Jhakas | Sanjay Jha
It was Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly's impeccable conduct and impregnable character as they trooped disconsolately back to the dressing room that really defined cricket's Black Sunday in the second Test between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It was a ridiculous week-end of enthralling cricket and a nail-chewing finale , made extremely entertaining with Australian skipper Ricky Ponting declaring an exuberant, extraordinary run-a-ball Sourav Ganguly out by momentarily assuming umpire Mark Benson's apparition. Benson looked as clueless as Ponting does when facing Harbhajan Singh's deceptive off spinners.. Clearly, Benson or Hedges or whatever is become like a cigarette -lighter. The spirit is willing but the flash is weak.
In between, the poker-faced Lord Voldermot for Indian batsmen, Steve Bucknor , the Dark Lord ( no racist innuendo here, please note) returned, his dreaded finger rising with that fearful certainty of impending doom. Bucknor can be so disagreeable, you wonder if his own shadow willingly accompanies him. A stubbornly defiant Rahul Dravid, a picture of immeasurable remorse , his acute repugnance at an atrocious caught-behind decision visible as he strode back shaking his head in gentle pendulum swings, told India's sad story. .Rahul remained a paragon of gentlemanly behaviour even when gravely wronged. That was the real difference between Australia and India. Even as Michael Clarke snatched three wickets in five balls to bury Indian hopes on SCG , I will remember his brazen exhibition of standing his ground when clearly caught by Rahul Dravid in the slips. It was a juvenile reflection of Clarke's and Australian mind-set of victory- at- all- cost attitude. It will cost them dear in the long-run, for sure. Continue reading below
On both occasions when Ganguly and Dravid got their dubious decisions, the Baggy green caps celebrated a vicarious, hollow success, which made the otherwise formidable Aussies look like a bunch of petty slime-ball street-smart bullies running their own private betting syndicate. It was, to be brutally honest, mob-mafia stuff. Ricky Ponting, the captain himself appealing for a catch against MS Dhoni when the ball was clearly grounded, was the ultimate manifestation of Australian chicanery at it's best. Questioned appropriately by upright Indian media at the press conference, Ponting fired, fumed and fumbled. But failed to convince.
16 uninterrupted Test victories matching Steve Waugh's record, but both tragically and paradoxically for Ponting's Australia their already tarnished reputation for being churlish, impertinent and occasionally grossly unethical winners has brought them to tattered ruins. It is sad, because they are actually a brilliant, exciting team who are merciless in their victory mission. Nothing wrong with that. But it is ironical , because in their hour of shining glory, they have reduced their country's image to that of whining winners constantly carping and complaining when things go against them. And indulging in deadly gamesmanship and unprincipled tactics , bordering on a morbid obsession to win. Remember Ponting's complain to ICC about the Wankhede pitch when India spun them out a few seasons ago? He cried like a baby in need of double-diapers.
That Harbhajan Singh got severely punished for a supposed racial slur will create an unbridgeable gulf , thwarting possibilities of an early reconciliation between the two teams. The one question that no one has conclusively asked is; who started the verbal warfare? What was the immediate provocation? Can one give a definitive verdict in the absence of uncluttered evidence? And finally, what were the chosen words cited as " racial abuse"? We await Mike Procter's full report before making our own summary assessments, but prima facie, it looks like another familiar case of Australian boorishness at it's rising zenith.
Forgotten amidst the accumulating debris of the Sydney Test , is the awesome performances of India's Famous 5. Sachin Tendulkar marched majestically to his 38th century. Rahul Dravid justified my faith as India's January Man with two resolute knocks. Sourav Ganguly , has shown with his refulgent, killer spirit that he has set new peaks to climb and conquer; there is no stopping him. VVS Laxman is both charming style and solid substance, a model of Hyderabadi royal elegance.
And lastly , Anil Kumble, the silent strong man , both an inspirational leader and a fiery fighter , ensnaring batsmen with his bewitching deliveries and battling heroically to make 45 undefeated runs , taking India to within a few balls of saving the Test. When nervous, rookie Ishant Sharma was out, the veteran skipper consoled him with an arm round his shoulder. That was leadership. That was a man. That was the true winner.
For me, India remained unconquered. Undefeated. Unyielding. Even as we go down 0-2 in the Test series.
Perhaps sometimes, just sometimes, winning is not everything after all.
