A Victory against all odds: Adelaide 2003

By Anil - 16 Dec '03
December 16 2003

Team India achieves one of the great come-from-behind wins, defeating Australia in their own den to go up 1-0 at the halfway point in the 4-Test series. This victory comes after getting the better of Australia in the drawn first Test, and winning 3 of the last 4 Tests between the two teams.

There was a sense of deja vu as Aussie-slayers Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman put Australia to the sword, recovering from that team's mammoth 566 first innings score and India's disastrous 85/4 in response, to 388/5: their second match-saving, and ultimately match-winning, 300+ partnership against the Aussies. Then, they repeated the heroics in the second innings yet again leave the despairing Aussies behind, taking India to the second-greatest come-from-behind win: second only to the one in Kolkata against the same opponents, on the back of magnificent efforts from the same two batsmen. This time, however, Waugh's Invincibles, often touted as the best ever team in cricket, are for the first time in their illustrious record down 0-1 -- fighting to save a series in their own backyard.

This time, India destroyed the Aussies with pace, not the spin that so befuddled them in India. The conditions were unfamiliar and the crowds hostile, a far cry from the 100,000 supporters who cheered them every step of the way in Kolkata. Fast bowler Ajit Agarkar turned in the performance of his lifetime with a stunning second-innings 6-41 and a total 8 wickets for the match, reverse-swinging his way through the strong Australian lineup to Test glory on the best batting strip in Australia. Nobody could realistically have projected this after India had gone into this match with a much-depleted attack, premiere strike bowlers Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh both pulling out with injuries just before the start of the Test, and their most experienced paceman Javagal Srinath retiring shortly before the tour commenced. Had spearhead Zaheer Khan, considered one of the best fast bowlers in the world, played in this match, the margin of victory would have been much wider.

Fittingly, Man-of-the-Match Rahul Dravid hit the winning runs with a thundering shot to the boundaries through cover -- another breathtaking effort to bat through most of India's second innings on an increasingly misbehaving pitch on Day 5 under an intense sun. That came after batting through most of India's first innings for 14 hours during his completely chanceless and historic 233 in the first innings. Dravid's average in this Test stands at a magnificent 305 and his will be recognized by many as one of the greatest innings in Test cricket, against a side acknowledged widely as the best-ever team in cricket in their own conditions. What better way in which to settle the score after his previous less than satisfactory outings in that country!

Dravid's partner in this epic battle, the elegant and brilliant VVS Laxman, gave strong support through much of both the first and second innings. The sheer artistry of Laxman's 148 in the first innings, and the aggression of his 37 as he toyed with Waugh's field placing in the final hour of the match, left the Aussies awestruck and intimidated.

Sourav Ganguly, the fearless leader of this winning team, has become the most successful captain that India ever had. Ganguly now equals Azharuddin as the winningest Indian captain, with 14 wins from only 35 matches whereas Azhar had 14 from 47. However, there the comparison ends: Azhar did not have a single Test win outside Asia, whereas Ganguly now has 4, with the last 2 in Headingley and Adelaide being among India's greatest away from home. India has won 6 matches overseas in 3 years under Ganguly, while India has won only 12 overseas matches in the previous 72! Under Ganguly, their performance under pressure has improved manyfold. As Sourav says, India, widely recognized as the second-best team today, is making steady progress towards taking the mantle of the world's best from Australia.

To the Australians' surprise, India's victory came without a significant contribution from the world's best player, Sachin Tendulkar, who looked out of sorts in this match. After all the talk about India being a one-man army, this fact will do its part to demoralize the opposition. Sachin did chip in with 2 valuable wickets in the second innings -- those of Martyn and Waugh -- both to brilliant catches by the indefatigable Dravid, and a useful 37 runs in the second.

In spite of the outstanding efforts of Rahul Dravid, Ajit Agarkar, and VVS Laxman, others played their parts. Anil Kumble took a 5-fer in the first innings to wrap up the Aussies' marathon effort; Virender Sehwag gave India a good start with typically aggressive half centuries (or close) in both innings; 19-year old paceman Irfan Pathan made a compelling debut looking very much like he belonged in the team, bowling tight and snagging key batsman Hayden once on paper, but thrice if you consider the very close LBWs turned down by Koertzen in both the first and second innings; Tendulkar with the ball; aggressive and shrewd captaincy from Ganguly; and top-notch fielding from the Indians all around.

For Australia, who were in essence playing their strongest team, and Steve Waugh, playing the last series of his highly successful career, this loss will come as an enormous setback. Jason Gillespie has time and again been touted as the best fast bowler in the world, Andy Bichel as the street fighter who made Brian Lara his bunny and one of the star performers for Australia in recent times, and Stuart MacGill flying high on bowler ratings and reckoned to make Warne's return to Test cricket very difficult. Brad Williams was supposed to be the latest aggressive new quickie to be introduced to the international scene.

Aging veteran Glen McGrath, who had a poor series against the West Indies leading to his infamous outburst there, and even at home against Bangladesh, was fortunate to miss the likely thumping he would have received from the Indians in his current form, after an ankle operation ruled him out. Brett Lee with his controversial action, who is considered suspect as a Test bowler and recently came in for rough treatment at the hands of the maverick batsmen from the weak Bangladeshi team which has lost every match it has played against any international team, was not missed either. Shane Warne, currently serving a one-year ban for drug abuse, has always been thrashed by Indian batsmen, and his replacement Stuart MacGill was treated no less shoddily by the Indian lineup.

Umpiring in the Adelaide Test left much to be desired, par for the course in Australia. Two plumb LBW's each were denied Agarkar and Pathan early on against Ponting and Hayden in both the first and second innings by umpires Rudi Koertzen and David Shepherd for a total of at least 4 bad decisions going Australia's way during their innings, whereas Kumble was given out to a rough LBW from Shepherd in the first innings, and yet another marginal LBW Sachin Tendulkar in Australia after the horrendous decision by Bucknor in Brisbane, this time from Koertzen in the second innings. Tendulkar's LBW was far from plumb, off a leg breaker that looked likely to miss off stump. This was inconsistency from Koertzen, who turned not-outter when the Aussies were batting. Given that Ponting should have been dismissed at 12 in the first innings by consensus of most experts after being caught dead in front of middle stump off a straight Agarkar delivery, and then at 110 against Kumble, without his first innings 242 Australia would have likely lost this match by a massive margin. The ICC needs to address this issue urgently, without which the introduction of neutral umpires is a step backward. One umpire from each of the playing teams, a neutral third umpire, a bigger role for technology, and 3 appeals to each team in case of bad decisions must be implemented.

With spearhead Zaheer Khan returning to the team, a middle order that has clicked big time so far, Sachin Tendulkar yet to unleash his best and the only one among the 4 middle order batsmen yet to hit a century (or a fifty), 5-fers from Agarkar, Zaheer and Kumble so far, India taking a 1-0 lead looking clearly superior to the Australians in both Tests played, and Waugh's team needing to win both the remaining Tests to have a chance of winning this series, the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne which has already been sold out will be eagerly anticipated by cricket fans throughout the world.

Well played India!

Cricinfo Scorecard: India in Australia, 2003-04, 2nd Test, Adelaide, Dec 12-16