PASE WISE FEB 07 - Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle

Prabhjot Singh
Secretary General
Sports Wing
Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle
Australia completed the most crushing Ashes series victory in
86 years, sending bowling greats Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath into
test retirement with a 5-0 whitewash of England. Opening batsman
Justin Langer, the third veteran retiring after the series was at crease
when England were buried in Sydney. The Australians have now won
16 and drawn one of the 17 test matches since the shock Ashes series
loss in England in 2005, including the last 12 in succession. Ricky
Ponting, widely criticized after losing the Ashes in England, guided the
hosts to a clinical & ruthless series triumph this time. Warwick
Armstrong side of 1920-21 is the only other team to sweep a five match
Ashes series.
The dominance and greatness of Australian team in the last
decade and half is on par with the great West Indian side of 70's & 80's.
The retirement of the four veterans of the team marks the end of an era
: Warne, 708 wickets, is Test Cricket's most successful bowler;
McGrath, 563 wickets in 124 Tests, is among the greatest fast bowler of
all time; Langer, 23 hundreds, 7696 runs in 105 Tests is, with Matthew
Hayden, one of the greatest pairs of Test Cricket's most devastating
openers and Damien Martin, the classy & stylish middle order batsman
of this era. who recently claimed man of the finals in Champions
Trophy finals. It is now to be seen in coming test series what impact
does it leave on Australia when these greats are not part of the team.
But, the bench strength and cricketing structure full of competitive
players in Australia would hold the team in good stead. To top up their
great careers, the timing of leaving the game, still on top, speaks
volumes of their love & discipline for the game and country. As Warne
said, "I'm going out on top and I'm going out on my terms. I think l've
earned that right.... celebrating a wonderful ride". McGrath said,"To
me it feels like the right time to go & l've trusted my instinct.... It's
probably a perfect and fitting ending". Similarly echoing his views,
Langer said,"One of the things I'm really gonna miss is going into big
battles with some greatest players", "letting go of the green baggy cap"
was surely a big & bold step at correct time by these greats. One thing is
clear from all these greats going at the top is for our players, in India, to
understand the value of representing the country with head held high
up. The love, respect and tears of joy in the eyes of all cricket lovers &
the Australian public in particular showed the stature these players
have earned with their exploits.
On the other hand the series loss of India in South Africa after
winning the first test and having a chance to go down in the history
book as victorious team on African safari evaporated with the defeat in
the last two tests rather tamely. This golden chance was spilled by
Indians similarly to the drinks they had spilled, while celebrating,
their historic test victory in the first test. Indians paid dearly for their
complacency in the last two tests as it seems they would also pay for
Let thy words be few.
-Ecclesiastes 5:2 from Words of Wisdom
creating mess in the dressing room for
their only joyous moment on the tour.
The South Africans tamed the Indians
with their clinical & disciplined
performance in the last two tests by not
repeating their mistakes of the first test.
On the other hand, Indian management
blundered by not picking world beater
Harbhajan Singh for the third test
where spin played an important role
raising questions on the team's policy
and cricketing acumen. The series saw
our star players going from bad to
worse. The loss of form for Irfan &
Dravid along with regular failure of
Sehwag & timidness of Tendulkar's
batting was of major concern. Only
highlight of the test series was Dada
coming back with vengeance and
Zaheer performing like his old self along
with emergence of Shreeshant as a
promising seam bowler. The come back
of Saurav Ganguly even saw Greg
Chappell reversing and welcoming him
back & praising him for his batting and
mental strength, which is a welcome
sign for the team's future. Saurav
overcame odds to show his steel &
courage in adversity. One only hopes
this come back continues in the one-day
series adding spark and weight to the
side.
Speaking of the administration
& administrator in Indian Cricket, it is
better to speak less as this leads to a
scenario which is baffling & rather
humiliating. Jagmohan Dalmiya,
expelled for life from the cricket board,
for not giving comprehensive & correct
explanations of Rs. 40 crores missing
from the 1996 World Cup Organising
Committee's account raised many
questions about the working of BCCI
and the persons at present acting
against the ex-supremo of the board,
who along with him had a cozy ride for a
long time . It is thus imperative for the
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