When the 19 year old lanky medium pacer called Ishant Sharma from Delhi nicked Michael Clarke's chinaman to the centurion Michael Hussey at first slip, Ricky Ponting's so called "invincibles" created history by equalling Steve Waugh's real invincibles' record of 16 Test wins in a row. What a remarkable achievement??? Kudos to Punter and his men for their magnificent achievement. It takes real commitment to win matches day in and day out like the Aussies and they have shown just the same to the whole World by winning against the Indians at the SCG. They are a class apart from the rest of the World. They displayed versatile skills, energy in the field, drive to win and nothing less than that. This was evident from the way Andrew Symonds batted on day 1 of the just concluded test at the SCG, one of Sachin's favourite grounds in the World. Their attitude was made further clear by Brett Lee's five-for, Mathew Hayden's and Michael Hussey's centuries in their second dig and Michael Clarke's splendid penultimate over of a nerve wracking Test match. Wow What a performance??? Simply unimaginable for a non Aussie cricketer let alone the billion poor spectators. Hats off once again Aussies.
What else can a poor die hard Cricket fan sitting in the TV room of a well known B-School do other than showering praises on the Aussies for their victory with hands on my head, heart beating hard, oh God! Sachin's yet another masterful knock in vain, Laxman's poetic ton in vain, Kumble's determination in vain and everything else that the Indians did over the last few days went in vain. All these went in vain not because Indians did not have the Skills. Not because we did not have the commitment to win. Not because we did not have the pride and passion towards the game. But because of the lack of Sportsmanship displayed by the Aussies and a string of poor umpiring decisions. Sport is something that asks for skills coupled with high set of values. But Aussies have the former in plenty but near to negligible as far as the latter is concerned. This was clear right from the start of this Test match when Andrew Symonds refused to walk after getting out twice. He was not sporty and lacked values but went on to play one of the socalled great innings and saved Australia the blushes. Then the Skipper Ponting refused to walk after being caught behind off Ganguly. But fate showed him the door as we all know. Skipper lead from the front in asking his guys to shed their values if they have any. Then it was the turn of Michael Hussey, the cricketer with a 'Bradmanesque average'. He refused to walk after being caught behind off Ishant Sharma and in the process scored his 8th ton in Australia. Good effort Mr.Hussey but you should be sporty. He lacked values as well. Then it’s the turn of the new Captain of the Australian T20 team to follow suit. He refused to walk after being caught cleanly by Dravid off Kumble. Only God and Clarke himself knows why he did not walk???The Aussies might have won 16 Tests in a row but failed to show Sportsmenesque values. Perhaps some might argue that decisions should be left to the umpires. I agree but one has to understand that Sport is more than that. It’s all about displaying values with skills. Australians have a perfect example of Adam Gilchrist. He is an epitome in setting standards as far as values are concerned and at the same time displays scintillating skills. What an Irony???
What else can a poor die hard Cricket fan sitting in the TV room of a well known B-School do other than showering praises on the Aussies for their victory with hands on my head, heart beating hard, oh God! Sachin's yet another masterful knock in vain, Laxman's poetic ton in vain, Kumble's determination in vain and everything else that the Indians did over the last few days went in vain. All these went in vain not because Indians did not have the Skills. Not because we did not have the commitment to win. Not because we did not have the pride and passion towards the game. But because of the lack of Sportsmanship displayed by the Aussies and a string of poor umpiring decisions. Sport is something that asks for skills coupled with high set of values. But Aussies have the former in plenty but near to negligible as far as the latter is concerned. This was clear right from the start of this Test match when Andrew Symonds refused to walk after getting out twice. He was not sporty and lacked values but went on to play one of the socalled great innings and saved Australia the blushes. Then the Skipper Ponting refused to walk after being caught behind off Ganguly. But fate showed him the door as we all know. Skipper lead from the front in asking his guys to shed their values if they have any. Then it was the turn of Michael Hussey, the cricketer with a 'Bradmanesque average'. He refused to walk after being caught behind off Ishant Sharma and in the process scored his 8th ton in Australia. Good effort Mr.Hussey but you should be sporty. He lacked values as well. Then it’s the turn of the new Captain of the Australian T20 team to follow suit. He refused to walk after being caught cleanly by Dravid off Kumble. Only God and Clarke himself knows why he did not walk???The Aussies might have won 16 Tests in a row but failed to show Sportsmenesque values. Perhaps some might argue that decisions should be left to the umpires. I agree but one has to understand that Sport is more than that. It’s all about displaying values with skills. Australians have a perfect example of Adam Gilchrist. He is an epitome in setting standards as far as values are concerned and at the same time displays scintillating skills. What an Irony???
So how can a team that is not sporty and a team that lacks values can be called as Champions. Sorry Aussies You might have a won 16 Tests in a row but you are not Champions any more. You can be a Champion only when your skills are complemented by the set of values that you possess. Try to learn from Sachin, Kumble, Dravid, Gilchrist and many others. It’s not about winning but it’s all about winning in the right way. You have denied Indians their right to compete. You have denied Ishant sharma his first wicket on foreign soil. You have denied Dravid to come into form. You have denied Ganguly a century at the SCG. You have denied Kumble, his first test win abroad and the list goes on. You did not deny all these things through your 'sportsmanesque deeds' but by your ugly lack of values. So You Aussies should be ashamed of yourself. Coming to the Indians now. After that lacklustre show at the MCG, what a comeback!!! Sachin's was a perfect Test inning one could witness and it’s true that his bat hitting ball is not music to his ears alone but ours as well. Laxman was at his artistic best. So does Ganguly. Kumble and Harbhajan were determined. Oh God we deserved to save the test if not win at the SCG. Hope we witness a similar performance from the Indians in the upcoming matches.
Aussies you dont deserve to be called as 'Champions' any more...
PS: Do write in your comments and inform me if there are any grammatical and semantic errors.
