PERTH Conquered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PERTH Conquered !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going"....This quote of Joseph P Kennedy symbolises Team India's fantastic Victory at the WACA Cricket Ground in Perth on January 19th,2008.Steven Waugh, the great former Australian captain advocated and inculcated the same philosophy all through his test career, not only in himself but also in his great winning Australian Brigade.And it was nothing but apt that, it was such an attitude shown by our leader Anil Kumble, right through the leadup to this test match and by the team across the duration of the match, that enabled India to once again halt the Australian 16-test match winning juggernaut.
I would like to mention here that this blog of mine would be also an addition to my first ever blog on greatest Indian victories.
(http://prashanthnayak.blogspot.com/2007/08/team-indias-overseas-test-
victoriesa.html)
And this win for me,ranks right at the top....at Number 1.

Looking back at the circumstances that preceded this test match( the tour going ahead also looked in jeopardy!!),Anil Kumble needs a stand out mention for the way he handled situations and issues.The dignity and Poise with which he handled the unforgiving Aussie media was commendable.The ban on Harbhajan Singh rattled the team, that was already undeservingly 'beaten' at Sydney and people back home wanted the team to abandon the tour and come back.I was one of those who also felt that the team should have returned, and once the ban appeal on Harbhajan was postponed, sanity prevailed. Now was the time where I wanted the team to come back drawing the series, showing the cricketing world that India are the only force to threaten Australia.In the midst of this came the Brad Hogg issue, where Indians lodged a complaint on him for using abusive language.Things could have gone worse from here, but that is when Anil Kumble made his statement.A true ambassador for the game he has been, has Kumble, and he showed that by withdrawing the charge against Hogg.After all the game is bigger than everything....All these issues had the indian team attending hearings and conferences ,rather than play cricket.Finally things settled down and Cricket was the focal point now.

And lo....welcoming India was a "fiery and Hellish" Perth wicket, to outbounce them and enable the Aussies to seal off the series and create a new world record of 17 consecutive test wins.But was it really the Perth of olden ages, where teams lost the match even before they stepped on the ground? All this said, Shaun Tait was drafted into the Aussie XI to make it a 4-pronged attack.Chris Rogers who got a chance to make his test debut at his home ground , due to Matthew Hayden's injury,also said that the Indians would have a nightmarish time at Perth.Ricky Ponting went all the way consulting Western Australia cricketers about the behavior of the pitch.I must say that having watched the T20 game between Australia and Newzealand earlier this year,the pitch really did have massive bounce! But never was a batsman threatened physically.Well may be because it was T20!!!As the caravan moved to Perth, the whole cricketing world watched with keen interest.Will the Aussie juggernaut be toppled? Will India salvage pride with a draw? Or was a win on the cards for India?
The 1st probability looked most likely to happen........

Anil Kumble did the 1st thing right.He won the toss and chose to bat.For any captain it would have been tempting to bowl first,so as to prevent any kind of collapse on first day against a fiery Aussie pace attack.But India was keen to set things straight and in came Sehwag for Yuvraj and Pathan for Harbhajan.It was a situation of replacing 2 comeback kids,with 2 regulars, all 4 of them being genuine match winners on their own right!! For Virender Sehwag it was a make or break situation, not only to resurrect his test career,but also to repose the faith that Anil Kumble showed in him by selecting him for the tour.Yuvraj's horrendous form, Dravid's sluggish batting at the top and his own hundred in the warm up match at Canberra paved way for Sehwag to play.More so, Gary Kirsten, the consultant coach for India arrived down under and straightaway had Dravid down at no.3. Irfan Pathan got a game only because India had to play 3 seamers and that he could bat a bit. No one knew that these two will be the stand out performers at the end of the test match!!!

Sehwag and Jaffer produced the first 50 run opening stand of the series for India, although both failed to capitalize.But the stage was set for Dravid and Tendulkar to build on it.Rahul Dravid , back at his favourite no.3 slot.Albeit it meant that Aussie nemesis VVS Laxman had to bat at no.6, it was important that Dravid got his touch back.And what a knock he produced!!!93 runs hard fought runs flowed out of his blade and sadly ended in a ugly old-fashioned-across-the-line-swipe.He confessed to have made a mistake by not carrying on,for India lost Laxman in quick time and the advantage was lost.Probably critics would have gunned for Dravid,if India had not won this test match!!! On the other end was the Maestro Sachin Tendulkar, cutting,guiding and slashing bowlers above point,slips and wicket-keeper, taking advantage of the Perth wicket bounce.The shot he played off Brett Lee, for me was the shot of the series.He ducked to a vicious bouncer and unlike everyone would have expected it to reach Gilchirst's gloves,Sachin guided it almost from behind his body,above and over, almost for a sixer!!! Only champions can produce such shots!!!! After a stiff resistance from Dhoni and Pathan,India capitulated for 330. I expected India to fold up for this score and then also had imagined Aussies scoring 550 and shutting India out of the game.What was to follow was a different script.....!

