If it isnt Australian, it isnt right!

There is much to admire about the quality of cricket Australia bring to the table. Whether the way they play it is worth emulating, is another matter altogether.As they have displayed in ample measure so many times in the past, and as they have reiterated in India over the last three weeks, the Aussies set the benchmark with their aggressive, intrepid approach. Australia forever believe in going forwards, because taking a backward step is, their thinking dictates, a sign of weakness and submission.

Their belief in their abilities is awe-inspiring. Each time they have stumbled momentarily, they have found at least one man for the occasion. To them, there is no obstacle that can’t be surmounted, no crisis that can’t be tided over. Their brand of cricket is at once flamboyant and spectacularly alluring, appealing to the eye as they lift cricket to a fine art by amalgamating style and substance to a nicety.

So far so good. But hey, who appointed them the guardian angels of world cricket?

Proud peacocks
For almost as long as they have strutted around like proud peacocks aware of the admiration they evoke, Australia have genuinely believed that the standards they set are the only ones acceptable. And we are not, let’s be clear, talking skills with bat and ball in this instance.

Australia seem to be under the mistaken impression that the copyright for norms of behaviour, for the spirt of the game, for chat and aggression, for appearance and conduct, lies entirely with them.

They appear convinced that there is a direct correlation between on-field dominance and non-skill related demeanour, which is why they will trigger awe and respect around the world, but never generate any great fondness. The team that prides itself on setting the norms was the one that put on the most boorish behaviour on a public forum, less than 12 months back.

Today, Australia sit on the righteous moral horse and pass judgement on India’s outlandish reaction to their Twenty20 World Cup triumph. The same Aussies showed a massive disrespect for both age and authority at the presentation ceremony of the Champions Trophy in Mumbai last November.

Irreverential message
No sooner had a finger-wagging Ricky Ponting received the cup from BCCI president and union minister Sharad Pawar than the captain himself and Damien Martyn practically shoved Pawar away from the dais. That was perfectly acceptable from their point of view, we are told. That was a moment for the team to celebrate and savour.

‘You have handed over the cup, now get going,’ was the irreverential message they sought to convey to the man who, two years hence, will head the International Cricket Council. Benchmark? Thanks, but we shall pass. So we have Adam Gilchrist opting to ‘walk’ and demanding that he be complimented for it. So we have tons of Aussies questioning the actions of Muttiah Muralitharan and Shoaib Akhtar, among others, while some of their own with only slightly less questionable actions are wrapped in cotton wool and molly coddled.

So we have the moral guardians publicly questioning the wisdom of the ICC and the knowledge of the umpires while rising spiritedly in defence of the man who asked for ‘compensation’ to quit the Elite Panel of umpires in the wake of the ball-tampering and match forfeiture controversy at The Oval last year!So the Australians are peeved because we treated our Twenty20 World Cup-winning side like ‘princes.’ They are upset that every time they switch on the TV, Indian players stare them in the face from commercials. Surely, they have heard of remotes?!

Public forum
The John Buchanans, Steve Waughs, Pontings and Brett Lees have flown out to India during their off-season to honour contractual obligations to products they promote.The Australian players get more play in Indian media — print and electronic — than the Indians because the Board of Control for Cricket in India has prevented its players from entering into ‘exclusive’ deals with television channels or newspapers. Therefore, while the visitors have a public forum through which to shout themselves hoarse, the Indians are merely reduced to defending themselves against the plethora of allegations at official pre-match conferences.

Teams from across the globe have been visiting India for more than three-quarters of a century now. In the early days, touring India wasn’t the easiest task because the hotels weren’t top-draw, pollution levels were extreme. At no stage, though, did anyone question the sincerity of the people or the respect of the fans. Andrew Symonds has fired the first salvo by equating monkey chants to racist abuse.

There is no condoning the behaviour of an admittedly small group of spectators; Mark Waugh, however, hit the nail on the head when he questioned the invoking of the racial angle when not a single word was uttered.What Australia have managed is to whip up interest, passion and emotions back home.

