INDIA DOWN UNDER: SYDNEY TEST MASSACRE

Oh Sydney and there you are Sydney – The first match of a fresh year is always an exciting prospect for a cricket viewer across the world. The current match Australia vs. India marks the 100^th Test at this historic venue. A lot has been written about Tendulkar scoring his landmark 100 hundreds on this memorable occasion. He had stats to back it up from his previous four outings here and the form he displayed in the first Test at Melbourne.

Then there is VVS another veteran who is among the few non-Australian batsmen in the world to have made three consecutive hundreds at the SCG. In his 4^th appearance stage was set to make it four in a row. But there are greater problems for Team India in general at the start of this test and at the end of this test, Team India move ahead with only problems on its shoulders.

With such reputation of Indian line-up and the fading memories of Melbourne Test match Indians started their innings and by the time I was able to finish my daily chores I saw Australian openers coming on to bat. Well it wasn’t such a dramatic collapse but getting bowled out for 191 on the opening day isn’t going to win matches. Even if miracles were due to happen one cannot hide the ailing mistakes Indians making consistently off-late and most notably since the England series.

Barring M.S Dhoni who struggled his way to top score the innings none looked comfortable at the crease expect for a brief moment when Sachin hammered eight boundaries before dragging a Pattison’s delivery back on to the stumps. Craig Mc Dermott was at his peak of bowling prowess when Tendulkar first toured Australia in 1991/92 season and he is now the bowling coach that has brought the discipline in the bowling attack of the Aussies. His influence was shown by the performance of James Pattison in tandem with work horse Peter Siddle and the calm rejuvenated Ben Hilfenhaus.

Zaheer Khan led the attack and took three quick wickets. The captain, the home boy Michael Clarke came with clear intentions and attacked from the start and put Aussies within reach of India’s target at the end of Day 1. As I went to bed, I had a premonition about Ponting scoring a hundred. His last hundred came when I watched the game in Lausanne on a cold morning making a wonderful double hundred against Pakistan at his home ground in Hobart. That was back in January of 2010 and since then he has been on a slip with occasional brilliance but no hundreds to show. He must have been relieved to have finally got a big score under his belt.

Ponting’s case is an interesting one – Australia since the appointment of Allan Border has had a consistent pattern unlike other cricketing nations in appointing their captain and the theory of passing the baton. Border retired both as captain and batsman when he passed over the captaincy reins to Mark Taylor, same happened when Steve Waugh became the captain and also when Ricky Ponting took over from Waugh. When it was Clarke’s time it was an interesting scenario to have an ex-captain on the side. Well change is the name of the game, and for two decades Australia never faced any issues in replacing an out-going captain and his role as a batsman. This time it was Ponting, Australia’s most successful batsman and second to Don Bradman in terms of greatness; surely he wasn’t going to be treated the same way as his former captains had been before, especially when the team has found itself to be in rebuilding phase.

With injuries and lack of quality batsmen at the top, selectors (and that includes Clarke in the panel) needed Ponting as a mentor in the team. Post captaincy, his score of 50’s indicated the big score was just round the corner and after his two scores of 50 plus in Melbourne it was ominous his hundred would come sooner than Tendulkar’s much awaited century and so it did.

Now to Sydney’s home boy Michael Clarke, known as ‘Pup’ – He isn’t the pup anymore, has matured at least in batting, honing the skills of a fighter and seems to be enjoying the captaincy and has managed to score hundreds in all of the four series he has captained so far. He now has a maiden double hundred which eventually turned out to be an unbeaten triple hundred. He had all the time and looked good to go after Bradman’s record of 334, Hayden’s 380 and challenge the top summit of Lara’s 400. Not sure exactly the reason behind the declaration, nevertheless a strong statement was made that he was after victories and not individual records. For all the problems he had with public on his image unlike the previous Australian captains, not going for the record and making the statement of team victory over individual should do a world of good in the coming days.

Michael Hussey another aging batsman was under fire but has come good since the second innings at Melbourne. Mr. Cricket surely could not have asked for a better time as he brought up his hundred, a much needed one considering the fact he was almost in the brink of being dropped at the start of the series. The declaration came when Hussey reached 150 with Australia having amassed a mammoth 659 runs. 

Sydney Test - fourth season in a row has become a landmark Test for the awareness of breast cancer in memory of Jane McGrath and third day of the Test one gets to see the whole stadium dressed in pink in some form or the other. The idea behind is the gentle giant fast bowling legend from New South Wales Glen McGrath,  who in memory of his wife had set up the foundation that works on awareness and providing facilities to cancer affected people.

