Why India is the new Australia?

Passion towards cricket runs in every Indian’s blood and I am no exception. Though I follow all sports, cricket is my favourite. Doesn’t mean I am any good at playing cricket but I certainly love watching it. My friends had expressed their surprise that I haven’t yet written about cricket. Well here it is.

      Before I start this blog, a bit of history would be useful. For the past 10 years, I was a staunch supporter of the Australian cricket team. I supported Australia even when they played against India. And for this, I have been called a traitor by many of my friends. My logic was plain simple, cricket is just a game and the best team should win. And the best team almost always turned out to be Australia.

      More than anything else I loved the Australian attitude towards cricket. No matter what, their only aim was to win. This win at all costs mentality brought them plenty of flak from other teams. The opposition teams whinged that, it isn’t the way to play the game. But the scorecard and result was all that mattered. It was fascinating to watch the Aussies bully teams out of the game. The Australian team of today is suffering a severe identity crisis. They are seriously hampered due to the retirement of their champions, Warne and McGrath. How the mighty have fallen. But I am not here to write another obituary to the Australian team.

      Now to my blog heading – Why India is the new Australia? This statement is not made because India beat Australia in the home series. You don’t become champion after winning just one series against the current champions. I am not making this statement because India chased down a mammoth 4^th innings total against England with consummate ease. People who know their cricket will laugh and point out that India is still only 3^rd in the rankings and South Africa has a far better team. But I am not talking about rankings or talent here; I am talking about the attitude.

      On the 3^rd day of the 4^th Test match against Australia, with the game in the balance, Dhoni, the Indian captain did what most of his predecessors never even considered in their dreams. He packed the offside with 8 fielders and asked the bowlers to bowl well wide of off stump. The logic is simple. If you want runs, invent something out of the ordinary. He was criticised severely by many pundits that he brought the game into disrepute. He was accused of choking an already dying art of test cricket.

      But Dhoni didn’t even bother. “It is about winning the game. There have been strategies that are not liked by opposing captains. What we wanted to do is go out there and look to win,” Dhoni told reporters. And his words were vindicated by the result of the match. A thumping win for India. What this shows is a significant shift in the Indian attitude towards cricket and life in general. Indians used to be shy people who never raised their voice. But with the economic boom (well at least until last September), India is a very confident nation and Indians ever more so. We will not bow down before you. We are here to win, no matter what.

      And with that single day’s tactics, Dhoni won over my heart. Australia is no longer the team that plays with the win-at-all-costs attitude and it showed in Ponting’s decision to use part-timers to step up the over-rate. But India has definitely got that killer attitude now. It doesn’t guarantee them to win matches but makes for compelling viewing though. And now I can proudly say that I am a fan of the Indian cricket team. Bring it on.