India vs Australia: The rivalry of Goliath vs Goliath

Debarshee Mitra
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Ricky Ponting has a spring in his bat, mother,” complained Indian kids and grown-ups alike after that fateful evening in 2003. Riding on what was arguably the best innings in a World cup final till date, Australia went on to lift the trophy 13 years back. Countless did believe in that spring-in-his-bat theory and consoled themselves to sleep on that fateful night. Indians hated Australia and Ponting, like never before.

Australia were the best cricket team in the world and were cementing their legacy. They became the first team to defend their World Cup crown since the great West Indies side of the late 70s. If that wasn’t enough the Aussies won the cup again in 2007 and were the favorites to retain the crown, and be champions for a fourth successive time in 2011. In their way this time, at the quarter-final stage, stood India. Again.

A rematch of the lopsided 2003 final, this time on Indian soil, left cricket fans smacking their lips. But after another Ponting century had taken Australia to a formidable 260 on the day, lip-smacking soon turned to finger-crossing for the Indian fan. The worst was feared. Will lightning strike twice?

Not to be, as half-centuries from Sachin, Gambhir and Yuvraj took India to a win. India went on to lift the cup after 28 years in Mumbai, and the nation of a billion took to the streets celebrating. “Two more to catch Australia,” roared an Indian fan on national television when asked how the win felt. Australia were always the measuring stick.

But in four years time, two became three, as Australia won back the cup in Australia having conquered India in the semis. That’s how the India-Australia World Cup rivalry has been in the past 15 years in the limited overs formats. The 2003 loss for India in the final was followed by the 2007 World T20 semis win. The 2010 World T20 mauling in Barbados was followed by the quarters loss for Ponting’s men in Motera. But it wasn’t all so tight to start with. So when did Australia and India even become cricketing rivals? The answer dates 78 years back.

Jack Ryder, a 46-year old veteran toured the Indian subcontinent in late 1935 with his second-rate Australian side. India were minnows and Australia saw no point in sending their first team, who were in South Africa playing a Test series. In what was a four-month tour, Australia played India in four Test matches at Madras, Kolkata, Lahore and Bombay. The series ended 2-2 but will be unavailable in most history books. Reason? This was an unofficial series. The first official meeting between the two sides took place 12 years later when India visited Australia to play a five-match series. Australia won 4-0.

More tours followed to and fro, but one thing remained constant - an Australia series win. But the trend was to change in 1964, when led by Nawab of Pataudi, India drew a three-match home series 1-1. With the Asian side slowly but steadily coming out of the shadows, the contest between the two teams started to gain an edge and some bite. While Australia pulled off a thrilling 3-2 series win at home in 1978, it was not all that topsy-turvy when they visited India next. Sunil Gavskar’s team did what Bishan Singh Bedi’s could not the previous year- win a Test series against Australia. Winning their matches in Kanpur and Mumbai, India won the six-match series 2-0 getting a series win against the Australians for the first-ever time. That laid the marker for what was to follow.

Test matches had a new sibling in town by then, in the form of limited overs cricket, and West Indies were the undisputed kings, winning the first two World cups in dominant fashion. In search of a hat-trick, the Caribbean boys faced India in the final, in 1983. And lost. Kapil Dev hoisted the trophy at Lord’s to write India’s name in stone among the big boys of cricket.

But India’s ascent and rise to relevance in cricket didn’t affect Australia so much. With the World Cup moving outside England for the first time, Allan Border and his troops became champions in India, matching India’s tally. They went one-up 12 years later in England, when Steve Waugh’s side celebrated their World Cup triumph at the same venue where Kapil Dev did 16 years back. But this time there was no India, who had crashed out at the super-6 stage of the tournament. But amidst all the limited-overs extravaganza on show, a Border-Gavaskar trophy was introduced in 1996. The trophy already sounded grand.

