The Sydney Showdown- What might Have been

Time: Jan 2-Jan 6, 2008
venue: SCG

The five days of fascinating cricket that we got to see was marred by gamesmanship, mind games and manipulation of the umpires being taken to another level by Ricky Ponting and his shrewd brains.

On Day One, when the team was down,Australia were clearly the beneficiaries of umpires who would rather turn a blind eye on the most palpable and obvious appeals be it a stumping time and again of Symonds or nicks , both of Ponting and Symonds.

As if this was not adequate cover, when the Indians ran up a sizeable first innings total to take the lead,Ricky, fearing Harbhajan's wicket taking abilities sprang upon a brilliant idea of "racial slur" to distract and perhaps gain an upper hand in the minds of the umpires as well...a brilliant masterstroke if there was one especially when you have an umpire from West Indies ( the same country where Symonds has his roots) and the other, reminded of his own race and where his support should go to !

So we have can't but help wonder if the umpires were just being doubly cautious or looking for ways to seek additional evidence to get some Indian batsman out, be it for Dhoni caught at the wicket for a catch off the boots or for Harbhajan run out ...The very same umpires who couldnt care less if there was considerable doubt in the case of Ganguly ( they would rather check with Ponting who wouldnt walk if he edged if he was a batsman, but would act as a "trusted advisor" of Benson , possibly with a worry that a third umpire referral would have negated an ill-gotten wicket).

The Aussie team will have "pups" like Michael Clarke, but that somehow would not be construed as a racial slur , but sledging by an Australian to provoke and disrupt a batsman's concentration and inviting a verbal exchange will promptly get the whole Aussie team to bring up a racial issue is deplorable and disgusting.

Australia can chase and win its string of wins and I have no problem with that...but Is Cricket still a Gentleman's game, I wonder ?

Anil and your team : You can walk with your head high...You can have a good night's sleep...unlike the Aussies and the umpires for they have brought the very game under disrepute.

You and your team were horribly wronged and the exposure to Australia can only make you and your team even more mentally tougher.

Having said that,the Indians are far too often seen to be wallowing in self-pity and it suggests a deeper malaise...perhaps the root cause being insecurity as there is a constant need for adulation and endorsement coupled with a huge fear of failure.This is evident that every time a situation presents itself, the team often seeks to view it as a crisis rather than an opportunity...Time, the team learnt to deal with this.

It also requires the gumption to counter attack , be it the way we set our field placing ( Aussies were decidedly better than India), but also in the lack of flexibility shown in the batting order.( Yuvraj for example was fluent against pace, yet he had always been snared by spin in all his outings barring one,if am not mistaken ...could not promoting him have saved the day for India, one wonders, all the more when we are behind one game and with possibly the best chance to square the series ?

So the Sydney Showdown remains as what might have been.A truly memorable one.Something to savour. Not have a bitter taste in the mouth.Ponting: You have climbed several rungs.DOWN under in my esteem.