Australia – a lovely place to play test cricket..

Never had I felt this confident. I hope this time the dream will turn into reality. I have been waiting for this for so long. The Boxing Day is less than 10 hours away.

Come December 26^th, as India is getting ready to take the field against Australia in the first test of the coveted “Border-Gavaskar trophy” in Melbourne, the hope of India’s first ever test series victory down under looms large in my mind. Also, a loss for Australia in the second test against a depleted Kiwis’ side in Hobart augurs well in India’s favour. But, can hopes be rested on India for completing this unaccomplished mission of a test series victory in Australia?

Though this question will be answered in a few weeks’s time, let me brief you  all as to why India vs Australia series has become a telling factor in world cricket nowadays though we were used to see India’s batting talent  going into a state of desuetude in Australian pitches, more often than not.

We have seen our openers tremble on seeing the Aussie pacemen bowling at the top of their form in the pitches which were offering true pace and bounce. We had seen them initimidating us by playing the mind games on us well ahead of every tour warning us of the so called “Chin Music”. We had seen Ajit Agarkar infamously getting renamed as “Bombay Duck” as he got out four times in the first ball of his innings and ofcourse somehow managed crediting himself with some dignity as he got out on another duck but this time only in the second ball of his innings.

The series between Australia and India had always been controversial as we saw Sachin getting out “Face Before Wicket” of the bowling of Glenn Mcgrath. We have seen the “Monkey Gate” scandal involving Harbhajan and Andrew Symonds. We had seen everything.

Australia is the lovely place to see cricket for the viewers like us and it is the best place to play cricket for the cricketers. The commentary of Richie Benaud welcomes us on Channel 9 channel as we get up early morning in India to watch cricket. The entertaining commentary of Bill Lawry terming any incredible shots, played by a batsman as “Ripper” in his own rhthymic style and his love for pigeons are something which come to my mind when I think of cricket in Australia. The unbiased and biased commentaries of Tony Greig and Ian Chappel respectively add charm to the game.

Australia has the most beautiful ground in the world in Adelaide, the fastest pitch in the world in Perth and the largest boundary in the world in Melbourne.

So far, we, Indians, were able to enjoy these things alone and now for the first time I feel we will be able to enjoy India winning test series also in addition to all these.

Finally, on cricketing perspective, to have my hopes come true, I only hope that the format of four slips and a gully does not play in the minds of our distinguished batsmen.