It all ended on March 28, 2017. India ended their home season with a thumping win at Dharamshala. It was a close one. Good one too. Probably the best one since Ashes' 05.
Remember in Ashes 05, when Ricky Ponting made a gritty hundred at Old Trafford to save the test for Australia. Australia were celebrating at the balcony. Michael Vaughan said to his team-mates, "Look at the mighty Australians. They are celebrating a draw for us. We have got them." It turned out to be a catalyst and England eventually managed to win the Ashes after 18 hard, long enduring years.
But, what was palpably visible in that series was that the pendulum of momentum swung between England and Australia a million times a day.
A little of that was true for India-Australia 2016-17 series too. Let's go through each of the tests one by one.
* * *
Test 1: Horror at Pune
Arguably India's worst defeat at home. India conceded lead of 150+ on a pitch which got swelled by Smith, courtesy to dropped catches and poor use of DRS. Smith out-batted India alone. Smith had made 109. India made 107 in the second innings. India were belted. Quite comfortably. Young Australian team was on absolute fire. India were left looking puzzled.
To me, the momentum shifted from India to Australia when Starc managed to lift the team from a dismal score of 205-9 to 260, a respectable score. From there on, it was all downhill. You don't drop Smith once and hope to win. India did it 5 times. India didn't win.
* * *
Test 2: Bangalore gives redemption
Trust me, It could easily have been worse and India did an extraordinary comeback to win this one. Again, they had conceded a lead of 87 runs on a track, which was keeping low and giving variable bounce. It was Pujara's magic and Rahane's valiant defiance which gave India something to bowl to and Boy, oh boy. India did bowl well there. Causing Australia one of the biggest collapses from 104-4 to 112 all out. The test was done and dusted within 4 days. Series was level. 1-1. Bring it on, boys.
Pune helped Pune's captain for this IPL, Steve Smith. Bangalore helped Bangalore's captain, Virat Kohli.
What will happen in the lands of one of the finest captains ever? MS Dhoni. Let's find out.
* * *
There was a significant time gap between 2nd and 3rd test. Australian spear head, their X-factor, Mitchell Starc was out of the series. Though, he was horrendous with the ball in Bangalore, (except for a gem to get Nair cleaned up first ball), he was still scoring very useful runs for Australia. Losing him was a big blow on any tour. And this was Indian tour. The cauldron itself.
Australia didn't panic. They called up someone similar to replace Starc. Replace pace with more pace. They called up Pat Cummins.
I have always liked that bloke. Goes in, bowl fast, bowl accurate. Find edges, let fielders do the rest. He is quick. I mean, serious quick. If you don't value your life, try facing him without helmet. Yep. He will bowl like lightening. India pretended that they didn't care. Ranchi was ON.
* * *
Test 3: Ranchi gives Anti-climax
One of the best things which happened to all the visiting teams like England and Australia this season that they managed to win more tosses than not and hence denying India much advantage. Smithy won the toss and tried the well-set Australian formula. Bat first. Bat big. Catch everything which comes your way. That is game over.
They got first two things right.
Then came Cheteswar Pujara. He played like he was trying to own that pitch on basis of occupancy thing. He played more than 500 balls. He played 215 balls by O'keefe alone. All I can remember from that test match is constant chirp by Mathew Wade, "Nice bowling, Gary.", "Nice Gazza.", "Well bowled Sokee boy.", "Good one Sangu.", "He is going to come down at you, it just brings another dismissal into play, mate", "Keep doing what you are doing, Gary", "He didn't get that one from the middle Gazza".
I listened to him saying these things for around 2 days. Australia bowled more than 210 overs. With 4 bowlers. One of them being Pat Cummins. They toiled hard and hard. At one stage, It looked as if Pujara is planning to bore them out of the series. It often looked like even if a few of the Aussies players go for a quick nap, it won't matter. Pujara made them work harder and harder. He grind-ed them down. When he got out, the lead of India was already around 100. Saha and Jadeja did their part and left Australia around 100 overs to save the game.
Contrary to the experts' opinion, Australia managed to save the game. Handscomb proved his worth. Shane Warne claimed a few years ago with his time with Melbourne Stars that "Peter Handscomb is the best batsman of spin in Australia." Handscomb proved it right. They believed that they had won the mental battle. A lot of people disagreed. After day 1, India outplayed them and saving the game barely is not what you want from a game.
Good thing for Australia was that they had managed to keep the series alive and with a couple of good sessions in last test, they could do the unachievable. Beat India in India. It all came down to the final test in Himalayas. Dharamshala, making its test debut. Aussies wanted to conquer the Himalayas itself. Here we go.
* * *
Test 4: Dharamshala brought serenity and restored equilibrium in the universe
Virat Kohli was declared unfit before the match and India brought one mystery man, Kuldeep Yadav. People rubbed their eyes a few times to actually believe what they saw. India were already batting-light and they chose to go with 5 bowlers instead of 4? This is a disaster. They are driving the car straight into the cliff. No. Stop this madness. At least replace Kohli with someone who can bat.
