An Injury-hit India sans their star players notched up an incredible 2-1 win over Australia in the four-Test series and Chappell believes it is the robust domestic structure and efforts put in by BCCI which prepares its youngsters to take on the rigours of international cricket.
Updated Jan 22, 2021 · 03:16 pm SAEED KHAN / AFP
The image that Ravi Shastri evokes in different generations of Indian cricket fans is very contrasting.
For those who started following his cricket career in the early 1980s, it is one of a tall left-arm spinner who began as a number 10 batsman but later moved up to open the innings against the likes of Imran Khan and Ian Botham. He went on to score Test tons in Pakistan, West Indies, England and Australia. He was one of the men who hit six sixes in an over (during a Ranji Trophy game). He drove an Audi at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after being crowned the Champion of Champions.
Our young cricketers are weekend warriors compared to their Indian compatriots, who get challenging matchplay from the Under-16 age group onwards, Chappell wrote in a column for Sydney Morning Herald . By the time an Indian player reaches the national XI, he has had an all-round apprenticeship that prepares him to walk into the Indian side with a reasonable chance of success. I am afraid, in comparison, Will Pucovski and Cameron Green are still in primary school in terms of experience.
Pointing out the huge difference in the amount spent by the two boards, Chappell said Cricket Australia cannot be making 1960s Holdens in this age of electric cars.
The Indian victory in Australia seems like poetic justice, considering what they have gone through. A crippling loss, the absence of livewire captain, a spate of injuries that robbed them of frontline bowlers, racist taunts from the crowd and vicious sledging from the opponents. All these seem more like ingredients for a soap opera rather a five-day game of Test cricket.
A series in Australia is always a test of skill and character. The bouncy pitches and pace like fire makes for a searching examination of a batsman’s technique. The boisterous crowd and aggressive rivals test the nerves of even the most experienced players.