RP Singh,Irfan and Ishant destroyed the Aussie batting line up and as Symonds and Gilchrist launched a counter attack, Anil Kumble snared Symonds for his 600th Test wicket! What a Cricketer!!!Hail jumbo!!! Ishant Sharma snapped up Ricky Ponting in the absence of punter's nemesis Harbhajan( Hopefully I guess Ricky, finally the truth might have dawned upon you that you are Harbhajan's bunny!!!) Who ever imagined more was to follow in the Ishant-Ponting duel!! India were also benefitted from the absence of the mighty Hayden as the openers were removed in quick time.Mike Hussey got his first test duck, causing his Bradmanesque average to slip down a bit and Australia ended at 212, a weak reply to a now big looking 330 by India.

Aussies were expected to hit back hard and that is what they did.Sehwag and Jaffer gave solid beginning, Irfan Pathan as nightwatchman gave Sehwag company.Now at 82-1 things looked rosy and India looked like running away with it.And that is when the Aussies struck.Sehwag,Dravid,Tendulkar,Ganguly all perished in no time, and a freely stroking Pathan at the other end made people wonder. The 2nd innings blues were haunting India again.!!!!Irfan missed out on a well deserved 50, but now Laxman and Dhoni had other ideas.For Laxman it was a familiar situation of bailing India out of a crisis and Dhoni had to prove himself after a bad first 2 tests.Dhoni added useful runs and the lead was building significantly for India.Laxman did his job with elan,a 79 filled with crisp flicks and drives.Not to forget RP Singh's vital 30 runs that made a target of 360 swell to 413.Irfan picked up Rogers and Jaques yet again and Aussies were staring down the barrel.

Two days to go,8 wickets in hand,348 to get....Australia had to break a record to create another one.For India, it was history beckoning...to become the first sub-continental team to win a test at Perth,against all odds!!!Ponting and Hussey threatened to take the game away from India.Australians are known for their aggressive batting and they really would come hard at this target.But then the script was written differently!!
A young and lanky Ishant Sharma decided to make a name for himself.With a breathtaking display of quick bowling and movement off the pitch, Ishant had Ricky Ponting all over the place, fishing and poking at deliveries.Just about when Kumble was about to take him off, Sehwag, his Delhi captain, came in and asked Anil to give him an extra over...only because Ponting was on strike.And he struck gold off the first ball!!! Dravid pouched the catch at 1st slip and the Indians were all over Sehwag!! A sight to watch!!! For the very first time since the 2005 Ashes had a fast bowler troubled the current no.1 batsman in the world to such an extent!!! Something that made us forget that we missed Harbhajan Singh.RP Singh removed Mike Hussey and Anil Kumble knocked Symonds over, both dubious calls, but after all it was India at the wrong end last time.Now it was the turn of the hosts!! When Clarke and Gilchrist attacked to get australia close, Kumble brought on Sehwag.And he struck gold with his 2nd ball, having Gilly play all over the sweep shot and bowled him round the legs!! What a wicket at a crucial juncture! It was reminiscent of Kumble bowling Gilchrist round his legs with a googly at Adelaide in 2003, the last time Oz lost a home test!!! Clarke fought hard for his 81, only to be foxed by Kumble.With only 2 wickets to go at tea, India had just to finish of the formalities. But Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson delayed the inevitable.Hearts were beating as those two scored freely.Are we in for an Edgbaston 2005 finish?? Will India succumb to pressure?? Finally all was cleaned up at 2.30 PM IST and History was Created!!! India had "Perthquaked" Australia.......

I rate this win at the very top of India's all time wins for the following reasons:

* Many felt India would end up losing 4-0 after the Sydney result and the events that followed.

* Perth was Australia's den, they had not lost a test there for 11 years, not lost a home test for 5 years, were on a run of 16 test match winning streak.

* All pundits said that the 4-pronged seam attack would destroy India at "Hellish" Perth

* India had lost at Perth at 2 previous occasions, and fast bowling was inexperienced

* The win was engineered by two comeback men- Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan- two match winners who had been written off

* A complete team effort with everyone contributing ( People may say Jaffer and Ganguly did nothing, but you need to have the intensity to keep the team up all the time and they played their role in it)

* Not to forget, Anil Kumble's 600th wicket came up in this test match

* As Kumble said at the end of the game, India could have easily come back home after Sydney. But they stayed back and showed their cricketing ability- that India is the no.2 team in test cricket and can become no.1 in course of time.

As I end this blog, i would wish to recollect one of the articles on Cricinfo.As a preview to the India-Australia test series, Tony Greig interviewed Ian Chappell and Sanjay Manjrekar for their predictions on the series.

