12 years Back in an Indian Autumn came an Australian team determined
to win the Final Frontier ,which ultimately made them one
of the most iconic teams of cricket history
In the winter of 2004 Australians arrived on Indian shores to play a 4 test series. It had been
35 years since Australia last won a test series in India. The Australians were without there
regular captain Ricky Ponting and stand in Skipper
Adam Gilchrist
knew to capture the final
frontier they will have
to play their best cricket he also
knew
a bit complacency mean
that the
result will be like 2001 when one of the greatest Australian
test
team lost surprisingly by
2-1 .
However this time they were keen to amend the mistakes of 2001 . They had a bowling
attack which was all time great . McGrath ,Warne , Gillespie , Kasperowicz, each and every
one of them were different kind of bowlers and were in form of their life . When a speedster
like
Brett lee had to play as no. 12 , you can understand the depth of that squad. From their
previous experiences Australia played cricket of highest quality mixed with aggression and
defence and
after two test matches were
leading by 1-0.
The third test was at Nagpur's Vidharbha Cricket Association . The pitch was already
the talking point as the curator refused to remove
the green grass from
the pitch even after
Indian captain Sourav Ganguly clearly expressed his displeasure. On the morning of the test
Ganguly declared himself unfit creating rumours that he withdrew due
to the pitch saga . Rahul
Dravid was
appointed as the captain and India took
the field as Australia decided to bat despite
green track probably they
didn’t wanted to bat last . Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer
gave a solid start of 67-0 but as it happens in subcontinent one wicket with itself brings
another one and Australians were soon 86-3 . One of the recipe
of success in India is to
select players
suitable for conditions . Damien
Martyn was
a fine spin player but the
injury to
Ponting meant that Darren Lehman was included and this was the best thing to happen
for Australia . Ponting who was one of the greatest players of all time but was hardly
any match for Lehman's spin playing ability especially in India where it was needed
most . These two came together and grinded India out with a feisty partnership on
the fourth wicket. They took the score from 86-3 for 234-4 when Murli Karthik nipped
out Lehman after a well made 70 , however Damein Martyn made a superb century
and Australia ended the day at 362-7
.
On Second day Australia was all out at 398 but then a pace attack which
probably was one
of
the best to
have
come to India , rocked the
home
team's top order .
It
would be right to say that they decimated the Indian batting especially Jason Gillespie who
was on song. He reduced India to 49-3 and that Included Tendulkar's wicket who seemed to
be horribly out of form . Warne ensured that Laxman was back as soon as possible . While
the sight of Rahul Dravid being hit on helmet and getting injured of Michel Kasprowicz was
the picture of the day which unfurnished the complete story of the test for India . Dravid's
struggle came to an end when he nicked one outside of the stump off Macgrath
straight to
slip to Warne . He made 21 off 140 and clearly was buckled by the pressure of top notch
bowling . The sight of Macgrath bowling against Mohammad
Kaif and Parthiv Patel with
Seven fielders on off side was treat to watch as the legendary bowler kept on hitting
his
emaculate off stump
line
. The due though survived
but India ended the day at 146-5 still
252
behind Australian
First
Innings Score.
On the third day Australians ruthlessly finished off
the Indian first Innings
as Gillespie and McGrath
stranglehold the tail and
finished the Innings
at 185 , India fell off short
by 213 runs . Only Kaif and Parthiv Patel
to an extend could give fight to Australia . Glen
Macgrath was miserable conceding only 27 runs of 25 overs but it was Jason Gillespie who
bowled with fire . In 2001 Gillespie had bowled his heart out on the pitches which had nothing
for pacemen but this time being more experienced he knew how to bowl on Indian
Pitches .
India was far behind in the game but the memories of 2001 let the
Australians not to ask for follow on and they decided to shut India out of the game by
batting . India on the other hand had a great chance considering it was third day pitch in
Nagpur heat and was sure to start turn by mid day . However inspite of Matthew Hayden's
early dismissal
of Zaheer Khan Australia was determined not to let the opportunity
slip off
this time . Simon Katich who was probably the most underrated batsman of his generation
showed his worth . He
made a magnificent 99 and played Kumble and Karthik with disdain .
He was more ruthless against Kumble as he cut and drove him without
any fear , the leg
spinner who took 13 wickets in Chennai looked out of sorts . Katich though was unlucky as
he fell on 99 off Karthik but by then he had taken Australia in to position of ascendency , by
the end of the day Australia were in commanding position with score of 202-3 and overal
lead of 415 Runs . India was not only knocked out of the game but the confidence of team
was also shattered , they looked a shadow of the team that famously usurped Stev Waugh
and its men in 2001. They were not only fighting with a determined Australian team who
wanted to break the drought of 35 years but
they also were fighting with other mental issues.
On the fourth day of the Test Damien Martyn played another magnificent
innings , adding to his brilliant century , he made 97 and was unlucky to miss out another
century . Yet his innings against a quality attack was full of sublime shots which were
eyesoothing . His wrist work was magical and seemed to be best of non subcontinental
player. Michel Clarke , who was find of the tour played with an air of authority , he came on
front foot frequently and cut beautifully off the back foot making attacking 73* as Australia
declared at 329-5 setting a massive target of 542 to an Indian team that looked short not
only of form with bat and ball
but also on confidence
.
It was clearly evident by the Start India got and the way four of the fab Five as
they use to call (Sachin, Rahul, Sourav, VVS and Sehwag) as Indian start went horribly
wrong, from 1-1 to 9-2 then 20-3
and ultimately 37-5 , that
was a sad demise of Indian Inning but
nothing could be taken away from Ausralian bowlers who bowled beautifully
. It was sight
for
fans
to see Gillespie knocking the stumps
of Akash Chopra and Rahul
Dravid while the Battle of
Macgrath and Tendulkar saw paceman winning the duel and
when Michel Kasprowicz sneared
up the defences of VVS Laxman and Mohammad Kaif , half of the side was
back in Pavilion .
Virender Sehwag on the other hand
had already decided
to play his own game but he fell of
Shane Warne after trying to play shots
too many. Parthiv Patel started the
lower order fight but in
span of 8 runs he and Anil Kumble were back in the
dressing room as India slumped to 122-8
.
Murli Karthik contributed with 22 but it was too much
to ask from a tailender to defy a bowler like
Macgrath . At 148-9 a big defeat awaited India , Zaheer Khan and
Agakar decided to have
a go
to lit up the moment of despair . Zaheer Smashed Warne for two
mosnter sixes while Agarkar
took three fours of a
MacGrath over
.
16.45 Hrs , 29th October 2004 , came the moment for which Australia waited for
years , a moment which will go down in golden letters in their cricketing history. At 4.45 pm
Indian Time on October 29,2004,
Damien Martyn took a sensational catch at deep long on
boundary off Shane Warne to get the last Indian wicket of Zaheer Khan leading Australia
winning their Final Frontier and one of the greatest series wins of all time. A win hard earned
and well deserved. It sparked a well memorable celebration from Aussies , all of them were
emotional understanding what they have achieved.
rope, Shane Warne running to celebrate one of his greatest acheivement ,It was also the last
we saw the champion in Test Cricket
in India, probably God had scripted this for him
in his finale , Adam Gilchrist holding his team mates with a smile and shed of tears in
his eyes and an Australian team comprising of players like Justin Langer, Mathhew
Hayden , Glen MacGrath, Jasson Gillespie , Michel Kasprowicz and others
celebrating like they have
conquered the universe.
Many of us can never forget how this Australian team gave everything
to conquer
their final frontier
in that Indian Autumn of 2004 !!!
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