Perth Control!

India has pulled off an amazing 72 run victory over Australia at Perth in the 3rd Test Match. The entire nation is rejoicing and rightly so because we have ceased Australia from achieving their 17th consecutive Test match win.

The match from the beginning was a thriller and took a turn when India bowled Australia out in just one day. It was no less than a one day match and the last day ended up being a nail biting finish. It wasnt an easy task to chase 413 in the second innings. The entire team was sent to the pavilion at 340! The ground considered as the fastest pitch in the world was least favorable to India spinners and pacers. Even then this match showed some brilliant performances by RP Singh, Sehwag and extremely intelligent captaincy by Kumble himself.

The world was looking at this match for obvious reasons. The previous two matches had seen the worst of cricket on ground. Be it sledging, bad fielding, bad batting, total lack of coordination and umpires that ensured that we never took charge. The sledging row became so blown out of proportion that it became nasty and made international headlines. Also wrong umpiring which was India's biggest fear came true in the Sydney test when umpire Steve Bucknor gave 8 wrong decisions all against India and the equation turned bitter between the two teams and boards. The Indian team demanded action and hence Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson were suspended from the match. Ricky Ponting the Australian captain made tall statements and had to chew his words. Their board asked them to mend their ways and play the cricket in the spirit of the game. The result was quite apparent when the Indian team who had walked the pitch like wounded tigers won a test match against Australia after 3 years. The last match that India won against Australia was in 2004 in Mumbai when the victory margin was as narrow as 13 runs.

An Australian daily The Age quotes Anil Kumble saying "The confidence has always been with me. I don't think there was any kind of revenge or ill-feeling, but cricket-wise we were two-down in the series and we could lose the series if we didn't play well. It was important to level the series." Anil Kumble today is a proud man who took over this team when everybody refused to lead the test team to Australia and showed his metal at the tail of his career.

What was so wrong with the team that we lost the first two matches? Or what was so right that we won this match after losing the last 2 matches? I have heard my friends say that when Australia was playing with 13 players( regular 11 plus 2 umpires) they were winning and the moment the two most important people from their team left they lost! Which means that they were winning matches courtesy their two dormant players. One of my friends also said that 'since Australia wasn't playing the game in the right spirit it was winning, the moment they had to play as a gentleman's sport they lost because that's not how they know they game.' I am really amazed because just when India landed in Australia, Ricky Ponting had asked Anil Kumble to give a list of Indian swear words so that anything that the players said could be understood. But despite of that the Sydney episode took place. Australia expected India to behave, but what they did not do is ask their own boys to mend ways on the pitch. All said and done India has won Perth over and won a million fans more.

Australian winning spree has been put to a halt...that's what we call PERTH CONTROL!!!! Way to go Team India!!!