Here are some of the excerpts:
Ian Chappell:"I think India will probably draw a Test somewhere along the line. I think India's best chance is at Sydney. It's a ground that has always helped the spinners, and I think India need to bite the bullet there and play two spinners, hope they win the toss and bat first and make a decent score - then they might be able to scramble a win.
Perth could be a disaster for India because looking at the way the pitch played in the Twenty20 game against New Zealand the other night, and also talking to [Shaun] Tait - he said that the pitch there was getting back to what it used to be. If Australia are having any trouble with their spinners, they will play four fast bowlers at Perth and that could be a nightmarish game for India. Australia will certainly win at Perth. India could have a slight chance in Adelaide, but they certainly have a real chance of winning at Sydney. But realistically, if India can draw one or two Tests, they would have probably done as well as they could have done. "

Sanjay Manjrekar:"I think Australia will dominate. I see the Indian batting having some good days. There will be some Indian batsmen who will play some memorable innings that the Australian crowds will enjoy. But while all that is happening, the Indian bowlers will constantly be pulling the team down. We have a very weak bowling attack, and I think Kumble will be our No. 1 bowler. Let's just hope that a few of the Australian batsmen, in the middle of their batting line-up, will find Kumble a bit difficult to handle. That remains our hope.This time around, I must confess I am not as hopeful as I was last time around when the team toured under Ganguly."

Tony Greig:"I too am of the view that the Australians will continue to dominate as they have done in recent years. It's not a good thing for Test cricket, but unfortunately that's the way it is. I think Australia will win the series 2-0. It may just be 3-0."


Here's the archive link to the full article:
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/talk/content/multimedia/326175.html?view=transcript

I really feel glad that the team has silenced these commentators cum critics in a befitting manner.Its time for Tony,Ian and Sanjay to go for a hiding!!! I am eagerly waiting for their reviews on the series too!!!
As i write this down, today, on the eve of the 4th test match at Adelaide, amidst all the controversies on the ODI team selection,I sincerely hope that India repeats Adelaide-2003 and comes back home with a drawn series(With a secret wish that Dravid and Ganguly score hundreds at Adelaide to silence Vengsarkar & co.) A series draw is a win for India , for all know who deserved to win at Sydney!!!

Aftermath of Sydney Test Match....ICC Rules and Regulations!!!

This is not a Blog written by me....but something i got through an e-mail which has been superbly written.....I would like to praise and congratulate the original writer of this content before i post this.

Here goes the mail contents......

After the test match, I feel some rules have to be incorporated by ICC to give the other teams a perfect clarification

(1) Ricky Ponting – (THE TRULY GENUINE CRICKETER OF THE CRICKET ERA AND WHOSE INTEGRITY SHOULD NOT BE DOUBTED) should be considered as the FOURTH UMPIRE.

As per the new rules, FOURTH UMPIRE decision is final and will over ride any decisions taken by any other umpires. ON-FIELD umpires can seek the assistance of RICKY PONTING even if he is not on the field. This rule is to be made, so that every team should understand the importance of the FOURTH UMPIRE.

(2) While AUSTRALIAN TEAM is bowling, If the ball flies anywhere close to the AUSTRALIAN FIELDER(WITHIN 5 metre distance), the batsman is to be considered OUT irrelevant of whether the catch was taken cleanly or grassed. Any decision for further clarification should be seeked from the FOURTH UMPIRE. This is made to ensure that the cricket is played with SPORTIVE SPIRIT by all the teams.

(3) While BATTING, AUSTRALIAN players will wait for the ON-FIELD UMPIRE decisions only (even if the catch goes to the FIFTH SLIP as the ball might not have touched the bat). Each AUSTRALIAN batsman has to be out FOUR TIMES (minimum) before he can return to the pavilion. In case of THE CRICKETER WITH INTEGRITY, this can be higher.

(4) UMPIRES should consider a huge bonus if an AUSTRALIAN player scores a century. Any wrong decisions can be ignored as they will be paid huge bonus and will receive the backing of the AUSTRALIAN team and board.

(5) All AUSTRALIAN players are eligible to keep commenting about all players on the field and the OPPONENT TEAM should never comment as they will be spoiling the spirit of the AUSTRALIAN team. Any comments made in any other language are to be considered as RACIALISM only.

(6) MATCH REFEREE decisions will be taken purely on the AUSTRALIAN TEAM advices only. Player views from the other teams decisions will not be considered for hearing. MATCH REFEREES are to be given huge bonus if this rule is implemented.

(7) NO VISITING TEAM should plan to win in AUSTRALIA. This is to ensure that the sportive spirit of CRICKET is maintained.

(8) THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: If any bowler gets RICKY PONTING - “THE UNDISPUTED CRICKETER WITH INTEGRITY IN THE GAME OF CRICKET” more than twice in a series, he will be banned for the REST OF THE SERIES. This is to ensure that the best batsman/Captain will be played to break records and create history in the game of CRICKET.

These rules will clarify better to the all the teams VISITING AUSTRALIA.

