War of Words shows Aussies' hurt
Looks like the Australians are well and truly punched. India must have done remarkably well that even before the Sri Lankan series has started, they continue to talk in terms of the pleasure they get in silencing the India crowd, and India being the favourite bunny.
The verbal diarrhoea is continuing giving press the juiciest of bites. Matthew Hayden has been at his aggressive best, Ricky Ponting is still asking the Australian crowd to show restraint when India visit Australia, and Clark is predicting a 4-0 whitewash for the Australians. Even Brett Lee is keen to make amends for a lacklustre show last time when Australia were terribly missing the services of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne and almost lost the test series but for some rearguard action in the Sydney Test. Though, to his credit, the Australian speedster has chosen to defend the Indian crowd and S Sreesanth.
Probably this kind of verbal warfare, even days after a series is over, has very few precedents. A side which won the ODI series is behaving more like a group of sour losers, promising a fitting reply in the return series!
Why are the Aussies behaving the way they are doing! Surely, they are making it look like the notorious heavyweight fights of yesteryears where boxers invariably promised to knock off each other's head to generate money-spinning excitement much before the actual showdown.
It seems that their "talking the talk" has got to do with both pride and commercial reasons. As even a marketing trainee will vouch for, any India series is a money-spinner for sure. And them locking horns with Pakistan or Australia makes the whole world stand up and take notice.
Now, with India emerging as a worthy contender on the basis of their past record in India and the 2003-04 series in Australia, the potential for viewer ship has become even bigger. The hype and revenge chants will only help in magnifying the appeal. Ponting's declaration that Australia will stop Muralitharan at all costs from breaking Warne's record in Australia must also be seen in this light. Such war cries are important just because they keep the cash registers flowing.
Well, the second reasons has got to do with their pride. In one of his memorable comments, Steve Waugh had said that there are no dead rubbers. He wanted Australia to play every match as if it was a series decider. That is what Australia failed to do this time.
Defeats at Wankhede and Brabourne gave India the last laugh. The twin losses must have hurt so much to a side which was determined to squash India, that the eventual 4-2 verdict was at best a statistical win. That must have ignited a burning feeling, a feeling to avenge their failure to "impose" themselves in the rivals. The fact that the stature of some stars like Dhoni, Uthappa and Yuvraj, who were instrumental in India's Twenty20 success against Australia and others, still remains intact must be hurting like hell.
Of course, spectators unpardonable behaviour against a terrific player like Symonds must be another big factor behind this war of words, but they would have found another reason if it were not for Symonds. The series result hurt the Australians more than the Indians, as they won by the narrowest possible margin in an effective six-match series and lost a twenty-20 game. The hurt is showing in the still continuing War of Words. Expect it to continue for some more time till Sri Lanka-Australia tests get underway!
Total Comments: 6
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Posted Thursday , November 08, 2007 : By jack
Agree with you S. Balakrishnan. Sehwag should be back, on the double. He is the shock weapon for India against...
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Posted Tuesday , November 06, 2007 : By MANOJ GUPTA
It is a truth than one one who is on the top for so long afraid of loosing his number...
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Posted Sunday , November 04, 2007 : By veerendranath
i think aussies are more hurt
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Posted Sunday , November 04, 2007 : By Dr Aun
i think, the author is absolutely right. aussies always depend on their war of words to augment their ground skills....
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Posted Wednesday, October 31, 2007 : By Shriram
Brilliant article, nicely done. Only hope some of the Australians, including their media get to read this.
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