With long road to travel India started their second innings with a session and a half left on day 3 - Gautam Gambhir for the first time in the series looked positive and went about his usual business that got him those big scores in a period of one year in the season of 2009/10. His footwork was much better from the looks of it and importantly he looked for runs. Since the hard fought fifties in South Africa early last year he had nothing much to show and on the third afternoon he applied himself and remained unbeaten to see yet another day in the company of Tendulkar.

Indians were stretched to their limits on the second day and half of third day. Trailing 468 runs with little over two days to go isn’t going to be an easy task. This is mother of all challenges to cut the deficit and then see if they can look for a win or draw the match. They have done this before in Napier two seasons ago; Gambhir then batted for long sessions to save the Test match against more bowling friendly conditions than the one in Sydney. While this Indian team remains the same as the one that played the Napier Test; situation and the opposition remains different as Sun Tzu from Art of War points out – “As water has no constant form, there are in war no constant conditions”.

On the fourth day Gambhir could not go on and make a big score and got out at 83. In eight overs between over 78 and 86 it seemed ghosts of the past were coming back - That 90's show of team collapse was triggered once Tendulkar's wicket was taken by the opposition. Forget the milestone (these days that is all Tendulkar has been associated with) India had to show some fight and were expected to bat out the day. For a moment Laxman and Sachin showed it with their 100-run partnership. Playing for the new ball change (due in two overs) Tendulkar got defensive for few minutes and in that brief moment of time his bat took the outer edge off Clarke's left arm spin and had him caught at slip. He did not get his 100th hundred but the situation demanded much more than that. The landmark of such proportions shouldn’t come in the way of masking Indian’s defeat or for that matter the way Clarke dominated the Test match with his triple hundred.

Virat Kohli fresh from his finger controversy must realise there are different ways to vent one's frustration; better if he concentrates on the bat than on the crowd. Rohit Sharma is in the queue and looks certainly to make the XI for the next Test match. The other nemesis of Australia over the last decade VVS, played fluently for his 66 till he got a peach from Hilfenhaus.  And soon M S Dhoni came and went in a flash.

The fireworks of Zaheer Khan and dodgy resistance by Ashwin only delayed the victory parade for the Aussies and also ensured India getting past 300 only for the second time in the last six away Tests. India finally folded up at 400 and in terms of performance it was certainly much better considering they batted for more than 100 overs in an innings.

These things happen in Test cricket and sadly in the last six away Tests this is becoming a trend. Past is only an indicator of a pattern and something one can learn and do nothing about it to alter the gone by results. It is what you do in the present moment that will determine the future.

 All good things must come to an end and so it did and was evident during the 4-0 loss to England last year, but the manner in which it has come has been disappointing. The result was a killer blow for a side that started to look sharper with each series last decade outside the sub-continent. Winning tests and more often the series was turning out to be a good habit and now Team India is sliding, steadily with each test match that has been played on the foreign soil.  Is it time to press the panic button, not quite. Time to re-think the strategies – Yes

 One need not look beyond 2008 when Indians after an incident packed Sydney Test came back strongly at Perth by winning the Test and showed a great deal of character at Adelaide in the fourth Test. Indians were not favorites then and now it seems they haven’t quite won a real series with the favorites tag. Was the controversy of Monkey-Gate scandal behind such a motivation for the turnaround in the 2008 series? It remains to be seen and it will be known over the course of next two tests at Perth and Adelaide. 

Lost Track: Circuits of the Yore VIII - Boavista Portuguese Grand Prix

Well past the Christmas and into the new year, the season of 2003-04 was not going the way  Manchester United hoped for. Arsenal were continuing their unbeaten streak in the Premiership and then came knock out stages of Champion’s League.  United’s record at  Champion’s League looked good until the last-minute tackle by Phil Neville (which was so silly and needless), free-kick by Costinha, half-hearted save by Tim Howard and the goal, the elusive away goal powered Porto to quarterfinals and they went on to win the Champion’s League.

Jose Mourinho became a legend and very soon became the toast of European football, known as one of the ‘thinkers’ of the present day football. That was his time at Porto. 2004 apart  I can recall from my interest in Champion’s League winners history,  Porto had also won the 1986-87 Champion’s League. Football and Porto have a long history.

In search of more sporting history at this fanatic city in North of Portugal, I found Oporto (other name for Porto) hosts alternatively (Lisbon and Porto) an annual cricket tournament that awards the Kendall Cup to the teams formed by the representatives from Lisbon and Porto. The tournament traces its history back to 1861 and it became a regular event in 1920 when the man himself Mr. A.C Kendall presented the trophy in memory of Lt. Rawes, a WWI martyr who lived and played cricket in Portugal. Barring the 5 years hiatus during WWII, this tournament has been a regular to this present day.

