 | Lee-gal eagle: Brett Lee’s long spells of high skill and unfailing pace proved to be the decisive factor in the tightly contested
four-Test series |
ADELAIDE: Brett Lee was the difference between the sides in a tough series. Whilst the Indian pace attack was nursing injuries, Lee steamed in to bowl long spells of high skill and unfailing pace. His was the decisive influence in a series dominated by batsmen and including 11 hundreds. Overall, he took 24 wickets at 23 apiece, figures secured in hot conditions, on slow pitches, against fine batsmen and with the umpires giving nothing.
Confident
Ricky Ponting could throw the ball to Lee confident that he’d put pressure on the batsmen. Lee used the crease resourcefully, his slower ball effectively, his bumper sparingly and his outswingers frequently.
India prospered when the ball swung. Anil Kumble’s pacemen were effective in Perth because the new ball swung and early wickets were taken. Elsewhere they struggled to make a lasting impact. By the end of the series India’s four senior speedsters were on the physio’s table. All of them should be forced to undertake a rigorous rehabilitation progamme at a facility located in a remote desert and run by a bad tempered 82-year-old with cold hands.
High hopes
Nor could Anil Kumble put faith in an off-spinner whose doosra troubled only the home captain. By the fourth Test, Virender Sehwag was out-bowling Harbhajan Singh. Although Australia deserved a narrow victory, the Indians had only themselves to blame. They arrived with high hopes but were undone by poor preparation. Rain ruined their warm up match and they went into the MCG Test with the wrong side.
Defeat was the inevitable result.
Obviously the contentious SCG Test soured the atmosphere… interpretations of events varied and the ensuing frenzy in both countries suggested that deep-rooted and long held emotions had been released. The confrontation between Harbhajan and Andrew Symonds could have been contained. Alas, the captains were not able to sort it out between themselves. Happily the leading thinkers in both countries tackled the difficult task of putting their own house in order thereby avoiding the usual nationalism.
But the row did not cause the defeat. Abysmal umpiring was a handicap but India should have saved the match. A rash of feeble strokes undid them. Foolish selections also undermined the visitors. Once given the chance, Virender Sehwag produced a match-saving hundred, an innings requiring concentration, determination, courage and talent. Irfan Pathan missed the first two Tests but proved his worth in Perth.
Compelling
By and large the series was compelling. Sachin Tendulkar found his form, Adam Gilchrist waived good-bye and some scintillating cricket was played. Ishant Sharma was an especially popular newcomer. Only the lamentable over-rates caused frowns, and the series ended as it began, with Lee charging to the crease, giving his everything.
1988
The draw broke a nine-match run of decisive results at the Adelaide Oval. The last time a Test ended in a stalemate here was in 1998, when Australia played South Africa.
151
Virender Sehwag’s 151 was his 13th Test century, but his first in the second innings. Even after his effort on the final day, his second-innings average is a less-than-impressive 28.67.
59.50
In 14 Test innings in Australia, Sehwag has scored 833 runs at an excellent average of 59.50. Sehwag’s overall average against Australia is 53.90; only against Pakistan and Zimbabwe does he average more.
9
The last nine times Sehwag has touched three figures, he has gone on to complete 150 as well. The last occasion when he scored between 100 and 149 was in October 2003, when he fell for 130 against New Zealand in Mohali.
4
Sehwag scored at a strike rate of 63.98 runs per 100 balls, which makes this one of his slower centuries. Among his 13 hundreds, only four times has he scored at a strike rate of less than 65.
6
It was only the sixth time in India’s Test history that one opener scored a duck and the other went past 150. It was the second such instance against Australia: in Sydney in 1991-92, Ravi Shastri scored 206 while Navjot Sidhu fell for zero. | 
