FazSharma and India are now world beaters
November 10th 2008 19:44
As was forecast prior to the Bordor-Gavaskar series, India has regained the trophy and a two-nil series win is a fair reflection of their efforts against an Australian side who were outplayed in all but one Test.
The difficulty facing Australia in the last days play in the fifth test was enormous. They needed to have completed the fourth-highest run chase in Test history had they defended the Bordor-Gavaskar trophy from the clutches of crickets new superpower.
However futile it was for Australia, there were stages where their run chase was building nicely. Matthew Hayden was the messiah.
Even when Ricky Ponting departed after attempting an idiotic run to Amit Mishra, Australia managed to steal the momentum for a brief period after lunch when Hayden was getting the better of India's tactics.
Indian captain MS Dhoni found himself on the back foot as he struggled to set a field to the aggressive Hayden.
He even instructed his bowlers to bowl down the leg side in an attempt to rein Hayden in, to the extent that Virender Sehwag was warned by umpire Billy Bowden that any more of it would result in the bowler being no-balled.
It was a thrilling passage of play that was ended when Hayden fell to Harbhajan Singh. After that Australia's chances were dead and buried, but at least they continued to give it their all right to the death.
With this defeat, there will be many questions surrounding the current side wearing the Baggy Green, with the only revelation in Australia’s campaign being off spinner Jason Krezja.
But not even his twelve wickets can rid the cloud surrounding Australia’s bowling inadequacies, with go to fast bowler Brett Lee having a tournament he would rather forget.
On the other side of the spectrum however, India's Ishant Sharma is already one of the finest bowlers in world cricket at the age of just 20, and he was a worthy choice for man of the series.
It's quite an achievement for a fast bowler of Sharma's nature - to be the leading wicket-taker in a series on Indian soil that saw some particularly flat wickets. His performance against the Baggy Green shows that he has more than just height and raw talent.
Indeed many of his wickets were from outstanding deliveries, highlighted by his bowling to Ricky Ponting in Mohali.
Like in Perth earlier this year, he worked the Australian captain over and then produced a delivery which Ponting admitted would get the better of him 95 times out of 100.
It wasn't just the wickets either that has cast Sharma with the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck. His control during the controversial mornings and tough stages in contests swung the Tests in India's favour.
As for Sharma's future, the key is how the Indian administrators handle him and his workload.
With such a slender frame the chances of him getting injured are always going to be there.
There's no doubt that he'll play a big part and contribute to some winning performances but if he's to bowl this well in the long term for India, they would do well to save him for the Test matches, because he's crucial to their future in an arena they could go on to rule in the coming years.
Indeed India's victory has moved them into second place in the ICC Test rankings, with Australia now coming back to the pack.
India and South Africa are tied on 116 points (South Africa will move ahead again once they've disposed of Bangladesh 2-0) while Australia are now on 129.
Having been miles out in front for many years now, suddenly Ponting's men seem within reach. India has shown that they're as good as Australia, albeit consistency will remain their Achilles heel unless proven otherwise.
As for Australia, the challenge is to step up. If they fail in their upcoming series against New Zealand, it really is the end of an era for the Baggy Green.
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