy with the way it was handled. And after that, I think the teams responded very well.” Sledging was used as a strategy by the Australians, to fire themselves up and to rile the Indians. “Australia plays its cricket hard, we play hard but fair, we know where the line is,” Nathan Lyon said.

“We push to the limit and that is the way we play our best cricket. That is something we haven’t done in the last three Test matches and we saw the reward of putting India under a bit of pressure. I guess we do wish that we did it earlier.”

Watson, the captain for this match, spoke similar words today. “I know when the Australian team is playing best when we are aggressive,” he said. Australia lost the series rather badly, all four ending within 4 days.

Don’t speculate on Sachin: Dhoni
M. S. Unnikrishnan
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 24
Has Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 32 and 1 against Australia in the fourth Test, which India comprehensively won at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground here today by six wickets, played his last Test on Indian soil?

“Don’t speculate”, snapped Mahendra Singh Dhoni, though the captain said he himself would be around may be only for four years. A playful smile caressed Dhoni’s lips as he interacted with the media for the first time in the fourth Test, after making a clean 4-0 sweep of the series. Dhoni did not see this as a revenge series for India’s 0-4 rout during their tour Down Under last year. “It doesn’t matter if it is 0-4, 2-0 or 4-0. I don’t use the word revenge. It was a good, important series for us. Plenty of individuals did quite well, both in batting and bowling,” he stated.

“It was good for the individuals to come and perform. You need to put in a good performance. Overall, excellent performance”, noted the captain. He said the turning wicket helped the spinners, and it tested his own skill as a batsman (He made 24 each in either innings).

Dhoni admitted that the routs in England and Australia, and then the series loss to England at home, were all difficult phases, but the team have lived to learn from the experience, to reach the present high. “Yes, we had a tough time. You learn a lot during tough period than when the going is good”. Dhoni \said having a bunch of youngsters in the team, after some of the seniors had exited, helped him mould the team the way he wanted, to shape them up for the collective good of the team.

“We did a lot of emphasis on partnerships, not individual achievements. All the individuals executed their plans well”.

He said he had to change a bit, in his approach to the players, as the line-up has changed. “It’s a new side. The batting lineup has completely changed, so you have to change a bit, to get them into a system to do what they have to do”. He said the system should continue even after his exit as he may be in the team for another four years. “But most of the young players will be around for another eight years, and it would be better for the team, if a system is put in place.

Dhoni explained that his on-field strategy was for the larger benefit of team cause, as the way cricket is played has changed.

“The era of aggressive cricket is gone”, he said, referring to his field placements. The captain was impressed with some of the new guys in the team. “The openers (Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara) have done well. Vijay has batted well over a period of time (430 runs in this series), Dhawan was brilliant in his debut Test and Pujara is improving (he had seven wickets in this Test, including 5 for 58 today, and overall 24 scalps, and 43 runs in the first innings to earn the man of the match award).

A youngster like him, who can bowl consistently well, and bat a bit, is considered an all-rounder”, Dhoni said.

And Ashwin, being the lead bowler, bowled really well. “It was important for him to bowl well and get wickets. If he did not, then Jadeja did”.

Dhoni equated some of the on-field angry exchanges and gestures between the players as the consequence of “school boys graduating into college”. “But I was very happy with the way the umpires and the match referee handled the situation. He also praised the bowling of pacer Bhuwaneshwar Kumar in the series, and felt the pacer would be very useful in conditions like that in South Africa “as he can swing the ball well both ways”.

For preferring Cheteshwar Pujara to open with Vijay than promoting debutant Ajinkya Rahana, Dhoni said it was done because Rahane was not considered as an opener.

If Sachin Tendulkar can struggle, so can we: Watson

New Delhi, March 24
The failure of Australia's top order with the bat was one of the main reasons why the men from Down Under were whitewashed by India 0-4 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Sunday.

In almost every Australia innings, the highest score came from a batsman batting below No. 6. However, stand-in skipper Shane Watson defended his batsmen by saying that if Sachin Tendulkar can struggle, so can they.

“The top order tried whatever possible but sometimes you just end up playing a bad shot. The conditions and wickets were also tough. You have to consider that one of the greatest batsmen of all time Sachin Tendulkar also struggled in these conditions and our youngsters can be encouraged and take heart from the fact that it is not just them who struggled,” said Watson in the post-match press conference. Watson personally took responsibility for not performing in the series, his highest score being 28.

“I should have scored runs considering the amount of cricket I have played here, but could not. My role as a specialist batsman did not work. I wanted to contribute for the success of the team, being a senior and experienced batsman but could not perform and I personally take the blame for this. However, it is good to see Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle bat beautifully throughout the tour.

Asked if 155 was a good enough target, Watson replied in the affirmative stating that he was confident even with India 20 runs away from victory.

“I thought we were definitely in the game with 155 as the target but things did not go according to plan. We were very close and one or two wickets earlier, we could have been in with a real chance. Even when India were 15-20 runs away I thought we could bowl them out as the wicket was playing tricks with some balls keeping low and some taking off,” said the Queenslander.

Watson also lauded India opener Pujara, who ended the series as the second highest run scorer. — Agencies

Day 3 highlights

Malaysian GP
Vettel victorious