The other problem before India was Dharamshala was actually the most Australian conditions you can ever give in India. Yep. There was bounce, there was carry, swing. Everything, which every Australian ever born loves. If there was one pitch they could have asked for, it was that one. It was more like India in Australia than otherwise.
And India lost the toss. Again.
At lunch on day 1, Australia were 136-1 going for more than 4 an over.
It all looked bleak. Australia were running away with the test match.
Then Kuldeep Yadav happened to Australia. He ripped apart Australian middle order. Before the sun set down in Dharamshala, India were batting. The advantage was lost. The beast of momentum was with India. They had managed to remove Australia from top and it was their turn to take the advantage. The plan was clear: Bat as much as you can. Let the pitch deteriorate and grind them down.
At the end of next day, India were 248-6. Still a reasonable deficit to have when you have Saha and Jadeja batting at stumps. Australia managed to keep the scoring down, but couldn't bowl India out. That was beginning of the horror.
By the end of third day, Hope will be sucked out. India deflated Australia both with the bat and ball. If the Australian spirit was bruised on day 4 in Rachi, it got buried on day 3 in Dharamshala. India destroyed them. First with the bat and then they showed remarkable piece of swing and swing bowling with new ball. India had a lead of 32.
Before this lead was wiped off, Top 3 Australian batters were in the dug-out, chipping the nails. One of them was someone who had got 499 runs and 3 hundreds. Australia were still behind. They tried, kept losing wickets. Tried more, and lost more wickets. Ultimately, they got bundled out for 137. Surprisingly, it was only their 2nd sub 150 score on the whole tour.
India had to hit 27 boundaries to regain the Border-Gavaskar series.
Rahul hit 3 in the first over. 24 more to go.
If everyone thought that there was going to be hiccups in the small chase. You know mate, it is bloody hard to beat Australia. Rahul responded with, "What hiccups?" He played with such an ease that It put all of the Australian batters' shot selection in question.
Australia were still thinking, "At least we didn't lose it 4-0". The whole world was laughing. Consoling yourself on a loss of 2-1 when you were supposed to lose 4-0 is the lamest excuse, I can think of.
India won 2-1. Hence, restored the equilibrium to the world. They showed that they are more than Virat Kohli and Ravi Ashwin in tests. They maintained Number 1 ranking. On the other hand, Australia played the best they have in Asia for last 5 tours. They managed to challenge India every single game. They just weren't good enough. They showed one hell of a fight and that is something they should be really proud of.
India managed to end their home season with another test series win. And it brought a lot of sweet memories to all of us. Now, they hold the test series trophies against all nations at the same time. That is something huge to celebrate. Cheers!
Remember in Ashes 05, when Ricky Ponting made a gritty hundred at Old Trafford to save the test for Australia. Australia were celebrating at the balcony. Michael Vaughan said to his team-mates, "Look at the mighty Australians. They are celebrating a draw for us. We have got them." It turned out to be a catalyst and England eventually managed to win the Ashes after 18 hard, long enduring years.
But, what was palpably visible in that series was that the pendulum of momentum swung between England and Australia a million times a day.
A little of that was true for India-Australia 2016-17 series too. Let's go through each of the tests one by one.
* * *
Test 1: Horror at Pune
Arguably India's worst defeat at home. India conceded lead of 150+ on a pitch which got swelled by Smith, courtesy to dropped catches and poor use of DRS. Smith out-batted India alone. Smith had made 109. India made 107 in the second innings. India were belted. Quite comfortably. Young Australian team was on absolute fire. India were left looking puzzled.
To me, the momentum shifted from India to Australia when Starc managed to lift the team from a dismal score of 205-9 to 260, a respectable score. From there on, it was all downhill. You don't drop Smith once and hope to win. India did it 5 times. India didn't win.
* * *
Test 2: Bangalore gives redemption
Trust me, It could easily have been worse and India did an extraordinary comeback to win this one. Again, they had conceded a lead of 87 runs on a track, which was keeping low and giving variable bounce. It was Pujara's magic and Rahane's valiant defiance which gave India something to bowl to and Boy, oh boy. India did bowl well there. Causing Australia one of the biggest collapses from 104-4 to 112 all out. The test was done and dusted within 4 days. Series was level. 1-1. Bring it on, boys.
Pune helped Pune's captain for this IPL, Steve Smith. Bangalore helped Bangalore's captain, Virat Kohli.
What will happen in the lands of one of the finest captains ever? MS Dhoni. Let's find out.
* * *
There was a significant time gap between 2nd and 3rd test. Australian spear head, their X-factor, Mitchell Starc was out of the series. Though, he was horrendous with the ball in Bangalore, (except for a gem to get Nair cleaned up first ball), he was still scoring very useful runs for Australia. Losing him was a big blow on any tour. And this was Indian tour. The cauldron itself.
Australia didn't panic. They called up someone similar to replace Starc. Replace pace with more pace. They called up Pat Cummins.
I have always liked that bloke. Goes in, bowl fast, bowl accurate. Find edges, let fielders do the rest. He is quick. I mean, serious quick. If you don't value your life, try facing him without helmet. Yep. He will bowl like lightening. India pretended that they didn't care. Ranchi was ON.