Contrary to what Symonds would have the world believe, it is Australia more than India which is a hostile place to tour. The media, the fans and the players themselves are like one unending stream of aggression, collectively elevating mental disintegration to a fine art. For three months from December, India will alternately have wrath, ire and disdain heaped on them Down Under. And neither moan nor grumble. Now that is worth emulating, for sure.

Mallya, Hero, RCom in talks to own Twenty-20 teams

Liquor and airline baron Vijay Mallya, auto major Hero Honda and leading telecom company Reliance Communications have started negotiations with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to buy the rights of teams that will play in the Twenty20 tourney, which was announced to counter Subhash Chandra’s Indian Cricket League (ICL).

The BCCI had announced the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is modelled on the popular soccer tournament, English Premier League.

The IPL will include domestic and foreign teams that will play tournaments, including in the Twenty20 format. Under the Twenty20 format, the company is not a sponsor but the owner of the team.

Apart from the ownership amount, a company will have to deal separately with each cricketer it wants in its team. The amount the company will pay for a player depends on the company’s bargaining power.

Spokespersons of Reliance Communications and Hero Honda declined to comment. The sources said Mallya has initiated talks with the BCCI.

The BCCI has asked corporates to pay between $50 million and $60 million (Rs 200 crore to Rs 240 crore) to own an IPL team (for lifetime). In turn, the BCCI will offer companies a revenue share from stadium advertising and gate money.

The teams can also be listed on the stock exchanges and buyers have the right to resell the team at a premium. However, the team owner will not have any share in the revenue the BCCI earns through selling television rights.

The sources close to the development said these companies have shown interest and negotiations are on with the BCCI. BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi declined to comment.

Vijay Mallya had recently bought a 50 per cent stake in the Dutch Formula One team Spyker for $120 million through a consortium, Orange India Holdings, which he formed with Michiel Mol, director of Formula 1 at Spyker.

Nadal overcomes Baghdatis to set up Murray clash

World number two Rafael Nadal recovered from an unsteady start to overpower Marcos Baghdatis 6-4 6-4 in the Madrid Masters on Wednesday and set up a mouth-watering last-16 clash against Andy Murray.Nadal, playing his first competitive match since losing to fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the U.S. Open fourth round on September 4, struggled to find his rhythm in the opening games, but eventually settled on the ultra-fast hard court.

The Spaniard got the measure of a fading Baghdatis in the second set, making the crucial break in the ninth game to claim victory at the scene of his triumph in 2005.

“I made some mistakes at the start and my serve was average, but I’m not unhappy,” Nadal told a news conference.

“The match against Murray is going to be very tough and I’m sure if he hadn’t injured his wrist in Hamburg earlier this year we would be talking of a player who would be in the top two, three, five or six in the world.”

Third seed Novak Djokovic had to shake off a determined challenge from unseeded Fernando Verdasco to win 6-7 6-3 6-3.

The 20-year-old, who lies behind Nadal and Roger Federer in the rankings, will face Juan Carlos Ferrero in the last 16 after the Spaniard got the better of compatriot Carlos Moya 7-6 6-4 in a duel between former world number ones.

Djokovic did his best to garner support from the partisan crowd at the Madrid Arena by donning a Real Madrid shirt as he walked on court to face Verdasco. 

But the Serb, who won in Vienna at the weekend and is already assured of a place in the season-ending Masters Cup, found himself on the back foot against the young Spaniard and lost the first set on a tiebreak.

He fought back to take the second 6-3 and gained the edge with a break in the eighth game of the third to clinch victory in just over two and a half hours.

SEEDS TUMBLE

Eight seeds including Masters Cup hopefuls Tommy Robredo, James Blake, David Ferrer, Ivan Ljubicic and Richard Gasquet tumbled out of the tournament on Wednesday, denting their chances of making the prestige event in Shanghai.

Robredo fell victim to Argentine Juan Martin del Potro who defeated the eighth seed 6-7 6-4 6-3 in a marathon late match that did not finish until well after 1am local time.