Australia and World Champions?????? A BIG JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Australia and World Champions?????? A BIG JOKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

January 6th 2008....this day will go down as one of the black days in international Cricket...and for all sorts of reasons. I must confess that being an ardent cricket fan, and that too being a great supporter of Australian brand of cricket(which comes next only to Team India for me as a supporter by heart), this was one of the days where i felt extremely ashamed of myself for admiring their cricket. Yes, they are world champions...but for me real the world champions were the WestIndian team in the late 70's and the Aussie teams in late 80's. They were the real champions in all rights.I have extreme and high regard for Steven Waugh as a Cricketer and as a person. For he not only took Cricket to a different level, but he set standards for the game to move on in complete spirit. But truth of the matter is, its been horrendous to watch this Australian team behave on and off the field.

Though having not seen them play, i have heard and seen people saying that the West Indian teams of 80's were gentlemen on and off the field, irrespective of the fierceness and competition of the game. And that still reflects in the way some of their greats like Michael Holding, Sir Viv Richards, Ian Bishop, Walsh and Ambrose speak to the media on cricket and their life. But its not the same when one sees people like Slater,Ian Chappell,Taylor speak on the game. It was absolutely astonishing to see Michael Slater speak the other day on Star Cricket about spirit of the game. Ha ha....go back to Mumbai,March 1st 2001...and you will know what kind of a sportsman Slater is!!!!!!Again one and only Mr. Steve Waugh stands out and earns respect as a true gentleman.

This is not just a one off test match to say....Since the new millenium began in 2000, Its been the face of Australian cricket. Steve Waugh called it mental disintegration and Sourav Ganguly showed them what it tastes when you have it yourself. Yes... a one off banter is fine, as long as its not personal...that's what cricketers also opine. The Aussies have had long tryst with these things like the Gavaskar walk off at MCG,Hughes-Miandad incident and many more to say. But hang on.....it does not mean that if a hen lays golden eggs,you open it up and find for many....This has crossed a limit in the last 15 years.

People like Mutthiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya have experienced it.Ramnaresh Sarwan is another guy who will tell you this. Its happened and has been happening for years and none cared. If Muralitharan is called a "cheater" and "chucker"in Australia(their Prime minister leading the way), then what do we have to say of Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting?? Well...CHEATER is an understatement to describe them. Glenn McGrath called Jayasuriya a "Black Monkey".... where the hell was the ICC then??? Andrew Symonds and Adam Gilchrist speak of human element errors in the game. For god sake .... its these who are taking advantage of it for their greedy cause.

Mr. Adam Gilchrist set himself high standards of being a "walker".Where did his sportsmanship spirit go, when he appealed for a catch behind off Dravid, inspite off Daylight seperating bat and ball???? And now Give us all a break from your philosophies Mr.Ponting...To hell with your integrity.....TWO HOOTS to your false policies...You take a bump catch and claim its bumped!!!! Just to set false standards. When you nick one off your bat, don't you think its your moral right to walk, if you think you are unquestionable in your integrity??? Who gave you the authority to make decisions on contentious catches??? Definitely not the ICC!!!

And of all, here we have Michael Clarke, the innocent looking poster boy, who has smashed the cover off the Kookaburra to Dravid's safe hands at slips off Kumble, and then waits for the umpire to tell him to leave!!!Then he claims a catch which he was never in control of and comes out telling he was 100% sure of having taken it.Further more he goes on to say that umpires have been consistent throughout the test match and that few decisions luckily went their way!!!! MY FOOT....JUST SHUT UP!!!! You need to go back to school and do your moral science classes PUPPY....and perfectly yes...you are "The Worthy Successor" to Ricky Ponting..to carry forward the legacy of Cheating,False Allegations and hopelessly missing sportsmanship spirit.

Steve Waugh could be regretting on this kind of behaviour of the aussies, but he is not at fault.Nor does he feel guilty, for he believed in honesty and truthfulness as a professional cricketer.Just the statement he gave about Sourav Ganguly's comeback to International Cricket, inspite of all the animosity they had in 2001,shows this.I wonder whether any Aussie cricket captain might have done this or whether ever will!!!

Well...about the umpires, i pity them for all the pressures they undergo.Its the players,the Australian Cricket team who make them take such wrong decisions and it has nothing to do with human elements alone.

There have been several such incidents in the past that has shown the Australian team in poor light,with false accusations and unforgiving behaviours on the field.The way they celebrate dismissals with all kinds of Abusive language they know (often decorated with "the four lettered remark")shows their character. Many teams like Pakistan, Sri Lanka , West Indies have experienced this apart from India ...but in vain.On the other hand the Aussies have accused players and umpires from these nations of bad sportsmanship. Symonds said that he believed India had gone overboard with the T20 World cup celebrations. Give us a break Symonds...who asked you to comment on the celebration??? We do it our own way and in a respectful manner..not the aussie way with late night bashes and what not!!!!( Shane Warne will know this).If you are hurt at being defeated by us, its not our problem. We take defeats gamely...its your insane mind which is your problem,Symonds.

