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Aussie tour sees Indian boys turn men
It's been a tough rite of passage for the Indian team of relative greenhorns, who had to get used to a more aggressive style of gamesmanship and deliver.
- NDTVSports
- Updated: March 04, 2008 04:03 PM IST
Read Time:2 min
Mumbai:
And the young boys rolled up their sleeves and played with passion, and stood up to Aussie pressure.
Welcome to a brave new world of Indian cricket, a team with just a few big names has achieved stardom that many battle weary cricket veterans dream of.
In the end, there was a touch of irony in a tour that has been dominated by words and bad language. India unfolded a script that was all about simple body language, of boy warriors who were just doing a job and becoming men.
"We were here to just play cricket and were doing our job," said Harbhajan Singh, Member, Indian Cricket team.
Most of India's heroes down under, are virtual unknowns, grateful to share the dressing room with the big guys. They called the English commentators "sir" and walked around living a dream.
Finds of the tour
Let's take a look at two of India's best finds.
Praveen Kumar is from small town Meerut and his family manages akharas, and a business he would have followed into, if cricket hadn't happened. And there's Ishant Sharma, the son of an AC mechanic from Delhi.
Though the big daddies of Australia Mathew Hayden, Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting taunted, sledged and even mimicked their rustic Indian accents, the young Indian bowlers let the ball do the talking and found their language of dominance.
"Team India is ready to confront, they are not backing off any more, they are ready and will stand up in front of anyone," said Gary Kirsten, coach, Team India.
But this isn't really about muscle for muscle, an eye for an eye; it's about meeting bat with ball, throwing yourself on the ground, bowling that beauty at 150 kilometres an hour and beating world beaters outside the off stump.
Clearly, 'GenX' is now 'Gen now', led by a man who believes that guts is a first step to glory, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
"A lot of questions were asked that this did not have seniors, well we have proved what we can do," said Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Captain India.
The new order is setting in and the old order still in tremendous form, watches the boys become men for Team India. It's not just about ranking and tournaments, it's about attitude.
Before the second finals, the team coined a slogan khatam karo, ghar chalo, simple business like; a joyous India awaits the return of its heroes.
It's been a tough rite of passage for the Indian team of relative greenhorns, who had to get used to a more aggressive style of gamesmanship and deliver.And the young boys rolled up their sleeves and played with passion, and stood up to Aussie pressure.
Welcome to a brave new world of Indian cricket, a team with just a few big names has achieved stardom that many battle weary cricket veterans dream of.
In the end, there was a touch of irony in a tour that has been dominated by words and bad language. India unfolded a script that was all about simple body language, of boy warriors who were just doing a job and becoming men.
"We were here to just play cricket and were doing our job," said Harbhajan Singh, Member, Indian Cricket team.
Most of India's heroes down under, are virtual unknowns, grateful to share the dressing room with the big guys. They called the English commentators "sir" and walked around living a dream.
Finds of the tour
Let's take a look at two of India's best finds.
Praveen Kumar is from small town Meerut and his family manages akharas, and a business he would have followed into, if cricket hadn't happened. And there's Ishant Sharma, the son of an AC mechanic from Delhi.
Though the big daddies of Australia Mathew Hayden, Andrew Symonds and Ricky Ponting taunted, sledged and even mimicked their rustic Indian accents, the young Indian bowlers let the ball do the talking and found their language of dominance.
"Team India is ready to confront, they are not backing off any more, they are ready and will stand up in front of anyone," said Gary Kirsten, coach, Team India.
But this isn't really about muscle for muscle, an eye for an eye; it's about meeting bat with ball, throwing yourself on the ground, bowling that beauty at 150 kilometres an hour and beating world beaters outside the off stump.
Clearly, 'GenX' is now 'Gen now', led by a man who believes that guts is a first step to glory, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
"A lot of questions were asked that this did not have seniors, well we have proved what we can do," said Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Captain India.
The new order is setting in and the old order still in tremendous form, watches the boys become men for Team India. It's not just about ranking and tournaments, it's about attitude.
Before the second finals, the team coined a slogan khatam karo, ghar chalo, simple business like; a joyous India awaits the return of its heroes.
Topics mentioned in this article
Cricket Australia Cricket Team
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