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Danda Gul: Brett Lee is comprehesively beaten and bowled by a Zaheer Khan beauty in Mohali yestereday. Pic/ Suresh KK |
In fact, for five days, they bullied the big bullies of international cricket and in the end, emerged deserving winners in the second of the four-Test rubber being played for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"Winning the toss," felt India's stand-in skipper Dhoni "was critical". After having done that, the Indians, as though possessed, made the most of the conditions.
First blood
For starters, as admitted by visiting skipper Ricky Ponting, India's first innings score of 469 pushed the visitors on the back foot right away. And thanks to some disciplined bowling by Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma, the Aussies couldn't really stage a comeback thereafter.
The Australian skipper was candid enough to say that his team was completely outclassed in all departments. "All I can say at the moment is that from the first morning of the game, we were outplayed, it's simple as that," Ponting said.
Comeback? No way
"They got off to a terrific start and were nice and aggressive with their batting early on. They took all the momentum away from us right at the start of the game. From that moment on, we have been under pressure.
We have been trying to find ways of getting back into the game. For a brief period on that first day, we probably did that with three wickets in quick succession but a couple of partnerships from there and we were always behind the eight ball again."
Beginning Day Five with five wickets in hand and still needing a mammoth 374, Australia were stung by a lethal Zaheer Khan spell. He claimed the wickets of Brad Haddin (37), Cameron White (1) and Brett Lee (0) in a span of four deliveries to finish the Aussie resistance. Michael Clarke was the last man out as the Aussies folded for 195, giving India a victory by 320 runs and 1-0 lead in the series.
The comprehensive win will certainly serve as a confidence booster to this aggressive Indian team and Ponting knows they have a lot of catching up to do.
Outplayed
"We weren't good enough in any aspect of this game, be it our fast bowling, or our spin bowling or for that matter our batting. And probably at certain times as well, our fielding was a bit sloppy too," Ponting said.
"We have been outplayed in every aspect of the game and sometimes, as a captain and as a player, you have to just accept that and say that they were better than us this week. I think we were better than them last week (Bangalore Test) but it's irrelevant now. They are 1-0 up and we have got some work to do going into the next Test match."
Mahi way
For his part, Man of the Match Dhoni insisted that the success story weaved around a collective team effort.
"We are doing our job in a brilliant way. The bowlers are doing their job, the batsmen, the spinners. Everyone is contributing. That is what is important, when you are doing well as a team you are not relying on individuals and whoever is getting a chance, is contributing with the bat or with the ball," Dhoni said.