Arjuna Ranatunga had cautioned the world as early as 1994 about this Australian bias in international cricket.But even after 14 years, things are the same and with magnified proportion.ICC has done nothing about it, though they claim that things are well under control.When it came to umpiring controversies, Malcolm Speed, the CEO of ICC went on saying that Technology has pressurised umpires. He is simply making a joke of himself , as it is evident that its the false appealing that is the major cause. Aussies rank no.1 in this definitely!!!

The Racist Charge on Harbhajan Singh in order to unsettle the confidence of a player who has been rattling the Aussie captain is expected of the Aussies.Whenever the aussies sense threat from an opponent, they take it outside the field and try to unsettle them.Shoaib Akhtar, Muralitharan, now Harbhajan.......
Now that it has happened consistently over a length of 5 days, its nothing but logical for the BCCI to take the initiative.Another boycott in the lines of the Centurion test match in 2001 will do no harm to the cricketing world, but rather will put things into right perspective, towards making things clearer and fair.
But will the BCCI take this step forward??

Or will it sit on the fence,so as to avoid any kind of financial losses that could result due to that??

An Australian tour to India is due in October 2008 and hence BCCI will be watchful before taking this step. Also is the ICC president's post in line to Sharad Pawar, backed by the
English and Wales Cricket Board(ECB).

Will the BCCI dare to let that go off, sensing ECB's backoff in support
to Australia, if the tour is boycotted??

Or will the BCCI realise finally that it is a matter of India's pride being questioned with racist charges on a sportsperson???

Only Time will tell......!!!!

ANIL KUMBLE..."India test Captain"....A title truly deserving.....

ANIL KUMBLE..."India test Captain"....A title truly deserving.....

In case any of the cricket pundits or analysts or experts or for that matter any common indian man who knows a bit about cricket, is asked to name top 5 cricketers who influenced indian cricket, it would be a real disgrace if Anil Kumble does not figure in that list.India has never seen a match winner of his stature(probably will never see anybody of his determination and fighting ability).He has been a "Gentle giant" of Indian cricket, who never created any fuss about whatever was said about him or his performance, but just kept on chugging away unnoticingly with performances worth its weight in gold.After making his debut in 1990, with his spectacles on, looking at the initial stages of his career,probably nobody would have bet on him to be India's highest wicket taker in both forms of the game.Credited for his performances was Kumble in 1997 when he was made deputy to Tendulkar, and then one thought Anil could well be the next Indian skipper.
But destiny played a trick with him, as he encountered injuries and was not handled well by selectors and captains that followed Azharuddin.But not once did he make an issue or complain about it.One thing worth mentioning is that, former India skipper Mohd. Azharuddin must be applauded for the way he supported in making Anil Kumble a match winner,a fact Kumble himself has reiterated several times.

Coming to his performances,Anil's biggest thing happened when he took the "Perfect 10" against Pakistan at the Feroze Shah Kotla.Who can forget his 6-12 in the Hero cup final in 1993 against the Windies, and the 5 wicket haul at Johannesburg in 1992, at the early stage of his career.The list goes long and long.........As he progressed, critics came back at him saying that Kumble was just a match winner at home, and was a failure abroad.That was what his statistics said, but then rarely did India as a whole do well abroad!!!! So why only Kumble to be held responsible!!!!But on the 2002 English tour and the 2003-04 Australia tour he showed what Anil Kumble could do to strong batting line ups.He also won us our first test series on Pakistan soil in 2004 and in WestIndies in 2006.And when not a single indian batsman scored a century on the whole of the 2007 English tour, Anil scored a ton in the last test at Oval, his first test match hundred in his 17th year as an international cricketer.

Has anybody played on the field with a bandaged broken jaw, inspite of knowing he could aggravate it and jeopardise his career? Nobody can ever match such kind of commitment.The way he used to attack the batsmen, even in case of dead scenarios in test matches, showed his passion for the game.A true legend of the game is what he is.One can never remember any controversy linked to him. Though aggressive on the field, he is not one in the sledgers' category,nor did he get back at people who mouthed words at him.He just let his performances speak for him.And now at the twilight of his career,as captain of the Indian test team finally,he has been rewarded for his efforts,his dedication and commitment. Hats off to Anil Kumble !!!!!!

P.S: These thoughts are not exhaustive,as the blog is intended to give a short and sweet tribute to India's test captain.

