India’s cricket romance with Aussies
The five-match series was perfectly placed at 2-2. In the fifth, Australia gave India 493-run target in the fourth innings. Four Indians, Mohinder Amarnath,
Gundappa Vishwanath,
Dilip Vengsarkar and Syed Kirmani, scored halfcenturies to bring India close, but they fell short by 47 runs.
HELPING HAND
The match could have gone Australia’s way but for some dogged resistance from India. Chasing 331 against the likes of Dennis Lillee, Yashpal Sharma 13 (157b) and Syed Kirmani 14 (81b) stuck on to enforce
a draw. Dennis Lillee joining the MRF academy to groom Indian fast bowlers. Lillee was in Chennai for 25 years.
In this period, India-australia cricket trade grew at an impressive rate. Australia then was a cricket superpower keen to export its expertise and India a big market and a willing customer. Australia’s influence seeped rapidly into Indian cricket’s bloodstream, routed through BCCI’S National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
Rod Marsh spent time there, certifying coaches, as did Frank Tyson. Dav Whatmore supervised implementation of Cricket Australia’s curriculum on fitness, injury management and fast bowler work load. And when the NCA adopted -- almost word by word -- the coaching manuals from CA’S Cricket Academy, it effectively became a finishing school that taught Indian players the Aussie way of cricket.
To complete the loop, Australian umpire Simon Taufel was based in Nagpur to drive BCCI’S umpiring programme. Impressed by professional Australian coaches, Maharashtra appointed David Andrews and Shaun Williams to coach its Ranji team. Kapil Dev and V Raju took 3 wkts each to dismiss Australia for 145 and then India took a 80-run lead. Australia made 451 in 2nd innings. Chasing 372, Md Azharuddin scored a ton as India fell short by
38 runs.
LUCRATIVE MARKET
Australia made 556 but Rahul Dravid (233) helped India to 523. Ajit Agarkar then took 6/41 to dismiss Australia for 196 as India were given a target of 230, which they achieved. The IPL provided a big boost to India-australia commercial cricketing co-operation with India becoming a placement agency for all manner of Aussie talent. Australian players were sought after often purchased at crazy prices. Presently David Warner and Steve Smith are worth Rs 12.5 crores on Indian cricket’s sensex as retained players and Glenn Maxwell’s last hammer price was Rs 9 crores.
The list of Aussie captains in the IPL is long. It starts with Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Watson to Warner/smith/ George Bailey/maxwell. Aussie coaches Ponting, Tom Moody, India lost the match but one man’s performance stood out. Virat Kohli scored centuries in both the innings but could not find support from his teammates. Brad Hodge, Brett Lee, James Hopes, Mike Hussey are much in demand. Before them, Darren Lehman, John Buchanan, David Saker, Steve Rixon, Greg Shipperd, Andy Bichel found employment.
Aussie support staff ,the physios/trainers (Andrew Leipus, John Gloster, Patrick Farhat, Trent Woodhill, John Steer) also have a ready job market in India.
Interestingly, India-australia padded up together as partners in the ICC and elsewhere.
When the IPL floated the Champions League T20, Australia received special favours: 50 ownership, share of revenue and two slots for its teams. When India proposed a new formula to slice cricket’s revenue to favour the ‘Big Three’, Australia were right in the core of that inner circle. Of late, India’s cricket romance with Australia has gone cold. The NCA is more Indian in outlook now and in the ICC, India and Australia disagree on several issues. But Australia remain in our system with Virat Kohli’s team playing its brand of forever front-foot cricket, though with a critical difference : India want to win and Australia want to win ‘at all costs’.