Named after the only two men to have scored 10000+ test runs back then, the Test match rivalry started to take shape with a bigger prize at stake. India had come a long way from being pushovers to challengers, and on this occasion had turned winners. India won the inaugural Border-Gavaskar trophy in a one-off test in Delhi. Two years later, they retained their prized possession, winning the series 2-1, again at home. Sachin Tendulkar was man-of-the-series, and this is where things started to get really enticing.

Shane Warne was the best spinner in the world. Sachin Tendulkar was the best batsman in the world. Their contest was one for the generations, and large crowds turned up to see what the two maestros had in store for each other. While Warne dismissed Sachin in the first innings of the first Test, Tendulkar was in demolition mode in the second innings and guided India to a win with his unbeaten 155. While the Indian leg belonged to Sachin and India, the Australian leg went Australia’s way. In the Australian summer of 1999, India travelled down under, hoping to hold on to the Border-Gavaskar trophy(B-G trophy). By the time they left the Australian shores, they had not only surrendered the trophy but also got whitewashed 3-0.

In what was a very intriguing contest, India were outplayed from start to finish, but that was secondary. What was the main talking point of the series was the manner of Sachin Tendulkar’s dismissals in the first test. After being given out caught in the first innings to Warne, for what looked like a dubious call, the second innings dismissal absolutely blew the roof off back in India. Glen Mcgrath was the new kryptonite to Sachin’s Superman. In an eventful over, Mcgrath had Sachin all over the place. The fifth ball was bowled short. Tendulkar ducked. The ball hit his shoulder. The Australians appealed loud and clear and Daryl Harper after thinking for a second raised his finger to send back the master blaster for a duck. Tempers flared and Indian fans couldn’t gulp it down. Their God had been betrayed and cheated. While Sachin ended up with the man of the series award again, Indian fans could never erase the haunting memory of that Adelaide test match. So when Australia came to India in 2001, it set up the stage beautifully for what was to go down as one of the best Test series ever in the history of cricket.

Australia had a thumping win in the first test, winning by 10 wickets. The Indian team back then was weakened by the absence of Anil Kumble, and the bowling looked weak on paper and there were fears the second Test could seal the series for Australia. With the visitors rollicking at 252/4, it already started to look grim for the Indians. But a 21-year old Jalandhar boy had other plans. Three balls later, Harbhajan Singh became the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. That did not stop Australia from scoring 445. And when the Indians got packed up for a feeble 171, Australia enforced follow-on. What happened thereafter at the Eden Gardens is folklore now. India went on to win back the B-G trophy. The rivalry that started in the David-Goliath shape and form had now become an even-stevens battle.

Australia, not ones to forget a humiliation, served one back to India in the 2003 World Cup and that is where the rivalry fulcrummed. And it has only gotten better and more intense over time. From the “monkey” allegations by Symonds against Harbhajan to the deadly spell by Ishant Sharma in Perth, India have competed toe-to-toe against their rivals from down-under, be it sledging or playing cricket. India is well and truly a cricketing giant now, and Australia, being Australia, remain the benchmark. India want to be Australia - in terms of success and dominance in world cricket.

For whatever the two teams go on to achieve, they know they have to cross each other and conquer the other to secure the crown. That’s exactly what it’s going to be like on Sunday. In what is a quarter-final of sorts, India will take on Australia again to add another chapter to this fairytale of a rivalry. The winner moves to the last 4, the loser walks out. Australia, for all their dominance over the past 15-20 years in cricket, are yet to win a World T20 crown. India won it in their first attempt.

There can be no love lost here. Steve Smith, the heir who got groomed for the role, versus Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was never really the first choice for captaincy. Maxwell versus Kohli. The retiring Watson versus the should-be-retiring Yuvraj. For everything Australia have up their sleeve, India can throw one better. Except maybe the number of all-rounders. But that’s not going to matter. This India side has fire in the belly and have an appetite for success like never before. Whatever happens on Sunday, it won’t be a 2003 repeat. 2011? Possibly. The wannabe is now a heavyweight. Time to smack lips again.

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