Had Australia concentrated on their cricket, and not spent time trying to find out what Harbhajan Singh was saying to them, perhaps the result to India’s grueling tour Down Under may have been a touch different. Recent history shows how invincible Australia have let themselves down only when oppositions have managed to get under their skin. India did it in 2001, England came up with something less aggressive, but equally effective, in 2005. And India have managed it again in 2008.Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly making Steve Waugh wait for the toss, Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff bothering Ricky Ponting’s men by giving them tit for tat and Harbhajan Singh’s almost boorish behaviour have been the highlights of rare victories that opponents have scored over the four-time world champions.In 2001, Ganguly wasn’t India’s pied piper when it came to scoring runs. In the six innings he batted against the likes of Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and Shane Warne, he managed only 106 runs. And yet, there was this persuasive quality to his captaincy. He managed to get on Waugh’s nerves and propelled Harbhajan in a manner that got Ponting’s goat.Result: Australia, after having gone 1-0 up in the three Test series, crumbled in Kolkata and Chennai, allowing India to rub them the wrong way in such a manner that the repercussions are still showing.England followed somewhat in India’s footsteps in 2005, when they won back the urn. The most classic ploy to irritate Ponting was frequently bringing in the 12th man to get some rest for their fast bowlers from time to time. Ponting complained but could do little. And for all their chatter, Flintoff and Pietersen always had a ready answer.Have to give it backNeedless to say, it is becoming apparent that playing good cricket alone is not enough to beat Australia. That’s a neccessity, but the key is to couple it with giving back better than you get. Sreesanth, India’s most aggressive bowler — at least by way of words — agrees. “You have to give them a taste of their own medicine. They get under your skin, at least initially in a series. If you allow them to do that, you’ve already lost the battle,” he says.Sreesanth is still a new kid on the block. But New Zealand’s Shane Bond, who made his Test debut against Australia at Hobart, also brings up this Aussie trait. “It is not just the performance that counts. In Australia, the first day of the first Test is like a bomb waiting to explode. If that isn’t defused in time, it becomes difficult to survive. Counter-attack is the only strategy and in every form,” says the fast bowler.What Sreesanth and Bond say, and what Ganguly and Flintoff did during their moments under the sun, is now evident after Harbhajan’s histrionics during the three-month tour. The debate on whether he really used the term ‘monkey’ or not, the shadow-boxing with teammate Yuvraj Singh, the somersaults after picking Symonds’s wicket and his provoking the Aussie media took its toll on Ponting’s team. “It was the Harbhajan issue that got us all together,” Yuvraj told a television channel after arriving back in India.The Indian team may have gotten together in Harbhajan’s moment of crisis and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) might have pulled certain strings, but when Hayden was calling Harbhajan “an obnoxious little weed” on a radio show, it was clear that frustration was creeping into the Aussie dressing-room once again. “They’re bad losers,” says Harbhajan with finality. For a player who didn’t really bowl all that well in the series — his best spells were when he was hurling in harmless but economical yorkers — he still ended up doing more than his bit in the final analysis. It’s hard to condone his behaviour, but his impact on the final result cannot be undermined either.