Alongside cricket, I also managed to dug up the fact of Oporto being the first Portugal city to host a F1 race. In the eight part of the ‘Lost Track’ series I put forward my views based on what I have read on races that took place in Boa vista circuit in Porto.

Since its start, F1 World Championships has attracted many cities across Europe; like every other European country even Portugal wasn’t far behind. Boa vista circuit (Porto) and Monsanto circuit (near Lisbon) were the early players under the banner of Portuguese Grand Prix welcoming many sports car competitions in the 1950’s. Although, the races were unofficial it did generate a lot of interest and paved the way to host the inaugural F1 Portugal Grand Prix in the year 1958 at Boa vista. The circuit included the famous ‘Esplanade do Rio de Janerio’, a harbor front in Porto continued along the Avenue of Boa vista, narrow twisting roads on small neighborhoods before reaching the start-finish line.

Pole and the race belonged to the Brit driver Moss; his fellow country man and title rival for 1958 Mike Hawthorn came in second. The race was not just about Moss and his drive but the other side of it, the humane side and the sportsmanship he displayed. During the course of the race, Hawthorn had an off-road excursion disrupting the normal traffic (since the track featured roads connecting tram lines, small roads and cobble stoned roads) which prompted the race officials to disqualify from his second place. Moss persuaded the officials to not take such an action and in the end Mike Hawthorn kept his second place and more importantly the 6 points. At the end of the season, Mike Hawthorn ended up winning the championships by a mere one point over Moss.

Sir Stirling Moss is arguably considered the best driver never to have won the World Championships and such was his passion for racing that, he took it seriously, was ruthless in his driving but fair when it came to approaching the sport in general.  

After the inaugural edition at Porto, it was the turn of Monsanto Park at Lisbon to host the second edition of Portuguese Grand Prix. The race returned to Boa vista in 1960 where Jack Brabham, the reigning World Champion won the race in his Cooper-Climax, helped by many retirements owing to engine failures and few accidents.

The 1960 race was the last time a F1 race was held at Boa vista. The Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix discontinued after 1960 till its revival in 1984 at Estoril. 

The revival of Boa vista track happened in the year 2005 and since then it has hosted auto-shows, the FIA WTCC Race of Portugal (2007, 2009 and 2011) which includes racing programs such as International Formula Master (formerly Formula Super 2000) and other Portuguese national competitions. 

Lost Track: Circuits of the Yore VII - Ain-Diab - Moroccan Grand Prix

Ain Diab Circuit 

The year was 2006 and I was on a self-exploration trip across few places West of India. It was during this trip I came across the quote (the one I had read previously in the books) inscribed on a wooden plate next to Mahatma’s room at Sabarmati Ashram – “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.” After some travelling to places away from home I now can sense that quote well and interpret it better.

In the seventh series of ‘Lost Track’ I will talk about the racing in the Arab world. Currently the FIA World Championships feature two races from the Arabic speaking world - Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. However, it dates back to 1950’s when an Arab country hosted an F1 race, which also happened to be the first time a championship race was held in the World’s second largest continent, Africa.

Morocco is famous for its literature, rich culture, European influence in social life, blessed landscapes, picturesque valleys, mountains, archaeological sites and last but not the least the cuisine. Although I am a vegetarian, but I do know from few of my friends about the Moroccan food which includes my favorite couscous.

The most famous place isn’t the capital Rabat but happens to be the city which is also a name of the 1942 Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman starrer blockbuster movie. ‘Casablanca’ amongst all the other famous associations was the city that hosted the first Moroccan Grand Prix.

The racing at Casablanca dates back to 1920’s when the French and Monegasque drivers dominated the races which were driven mostly by the touring cars. At the start of 1950’s, racing cars started making their presence felt. Inspired by the world championships, a circuit at Ain-Diab (near Casablanca) was built. The first race at Ain-Diab was held in 1957 and following the popularity, an official sanction was made and thus 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix became part of the F1 calendar. The 7.6 km circuit resembled a quadrilateral in shape with dimples and pimples on all sides of the track was designed by the Royal Automobile Club of Morocco and given a full blessing from Sultan Mohammed V. It took merely six weeks to construct the circuit. 

Ferrari driven by Mike Hawthorn took the pole position. Hawthorn leading the championships needed just a finish the race in points scoring position and while the second placed Moss needed a victory and some luck with Mike not finishing  (the best six results counted towards the championships). Stirling Moss in his Vanwall took the top step but to Moss's ill fate, Mike finished in second and took the Driver’s World Championship.  However there was a consolation for Vanwall as they took the Constructor’s championships.

