Let the games begin

From the looks of it, the India-Aussie series has already begun. And the first round, as is often the case, has gone to the Aussies. (But then, they are the masters of pre-series bluster.)

Right from the meticulous way in which they've been manipulating their media statements to indulging in public posturing to finding ways to get us thinking, that much more, about the absence of Kumble to rotating their key players in the joke that has been the series Down Under to setting very public goals and targets for the opposition, us Indians, to take very clear cognizance of.

Incidentally, we all know this is not going to be an easy series. But do we need Mr. Imran Khan, of all people, to tell us that? Maybe we do.

The good news is if reports are to be believed, we're giving a bit of it back. They tell me Mr. Agarkar, of all people, has fired a salvo or two from this side of the Indian Ocean. Apparently, he made a statement saying he is ready for the Aussies and is going to let his bat do a lot more than it managed the last time they met. (Shouldn't be that much of an ask considering how little it did.)

Even more heartening, if true, he has supposedly sent out a warning to the younger of the Waugh twins. Words to the effect that he's the man Agarkar is targeting. Okay, admittedly, the thought of Agarkar targeting anyone doesn't sound particularly threatening but ... at least the man has spunk. And it is, to an extent, true that he does have a bit of a hold on the Waugh twins. (Even if only a teensy-weensy one.) The point is we're going to need all the ammo at our disposal to get these Aussies.

The sooner we get under their skin the better. The more often we remind them how difficult a country India is to tour the better. (Even if it means encouraging Mr. Warne and Co. to cart food, water and medical supplies all the way from clean, antiseptic Down Under. Nothing like giving them that much more to worry about.) The more we underplay the loss of Kumble the better. (So what if it ends up sounding plain foolish. We can't have them getting smug in the belief that we're fretting over the absence of one of our main weapons.)

The more we fans get into the game the harder it is going to be for the seemingly unbeatable Aussies to stay that way. I mean, don't we need to remind them that the Windies are hardly the team they used to be? And, worse, that the Windies are not even the team they were minus Lara? (If anything, in my not-so-humble opinion, Lara's return seems to have adversely affected the overall spirit of the team more than helped. A classic case of a team not delivering because it has in it's midst a superstar who's clearly more equal than the others.) So beating them, how many ever times, at home isn't something they ought to throw too often in our faces. And they ought to be reminded that. (Enough times…and loudly enough…to have it coming out of their ears.)

Meanwhile, white-washing us in their backyard shouldn't count for much either. (And we better believe that.) We need to remind them, and ourselves, that we had a think-tank minus the 'think'. A coach with questionable credentials. Backroom boys with private agendas. A board exerting all kinds of pressure on the captain. Openers who spent more match time in the dressing room than out in the middle. An itinerary that we, as usual, hadn't bothered to plan and think through. Young players with few to turn to for advise on one of the toughest assignments of their lives. And a secretary who deserves to be sent to the netherworld.

In simple words, we need to tell them, and us, that that was then and this is now. And no, I won't even get started on the umpiring. Even if it did play a somewhat crucial role in the outcome of the somewhat series defining first test. Oops, guess I just did. Then again, this is a time to get under their skin. And every little helps.

Which is when we'll be reminded that they also happened to thrash the Pakis and the Kiwis. Which is when we ought to play them back the many 'near-misses' that decided the fate of that one. The number of times their top order didn't deliver. The mercurial quality of one of the best teams in the world. The fact that beating the Kiwis counts for nothing when compared to trying to do the same to us Indians at home. And in case they play us back the catastrophe that was our home series against the South Africans. Well, we all know what that was all about. (Right Mr. Azza and Co.) Fortunately, in Sourav, we have a captain who loves to get into the thick of this kind of gamesmanship. Enough said. So, without further ado, let the games begin.

PS. By the way, here's hoping we swath ourselves in the 'Colors of India' every time we go to cheer our heroes on. Like we already know, every little helps.

Avinash Subramaniam

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