Journalism of Courage
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This is an archive article published on December 8, 1999
India — a team with refreshing new spunk
ADELAIDE, DEC 7: After the chaos, noise and disorder of Delhi, Adelaide greets one to a thundering silence. Huge -- and by Indian standard...
Written by PRADEEP MAGAZINE
4 min read
4 min read
ADELAIDE, DEC 7: After the chaos, noise and disorder of Delhi, Adelaide greets one to a thundering silence. Huge — and by Indian standards — empty roads stare one on the face and the manicured city appears more unreal than real. In a pollution-free environment, the ocassional screeching of cars and buses jolt one’s reverie. Around the food courts, the aroma of boiling coffee grains, the pungent smell of a variety of condiments waft through the air. It’s festive time for the Australians.
The shops are decked up, for Christmas is round the corner and on the sports field the Australians are celebrating their Davis Cup victory over France. The newspapers remind all those who care to read that first came the World Cup cricket win in England, followed by the Rugby Championship at Cardiff and now this victory in tennis. A hat-trick of World Championships.
Sport is played the hard way here and the Indian cricket team, in Australia for the past fortnight or so, are realising it for themselves. Their preparations for a three-Test series which gets under way here from Dec 10 has had its ups and downs, the morale-boosting win against New South Wales, getting somewhat marred by the hammering they took on Tuesday against a young Prime Minister’s XI at Canberra.
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As the Indians grapple with one problem or the other — defeats, injury to wicketkeeper MSK Prasad, Nayan Mongia’s expected arrival and the expected controversy, this time raised by umpire Darrell Hair over the Indians showing dissent on the cricket field — in Adelaide, the Indians, are being seen as not only welcome guests but also someone who should be playing in Australia more often. This sentiment is prevalent, thanks to Fox TV, which has brought cricket live from the sub-continent here.
An average Australian has seen Australia lose to the Indians and has also seen the mauling their cricketing icon Shane Warne received from Sachin Tendulkar. A possible revenge time for them. There is keen interest in the sub-continent’s cricket and people here are a bit puzzled why India have toured Australia only once since 1991-92.
Beating England these days gives pleasure to none at all, the reason being rather simple: “Beating England is like your team beating Bangladesh, it gives no pleasure to us.” This comment from an average beer-guzzler cricket fan sums up what the Australians think of England and they want the “Ashes series to be dismantled. Instead, let teams from the sub-continent come here more often.”
Well, one is not sure what they will have to say after this series is over.
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There was a very charitable comment in one of the papers after India beat New South Wales: “There is a new spunk in this team and they know how to fight. Srinath is so hungry for wickets that he appealed twice, even after it was turned down. Their fielding is better than seen anything before.”
The backdrop to this comment was the alleged rude behaviour of a couple of Indians against Hair and the obvious suggestion was that the Indians are not the softies’ which they were being projected to be.
It may appear ironical but the truth is that skipper Steve Waugh, on arriving here on Tuesday, did refer to this sledging not only by the Indians but also before them by the Pakistanis. He was magnanimous in the end when he said: “Let us forget the past and hope these things won’t be repeated.”
How nice of him, for all along we all thought that it were the Australians who have mastered this art. Maybe what Ricky Ponting did to the Pakistanis was a mere figment of a reporter’s imagination! This is, possibly, how the game is played here: The hardest way on the ground and the most polite way off it.