Team India's overseas test victories....a look back into the golden era of the fab-five....Sachin,Dravid,Kumble,Sourav,Laxman

March 14th 2001.....a day written in golden letters in the history of Indian cricket.Two batsmen under pressure,the last recognized pair battling to save the team from an Innings defeat.A defeat that could well have put both their careers in jeopardy,if not ended.A defeat against the world champions,who felt they just had to play another day of test cricket to claim the coveted Border-Gavaskar trophy. Well ...and what a day it turned out to be. VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid chose this day to mark themselves as stars in world cricket.After following on,India piled on runs on the 4th day of this 2nd test of the series at the hallowed Eden Gardens at Kolkata,and then the "Turbunator"-Harbhajan Singh, who claimed a hat-trick in the 1st innings,weaved his web around the Aussies to bowl India to an astonishing come-from-nowhere victory.India went on to win the series with a nail biting win in the 3rd test at Chennai.
This win instilled confidence into a battered team for the battles ahead.For India had been rocked with match fixing scandal in 1999-2000 and nobody beleived India could beat a battle hardened world Champions Australia,and the 1st test at Mumbai led to talks that the Aussies would whitewash the Indian team.

Well...the best was yet to come.For India had star players over the years,but were mere travellers when they toured out of India.They had won a series in England, a test match at Melbourne,one in Newzealand and WestIndies.Apart from that India was just a team any side could brush aside,outside India, despite having the famous spin quartet in their ranks,that could run through sides any day,and legends like Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar.
This is being said with all due respect to those legends,for yours truly was not cricket follower of their era and writing only on basis of entries in record books.

But then Indian cricket was supposed to be blessed with a middle order that probably will go down as the finest to play ever for India.And with this also came the expectations of them delivering to win series' abroad.Rahul Dravid,Sachin Tendulkar,Sourav Ganguly,VVS Laxman....well to add to this middle order India got a swashbuckling explosive dynamite called Virender Sehwag to pummell the opposition into submission.This, thanks to captain Sourav Ganguly's mastermind (not to forget coach John Wright here as well) of making an opener out of Sehwag.The bowling was led by the fighter Anil Kumble and flamboyant Harbhajan Singh.The fast bowling was like musical chairs,only Zaheer Khan managing to deliver well if not consistently,and Javagal Srinath was fading towards the end of his career.With such cricketers at their disposal,Ganguly leading aggressively,Rahul Dravid batting like "GOD" ,Team India began to rise up its winning quotient abroad.

As i put down this blog, I would like to recall the overseas test victories achieved by India till date,after March 2001.While every victory is worth its weight in gold, only those achieved against non-minnows would count very high...hence Zimbabwe and Bangladesh do not rank there at the top for me.For the matter of fact India has never won a series against a very strong,full fledged Zimbabwe side,in Zimbabwe.But let me forget that for now!!!!

So here i go with India's overseas wins in Chronological order...
Kandy
Port Of Spain
Headingley
Adelaide
Multan
Rawalpindi
Kingston
Johannesburg
Trent Bridge.
Well to add to these were the narrowly missed ones at Sydney,Cape Town,Antigua....

Ok then...let me begin with my rankings of these victories.....
No.1- Beat Australia at Adelaide 2003
No.2- Beat South Africa at Johannesburg 2006
No.3- Beat England at Trent Bridge 2007
No.4- Beat England at Headingley 2002
No.5- Beat Pakistan at Rawalpindi 2004



Now the question.....why do i rate them in that order?
India's only series win among these victories was in Pakistan 2004 and Kingston 2006,but still Rawalpindi comes at no.5 and Kingston does not make the list!!! The full fledged sides to be beaten were South Africa 2006 and England 2002,apart from Pakistan.So why cant they be no.1 and no.2??? India won at Port of Spain beating a good Windies side,and that began the winning sequence outside sub-continent.Also we beat a strong Sri Lanka with Muralitharan,without having Tendulkar and Laxman play that series.So why should they not enter this list ??!!!The Adelaide win was without facing Warne and McGrath...so why should it come at no.1????
All these things went through my mind when i began my analysis[or whatever!!! :) ]

When i recalled all those wins, starting from Kandy,it fell out because it was acheived in the subcontinent,though we had a young side without Sachin and Laxman.And as the numbers show,India have always played Muralitharan well.So India had to win a test in Srilanka,no matter what!!!But India was bamboozled by Murali in the very next test match at Colombo.That was why i eliminated Kandy.

Port of Spain- That was a fighting test match which could have swung either way till the end.India were led by brilliant hundred by Sachin Tendulkar,his 29th in tests to equal Sir Don Bradman.The young pacers Nehra and Zaheer came to the party to get India a first innings lead.When the top order crumbled in the 2nd Innings,with Sachin falling for a duck and Dravid failing to repeat his brave performance from Guyana in the first,Ganguly and Laxman resurrected India to set a decent total for the Windies,which had a formidable line up in Gayle,Lara,Hooper,Chanderpaul and Jacobs.But a spirited bowling display gave India their 1st win in the Carribean since 1971.This was a brilliant team display by India worth enough to rank in the top 5.I put it into No 1,straightaway as it was the first of the out-of-the-sub-continent wins since 1986.I recalled further and in came Headingley.

