Oz should learn from sporting India

Theres an old saying in Australia mdash dont poke the bear In a cricket context Australia might now regret poking the tiger For all their verbal aggression and sledges the Australians simply didnt have the weaponry or the sharpshooters to nail the Indian tiger betweenthe eyesIt always promised to be a fools mission trying to provoke a snarling beast no longer timid no longer cowed by colonial history and no longer prepared to be condescended to The result was alltoopredictable For the neutrals sick of the hypocrisy and condescension of the local commentators this victory at Melbourne was a triumph of character Substance over substandard actions over words class versus crassIt was only a few months ago that Tim Paine spoke eloquently about the new Players Charter and how the Australian team wanted to reinvent itself in the aftermath of being caught cheating in Cape Town For those of us closely associated with the culture of Australian cricket those wellintentioned words had a hollow ring to them We knew it wouldnt last If not quite spoken with a forked tongue it had sickening insincere and temporary written all over itAlong with elite honesty these words were never likely to survive the test of time As it turned out they didnt even survive three Tests Note the reference to all Australians presumably cricketloving Indian migrants too What the cricketers fail to realise is the link between their onfield behaviour playfully written off as banter and the flowon effect to the ignorant cricket community at largeThat is why it was appalling to hear the chants emanating from the Melbourne Cricket Ground Show us your visa Not bad for a young country built on an invasion that presumably didnt afford the indigenous folk the courtesy of a visa In 2004 I was accompanying some Indian journalists at the Gabba when members of the crowd called us coolies and threw chicken bones at usAustralians are beautiful people no more or less than any other people They saw through the soft bigotry of Kerry OKeeffes commentary disparaging Mayank Agarwals triple century by referring to the Railways team bowling attack as canteen staff Undeterred despite a mealymouthed apology he went on to poke fun at Indians by adopting a mocking accent and asking Why would you call your kid Cheteshwar JadejaThe rest of the commentary team could be heard giggling in the background Mark Waugh was not amongst them mdash he was busy preparing to commentate on a Big Bash game no doubt keen to watch the cream of Australias domestic talent Days before he opined that averaging 50 in Indian firstclass cricket was like averaging 40 in Australia Oh so thats why India are currently No 1 in the world Or because Australia have a better firstclass competitionThats why Mitchell Marsh who has averaged just over 10 with the bat in his last 13 Test innings is our best No 6 Even allowing for his 10run handicap how generous how many Indian batsmen get selected with career batting averages in the mid 20s Waugh ties himself up in knots by later justifying these selections by claiming that there is no one else in the country who is performing any betterHang on Junior werent you just saying that the Sheffield Shield was a much tougher test of skill than Indias system But you cant find an allrounder who averages more than 26 with the bat and less than 42 with the ball Maybe he has forgotten that unlike the days when the Waugh brothers were both selected on merit it is not compulsory to select teams based on family tiesTim Paines sledge to Rishabh Pant about babysitting his kids could easily have been misinterpreted as cheap stereotyping Australian cricketers can learn valuable lessons from the way Pant adopted the mantra of what happens on the field stays on the field The subsequent social media photo of him cuddling Paines children shows his maturity a far cry from the unseemly vision of Warner confronting Quinton De Kock in the pavilion stairway in Durban in 2018 or Darren Lehmann yelling racist insults near the dressing rooms at the Gabba in 2002 Or even the blowup with Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singhwhy did the Aussies find it so difficult to live by their own rules of leaving it on the fieldIts typical of people with thick heads and thin skins They are quick to make jokes that get them a cheap laugh but when they get caught out they offer an apology and then try to garner sympathy by making it all about how distressed their family is at the fallout from the joke gone wrong As if they are suddenly the victimsIndia are no longer a onedimensional team in skill or in character They have the batting and bowling to compete in all conditions They are no longer prepared to cower timidly in the face of cheap jokes and stereotypes Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli have imbued them with a fierce pride in their own hegemonyAs much as the Australian batting is under the spotlight there must surely be some questions asked of the bowlers who were unable to generate reverse swing even on the abrasive pitches of the UAE in October Perhaps the Jalandhar Railways canteen staff might be invited to coach the Australian bowling unit If they are granted a visa of courseMichael Jeh is a Brisbanebased former firstclass cricketer Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates