It has been about 16 years since that memorable test match but some things have remained the same, Saurav Ganguly and Steve Waugh are still going at each other, Harbhajan is still getting under the skin of Australian media and fans alike, and Australia is again touring India in the months of February and March. Led by as fiery a young man as any in the world, this Indian team start as favourites at home but as fans we would not mind revisiting some emotions of those 5 days back in 2001.
March 11 to March 15 in the year 2001, the five days of cricket at Eden Gardens, Kolkata that changed the world’s perception of Indian cricket and its cricketers. They would never again be the well-played-tough-luck team that they had mostly been. This was the team that was captained by a man who refused to follow any pecking order in the world cricket. This team over those five days fought back from the dead and rose like a phoenix against arguably the best test team ever whose captain was pretty vocal about his intense desire to conquer the “last frontier.”
For the Australians, most of the memorable test went according to the script. They amassed 445 in the first innings though a young Sikh by the name of Harbhajan Singh took 7 wickets that included a rather debatable hat-trick which also happened to be first by any Indian in a test match. India staying true to their dismal form were bundled out for 171, handing the Aussies a lead of 274 runs. Waiting impatiently to knock down the doors and conquer the last frontier, Steve Waugh asked the Indians to follow on. Saurav Ganguly in turn asked V.V.S. Laxman to keep his pads on and go in at number 3 in the second innings. Rahul Dravid, the highest impact player in Indian cricket, was relegated to bat at No. 6. When under fire, some players shut the hotel room doors and cry and then there are some who take to shadow practising at dinner table. We all know the club to which Mr. Dravid belongs.
S.S. Das and S. Ramesh did well in their efforts to see off the new ball but it did not take long for VVS and Dravid to come together in the middle. At the end of day 3, Laxman was unbeaten on 103 and Dravid on a struggling 7. It was day 4 that all young cricketers around the world should have a DVD of. What followed was cricket getting as close to poetry as it possibly could. From Laxman there were silken flicks against the turn as there were drives through extra cover to deliveries that were pitched well outside the leg stump. As for Dravid, it seemed the great man needed a fight to recall his powers of concentration and showcase grit in its raw form. Laxman-Dravid entered the ground together in the morning and left together at lunch. In fact, they left together at tea as well as the stumps. Not a single wicket fell that day as Laxman piled up an artistic double ton and Dravid scored a century fighting dehydration and cramps—a vivid image of the day’s end being the duo walking off the field with towel strips dripping ice-water and sweat in equal measure.
By the time the partnership came to an end with Laxman’s departure having scored 281, 376 runs had been added. Thankfully, that innings from the soft spoken very very special man was telecast and stored else there was a clear danger of it being thought to be a cricketing myth. It ranks at No. 6 in Wisden’s list of the greatest test match innings both for the quality of batsmanship and the conditions it was constructed in. India declared at 657/7 soon after leaving Australia a target of 384. Harbhajhan added another 6 to his first innings haul of 7 wickets and just to remind everyone that God could not be kept away from the proceedings, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar took three crucial wickets of Matthew Hayden, Steve Waugh and Shane Warne as India closed out Australia’s second innings beating them by exactly the same number of runs that they had scored in the first innings—171.
It has been about 16 years since that memorable test match but some things have remained the same, Saurav Ganguly and Steve Waugh are still going at each other, Harbhajan is still getting under the skin of Australian media and fans alike, and Australia is again touring India in the months of February and March. Led by as fiery a young man as any in the world, this Indian team start as favourites at home but as fans we would not mind revisiting some emotions of those 5 days back in 2001. Good players become great under extreme conditions and it does not get any more extreme than 0-1 down following on. The current generation of Indian cricketers are fearless and have repeatedly thrived under pressure and somewhere a few gentlemen of the game must be smiling having passed on the legacy. As for the Aussies—sledge they will, win we will!
