India vs Australia: The rivalry of Goliath vs Goliath

“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.

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?

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.

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.

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, 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.