Headingley- I remember this as the test match of the trio,the only instance in an international match where Dravid-Tendulkar-Ganguly scored hundreds in an innings.Also this win came at the back of a thrashing at Lord's, and a battling draw at Trent Bridge.So a win here was a must to stay in the 4 match test series.This match marked the beginning of Rahul Dravid's evolution from a Superb batsman into a legendary one.I came up with lots of reasons to mark Headingley at no.1-An Innings win achieved after Sourav Ganguly's brave decision to bat 1st under overcast conditions,the way Sanjay Bangar and Dravid countered English bowlers and the counter attack by Sachin and Sourav under fading light on day 2, Kumble and Harbhajan spinning England into a web in their own backyard.....phew....one brilliant test match to be remembered.So it was Headingley and PoS now at 1 and 2,as i moved to Adelaide.

Adelaide- Well... December 15th 2004 should go down as another golden day in Indian Cricket history in remembrance of this test match.Right away Adelaide took the No.1 spot for me pushing down Leed and PoS.Reasons..........India went 'down under' billed as favorites by the pundits to lose the series 4-0!!!!!And India lost Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh as they went into this match.Zaheer had taken a 5 wkt haul in the previous drawn game at Brisbane and everyone knows why Aussies were wary of Harbhajan Singh at that period of time.And lo.......Aussies amassed 400 runs on the first day on a featherbed at the Adelaide Oval powered by captain-in-waiting Ricky Ponting's smashing double hundred.Trailing by 556 ,India lost 4 wkts for 85 runs including that of Sourav Ganguly,who had scored the knock of his lifetime at Brisbane-144 blistering runs taking the fight to the Aussies who tried to get under his skin. Well a follow on was beckoning and what do we see.....history repeating!!!!! Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman again become the nemesis for the Aussies and take India to 523.Dravid getting his 1st hundred in Australia,a glorious 233 and Laxman a 148 decorated with smacking drives and silken flicks....Only a draw looked a possibility after India finished their 1st innings on day 4.But a man called Ajit Agarkar had other thoughts..He ripped through the Aussies with 6-41 ,including claiming Ponting for a duck.In the midst of this were those 2 gems of spitting legbreaks from Sachin Tendulkar to remove Steve Waugh and Damien Martyn.Not to forget Anil Kumble bowling Gilchrist round his legs,when he threatened with a counter attack(Kumble also had a 5 for in the 1st Innings).And most often than not we have seen Indian openers folding for single figures in 4th innigns of a test.This was not to be here...Sehwag and Chopra began well in pursuit of the 230 needed.Despite minor hiccups in between,with Dravid and Agarkar fittingly at the crease India clinched the win on day 5.The scenes of Rahul Dravid kissing the crest on his blue India baggy still linger in my mind and gives me goose bumps when i remember it.Woooh!!!!!
And thus for all the emotional and cricketing reasons,Adelaide climbs to the top of my list.
And then came the Pak tour in 2004....
Multan- Well this test match is remembered for 3 big reasons.One-India's first ever test match victory on Pakistan soil,Two-Virender Sehwag becoming the first Indian to score a triple century in test cricket,Three-The controversial declaration by skipper Rahul Dravid when Sachin Tendulkar was not out on 194.India piled up 675 riding on Sehwag's 309 and Sachin's 194 and on the flat track,young Irfan Pathan took 4 wkts to bowl Pak out for 407.Following on, Pakistan crumbled again,this time to the wily Anil Kumble's guile who took 6-72.Some notable memories from this test were Yuvraj Singh's two pieces of magic on the field in the 2nd pak innings,when he removed Yasir Hameed with his bowling(he had scored 91 in the 1st) and a superb one handed direct hit to run out the dangerous Pak captain Inzamam ul haq for a duck.Well....since it was a test win against Pakistan,it ranked straight into top 5 at number 4,for a win against Pakistan was everything an indian fan always wished for.No 4 because the other 3 on the list were more hard fought in terms of conditions and India's form.
Immediately followed was defeat at Lahore.....then caravan moved to Rawalpindi....
Sourav Ganguly came back into the team after an injury and won a very important toss on a green wicket.Balaji,Nehra and Pathan ran through Pakistan and it was left to the batsmen to bat Pakistsn out of the match and the series.Rahul Dravid produced a well compiled masterly 270,his highest test match score.He was ably supported by 70's from Laxman and Ganguly.This after losing Sehwag off the 1st ball of the innings and Sachin for 1.India piled up 600 and then Kumble and Balaji rocked Pakisatn once again.Seems to be a fairly simple test match strategy to win by an innings.But the most important aspect of this victory was that India won the deciding test match of the series,when most often than not the opposite happened.And what more ....it was India's first ever test series victory in Pakistan.So this win easily ranks there at No.3.Reasons it pushed down the wins at Trinidad and Multan.....Firstly,a series winning performance.And Trinidad was won in a low scoring encounter where any team could have won.At Rawalpindi India dominated the whole test match,apart from a short spell from Shoaib Akhtar when he claimed Sachin and troubled Dravid & Laxman.At Multan, once India scored 675 only 2 results were possible.At Pindi, after Pakistan were bundled out, there was all danger of India crumbling too,on a pitch which had something for the bowlers,India stuck their neck out and fought.Reasons Pindi did not surpass Adelaide and Headingley......Adelaide was won when India seemed to be in a threat of facing a follow on.Further when the match was heading towards a draw,India toppled a very very strong Aussie batting line up to clinch the win.Headingley was another innings win where India scored 628 after opting to bat first on a green wicket under overcast conditions.And under such conditions,Indian spinners won us the game.