Eariler, wildcard Feliciano Lopez delivered a blow to seventh seed Ferrer’s hopes of qualifying with an unexpected 7-6 7-5 win on centre court, while Mikhail Youzhny was brushed aside by Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer.

Sixth seed Blake lost to Mario Ancic 6-3 6-4 and Czech Thomas Berdych exited at the hands of Argentine David Nalbandian who came from a set down to claim a 4-6 6-4 7-6 win over the ninth seed.

Gasquet lost to Paul-Henri Mathieu in straight sets in an all-French second round contest and Ljubicic, who was beaten by Nadal in the 2005 Madrid final, was edged out by Austria’s Stefan Koubek 6-3 6-7 7-5.

Last year’s losing finalist Fernando Gonzalez, seeded fifth, had to dig deep to record a 7-6 7-5 win over the combative Nicolas Almagro.

Argentine Guillermo Canas also had to battle hard to snatch a 6-3 3-6 7-5 win over compatriot Agustin Calleri and earn a third-round match against Federer.

Kartik leads India to narrow win over Australia

Murali Kartik’s all-round exploits helped India beat Australia by two wickets in the seventh and final one-day international on Wednesday.The left-arm spinner spun a web with his first five-wicket haul in one-dayers to bowl out the world champions for 193 in 41.3 overs after the visitors, who had already won the series, opted to bat in the day/night match.

“It was nice to get six wickets (for 27 runs), it doesn’t happen every day,” man of the match Kartik told reporters.

The 31-year-old also scored 21 not out and shared an unbroken 52-run stand for the ninth wicket with Zaheer Khan (31 not out) to guide India home with four overs to spare.

Robin Uthappa struck an entertaining 47 and put on 65 for the seventh wicket with Harbhajan Singh (19) as the hosts rallied in fine style after slumping to 64 for six.

Left-arm paceman Mitchell Johnson had made early inroads by having Saurav Ganguly and Dinesh Karthik caught behind by Adam Gilchrist for ducks. Gilchrist collected four catches in total to take his tally to 400 in one-day internationals.

Earlier, India left out former captain Rahul Dravid because of his lack of form before skipper Ricky Ponting proceeded to give Australia a flying start with a classy 57. Kartik then took centre stage by snatching six wickets in a 10-over spell.

He removed Brad Hodge, Andrew Symonds, Brad Haddin, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee and James Hopes as the visitors collapsed from 117 for three in the 20th over.

Ponting shared half-century stands with Gilchrist and Hodge but Kartik twice claimed two wickets with consecutive deliveries to put the brakes on for India. Michael Clarke, opening in place of the injured Matthew Hayden, fell first ball to left-arm seamer Zaheer for the second successive game.

“At one point they were going great guns,” added Kartik. “The way Ponting and Gilchrist were batting it was looking like the wicket was very easy.”

Australia, despite their defeat, took the series 4-2 after the opening match was washed out.

“We bowled really hard with the ball but didn’t get enough runs,” said Ponting.

“Murali bowled beautifully. Taking six wickets today was a great effort.”

The teams next meet in a Twenty20 international on Saturday.

Russia’s historic win over England makes Hiddink proud

Russia coach Guus Hiddink took pride and personal satisfaction in a historic 2-1 win over England in their Euro 2008 Group E qualifier on Wednesday.Neither Russia nor the Soviet Union had beaten England at home until Roman Pavlyuchenko’s second-half double at a sold-out 84,000 Luzhniki Stadium clinched the come-from-behind win that put them on a brink of reaching next year’s finals.

“Oh, I didn’t know that Russia had never beaten England before,” the Dutch coach told Reuters after being informed of his team’s history-making performance.

“Then, it must feel twice as sweet for me and the team.”

Ahead of the match, British media made a lot of noise about the fact Hiddink had not won a match against an English team as a coach in nine attempts at club and international level.

“Well, I don’t care so much about the British media,” he said with a smile. “Besides, it’s not an issue any more.”