* * *
Test 3: Ranchi gives Anti-climax
One of the best things which happened to all the visiting teams like England and Australia this season that they managed to win more tosses than not and hence denying India much advantage. Smithy won the toss and tried the well-set Australian formula. Bat first. Bat big. Catch everything which comes your way. That is game over.
They got first two things right.
Then came Cheteswar Pujara. He played like he was trying to own that pitch on basis of occupancy thing. He played more than 500 balls. He played 215 balls by O'keefe alone. All I can remember from that test match is constant chirp by Mathew Wade, "Nice bowling, Gary.", "Nice Gazza.", "Well bowled Sokee boy.", "Good one Sangu.", "He is going to come down at you, it just brings another dismissal into play, mate", "Keep doing what you are doing, Gary", "He didn't get that one from the middle Gazza".
I listened to him saying these things for around 2 days. Australia bowled more than 210 overs. With 4 bowlers. One of them being Pat Cummins. They toiled hard and hard. At one stage, It looked as if Pujara is planning to bore them out of the series. It often looked like even if a few of the Aussies players go for a quick nap, it won't matter. Pujara made them work harder and harder. He grind-ed them down. When he got out, the lead of India was already around 100. Saha and Jadeja did their part and left Australia around 100 overs to save the game.
Contrary to the experts' opinion, Australia managed to save the game. Handscomb proved his worth. Shane Warne claimed a few years ago with his time with Melbourne Stars that "Peter Handscomb is the best batsman of spin in Australia." Handscomb proved it right. They believed that they had won the mental battle. A lot of people disagreed. After day 1, India outplayed them and saving the game barely is not what you want from a game.
Good thing for Australia was that they had managed to keep the series alive and with a couple of good sessions in last test, they could do the unachievable. Beat India in India. It all came down to the final test in Himalayas. Dharamshala, making its test debut. Aussies wanted to conquer the Himalayas itself. Here we go.
* * *
Test 4: Dharamshala brought serenity and restored equilibrium in the universe
Virat Kohli was declared unfit before the match and India brought one mystery man, Kuldeep Yadav. People rubbed their eyes a few times to actually believe what they saw. India were already batting-light and they chose to go with 5 bowlers instead of 4? This is a disaster. They are driving the car straight into the cliff. No. Stop this madness. At least replace Kohli with someone who can bat.
The other problem before India was Dharamshala was actually the most Australian conditions you can ever give in India. Yep. There was bounce, there was carry, swing. Everything, which every Australian ever born loves. If there was one pitch they could have asked for, it was that one. It was more like India in Australia than otherwise.
And India lost the toss. Again.
At lunch on day 1, Australia were 136-1 going for more than 4 an over.
It all looked bleak. Australia were running away with the test match.
Then Kuldeep Yadav happened to Australia. He ripped apart Australian middle order. Before the sun set down in Dharamshala, India were batting. The advantage was lost. The beast of momentum was with India. They had managed to remove Australia from top and it was their turn to take the advantage. The plan was clear: Bat as much as you can. Let the pitch deteriorate and grind them down.
At the end of next day, India were 248-6. Still a reasonable deficit to have when you have Saha and Jadeja batting at stumps. Australia managed to keep the scoring down, but couldn't bowl India out. That was beginning of the horror.
By the end of third day, Hope will be sucked out. India deflated Australia both with the bat and ball. If the Australian spirit was bruised on day 4 in Rachi, it got buried on day 3 in Dharamshala. India destroyed them. First with the bat and then they showed remarkable piece of swing and swing bowling with new ball. India had a lead of 32.
Before this lead was wiped off, Top 3 Australian batters were in the dug-out, chipping the nails. One of them was someone who had got 499 runs and 3 hundreds. Australia were still behind. They tried, kept losing wickets. Tried more, and lost more wickets. Ultimately, they got bundled out for 137. Surprisingly, it was only their 2nd sub 150 score on the whole tour.
India had to hit 27 boundaries to regain the Border-Gavaskar series.
Rahul hit 3 in the first over. 24 more to go.
If everyone thought that there was going to be hiccups in the small chase. You know mate, it is bloody hard to beat Australia. Rahul responded with, "What hiccups?" He played with such an ease that It put all of the Australian batters' shot selection in question.
Australia were still thinking, "At least we didn't lose it 4-0". The whole world was laughing. Consoling yourself on a loss of 2-1 when you were supposed to lose 4-0 is the lamest excuse, I can think of.
India won 2-1. Hence, restored the equilibrium to the world. They showed that they are more than Virat Kohli and Ravi Ashwin in tests. They maintained Number 1 ranking. On the other hand, Australia played the best they have in Asia for last 5 tours. They managed to challenge India every single game. They just weren't good enough. They showed one hell of a fight and that is something they should be really proud of.
India managed to end their home season with another test series win. And it brought a lot of sweet memories to all of us. Now, they hold the test series trophies against all nations at the same time. That is something huge to celebrate. Cheers!