So it was Adelaide,Headingley,Rawalpindi,Trinidad,Multan now......

India had a long wait now for their next valued overseas win that came at Kingston in June 2006.

Kingston-This win came after India had almost lost and almost won a test each earlier in the series.The last test of the 4 match series was at Jamaica.In a low scoring encounter,India was bundled out for 200 in the first innings,with Rahul Dravid scoring invaluable 81 runs.India was also without Sachin Tendulkar due to injury and Sourav Ganguly due to all the controversies that surrounded him.Harbhajan Singh spun the Windies with a 5 wkt haul,getting India a 97 run lead.This was like a 200 run lead on that wicket which looked like an Indian turf.Again the Indian batting failed 2nd time,Dravid scoring 68 runs worth its weight in gold to end up as the only batsman to cross 50 in the match.Chasing 269, Windies this time were rattled by Anil Kumble's 6-wkt haul,giving India their 1st series victory in West Indies.Well the only and the main reason that Kingston did not make my list was because it was against a West Indies team that was not its strongest and was in awful form.Yes,India did not have Sachin & Sourav and Sreesanth & Munaf were inexperienced,but in Yuvraj and Kaif,India had seasoned players.So this win did not even make my list,despite it being a series winning one.

When India landed in South Africa in late 2006,they began nightmarishly,losing the ODI series 4-0.Somehow managing to win the Twenty20 game in the last over,a confidence rattled India reached the Wanderers.With all their top order batsmen woefully out of form,awaiting them was the green top at Johannesburg under heavy cloud cover.A series defeat ,possibly a whitewash......everything was being said about.Adding to the pressure was the controversial comeback of Sourav Ganguly.But it was his batting in the previous practice game that instilled some confidence into the indian team.Batting first against an attack that had Pollock,Ntini,Nel,Kallis and Steyn,India fell for 249.Here was where Shantakumaran Sreesanth decided to make his mark on the international arena with a spectacular display of swing bowling,to dismiss South Africa for 84.This was a feat never achieved even by world champion Australia i.e. to demolish a South African batting line up with Gibbs,Kallis,Smith,Boucher for a paltry score.India scored 236 2nd time around,riding on Laxman's 73,thereby setting SA 402 to win.Zaheer-another comeback man,Sreesanth & Kumble shared the spoils this time to clinch India their first ever test match victory in South Africa.This is the only reason why it catapulted straight to No.2 on my list,pushing Multan out,but barely slipping behind Adelaide.It made the count over Headingley,Rawalpindi and Trinidad because it came against the 2nd strongest line up in the world-South Africa,under trying conditons at the back of 4 consecutive ODI losses and in the midst of controversy associated with Sourav Ganguly and Greg Chappell.Adelaide just made it only because it came "AGAINST AUSTRALIA IN AUSTRALIA" and out-of-nowhere.


The next overseas test win was the Trent Bridge test 2007.
After narrowly escaping with a draw in the 1st test at Lord's,Indian famed batting line up was under pressure to deliver this time around.For most of them it was probably the last english tour and was a chance to make it memorable.That was what happened.All top Indian batsmen played patient defining knocks,Zaheer Khan destroyed England with a 9-wkt match haul,ably supported by RP Singh.This win came up right there at No.3 pushing Trinidad out of the list.Reasons why i rank it above Headingley and Rawalpindi.....India did not have a Coach,after the "2007 World Cup first round knock out" and were embarking on a tough English tour after being at the receiving end of the public and the media.The bowling had only Zaheer and Kumble with experience.Also dropped from the team were Sehwag,Pathan and Harbhajan who were architects of all those overseas wins i talked about so far.And because the win came against an England bowling line up sans the Ashes winning quartet of Harmison,Jones,Hoggard and Flintoff,it could not surpass Adelaide and Jo'burg.I would've been tempted to put Headingley at No.3,but Zaheer's match winning performance prompted me to slightly rate TrentBridge higher.

As i put forward these thoughts, i sincerely hope India caps the TrentBridge win with a win at The OVal and thus claim a sries win in England after 21 years.


Disclaimer: All these opinions blogged down are purely the writer's opinion.Critical and Non-critical suggestions are welcome.