“But I’m very proud of tonight’s win. Not so much for myself but for the team and my staff,” added Hiddink, who has just agreed a new two-year contract with Russia until 2010.

“They all did a great job in preparing the team for this crucial game and then doing the little things, correcting some mistakes we have made in the past, and that was the key to our victory.”

Hiddink singled out substitute Pavlyuchenko, who scored two goals in four minutes shortly after coming on in the second half to turn the game around after Wayne Rooney put England ahead.

Earlier this week, Hiddink called the lanky Spartak Moscow striker a “sleeping giant. He has world-class potential but has a tendency to drift away in some matches,” he said.

After the match he added: “Well, he’s got the message. He is a good guy and we can expect good things from him.”

Dhoni gets it right

The Indian skipper handled the media with aplomb when asked to compare his team’s World Twenty20 triumph with that of Kapil Dev’s men in the 1983 World Cup.

After India’s nail-biting win in the final of the ICC World Twenty20 tournament the Indian skipper was asked to compare his team’s triumph with the 1983 World Cup win by Kapil Dev’s men. What has been most impressive about Dhoni is not only his cool demeanour under pressure, but the disarming manner in which he can react to a potentially explosive question. It can never be a practised and acquired skill but one that comes naturally. With so many news chan nels and newspapers and magazines vying to get their TRPs and circulation soaring and looking for a peg on which a story can be developed, it is extremely tough to be the captain of the national cricket team or for that matter a public figure in India nowadays.

Visitors to India find that out the hard way, but because they are here for only a short time they are spared the mess, which is sometimes created for neither rhyme nor reason. A stray comment or a remark can make headlines and those in India are mostly aware of this. But the foreigners don’t always know, when they are asked to react to something, whether such a comment has been made at all or has just been made up in order to get a reaction that will keep the story going further.

So, when Dhoni smartly said he was only two years old at the time of the 1983 World Cup triumph and did not remember much of it, the media was not going to let him off easily. But Dhoni played safe by saying comparisons between the two triumphs was simply not on as they were in different eras and in different formats of the game. That was nifty footwork from the Indian skipper, for if he had indulged in any comparison he would have been on a sticky wicket.

The only realistic comparison in sport is when you play the same opposition at the same time. That’s when you know who the champion is or who the better player or team is. In cricket it is even more so as the conditions change from country to country, even venue to venue and session to session. You can only compare players from the same team and not from different teams. So a Hayden and a Ponting can be compared, but not a Hayden and a Dravid because they are playing bowlers of different quality even in the same match.

That the Twenty20 format is different from the 50-over format, which again is different from the Test format, is obvious and so any comparison is going to be dicey. The lesser the number of overs, the better the chance for even low-ranked teams to surprise the higher ranked ones. This is simply because the margin for recovery is much less than in the longer games.

Champion teams invariably find a way to get back into the game when they have the time and the overs to do so. It’s virtually impossible to corner good teams in Test matches because even if they have had a bad session or two, they can bounce back. Similarly, in a 50-over game a good team has a chance to recover the lost ground of a few bad overs, whether batting or bowling.

However, as the ICC World Twenty20 showed us, it wasn’t always easy to come back into the game even if there were just a couple of bad overs. That’s why a team like Zimbabwe with plenty of newcomers was able to surprise Australia in the tournament. It’s even more hazardous for such teams in a shorter format like the six-a-side tournament where sides like Hong Kong have beaten the top teams.

Thus, though the Indians humbled the Aussies in the Twenty20 format, they found the world champs too hot to handle in the 50-over version of the game.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was therefore quite correct in refusing to be drawn into comparing the two champion Indian teams. His team’s performance was thrilling and has given rise to a belief that under him the Indian team will go places. Yes, there will be hiccups playing against the world champs, but there are more chances of the Indian team winning against the other teams than ever before.

The Indians will be playing a lot against Australia over the next few months and there is plenty to learn from the world champs. If they can pick up a few valuable lessons, then it will go a long way in making the team a consistent winner in all formats of the game.