The race, first one to be hosted in Africa was impaired by the death of an English driver, Stuart Lewis-Evans who died in London six days after crashing heavily and succumbing to burns caused by his car’s seizure and hitting the barriers of this dusty circuit. After hosting races for 33 years, the first F1 race happened to be the last time Morocco ever hosted a race. There is nothing as exciting as a comeback. It remains to be seen if and when does Morocco get to host racing cars next. 

Lost Track: Circuits of the Yore VI - Adelaide Grand Prix

As a cricket enthusiast, South Australia reminds me of the Test cricket ground Adelaide. In the last few years, whenever I have mentioned my little knowledge of Adelaide to the Aussies I have met, they ask me do you follow cricket? And there you go; it is easy for them to fathom why I know few things about Adelaide.

My exposure to Adelaide in my childhood days was strictly restricted to the Channel Nine coverage of the Australian cricket. Adelaide Oval, home to the South Australian State team boasts many champions, none more famous than the legendary Sir Donald Bradman who adopted Adelaide to be his home since 1933. In the sixth part of the ‘Lost Track’ series, I write about Adelaide and my knowledge of it beyond cricket.

Few years and at the turn of this millennium, when I started researching about Formula 1; I got to know Adelaide hosted Australian Grand Prix prior to Melbourne. Called Adelaide Street circuit also known as Adelaide Parklands Circuit, this 3.78 km track brought Formula One Down Under for the first time. Although, there have been many racing activities that took place prior to the Adelaide Grand Prix such as Tasman Formula, Formula 5000 and other non-championship races; Formula One arrived a good thirty five years after it was started.

The race was part of the 1985 calendar and was slated as the last race of the F1 World Championships. Nikki Lauda after a remarkable career winning three World Championships retired after this race. Keke Rosberg, the 1982 World Champion won the race which turned out to be the last of his career.

Nigel Mansell on his way to win his maiden title in 1986 blew a tyre which destroyed his World Championship and was won by Alain Prost (second in a row) winning in a TAG Porsche powered Mc Laren. It was one such epic three way battle to the title that Prost had an outside chance against Mansell and Nelson Piquet of the Williams quite similar to the one Kimi Raikkonen had in the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix against the two McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

Season of 1987 was somewhat a consolation for the Ferrari, winning 1-2 in spite struggling to come to grips with the power houses of McLaren and Williams. In 1988, Ayrton Senna in his first season after having moved to McLaren won the championships in spite of Prost having more points. Since the best 11 results counted to the World Championships, Senna won his maiden title by 3 points over Prost. In 1989, the race with showers was won by Thierry Boutsen after a re-start.

In 1991, there was a torrential outpour which forced the organizers to stop the race at the end of 14 laps. This race, till date happens to be the shortest race in the history of Formula One, 24 minutes all it took. Ayrton Senna won the race by which he had collected his third and last World Championships. Nelson Piquet, after having a successful F1 career winning three world championships, called it a day in 1991 and Adelaide was his last appearance.

Amongst others, Prost was fired by Ferrari before this event, for criticizing the work environment of Ferrari. He took a sabbatical in 1992 before appearing again with Williams in 1993.

1992 Adelaide marked the end of a successful partnership of McLaren and Honda. Gerhard Berger won the race for McLaren in what was a season dominated by Williams and in particular by Nigel Mansell who had already won the driver’s championships.

Williams continuing their strong form of 1992 dominated the championships with Alain Prost winning the driver’s title and retired at the end of the season. His retirement was partly due to his unwillingness to have Senna as his team-mate. Senna after having spent six successful years with the McLaren, which saw him win three World Championship titles, was to move to Williams in the following season. Senna ended on a high note when he took McLaren-Ford to the top step of the podium on his last race with McLaren. If you have watched the movie ‘Senna’, this section is beautifully captured with friendly emotions being exchanged between the McLaren boss Ron Dennis and Senna.

With the loss of Ayrton Senna early in the season, the fight for the championships was between Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill. With a point apart, Michael and Hill collided and both had retirements which ensured Schumacher to be the first German World Champion. The verdict was divided as to whose fault it was and it remained in that way till the final race of 1997 season at Jerez, Spain. After the 1997 season, Michael’s reputation tarnished and although he has been able to overcome with some splendid drives over the years, the incident at Adelaide will remain in the minds of F1 pundits forever.

After having made an announcement of the Australian GP being shifted to Melbourne the following season, the season of 1995 was the last Adelaide would host a Grand Prix.

The street circuit which included the famous racecourse Victoria Park as the pit lane;  Damon Hill won the final race and after 11 years of hosting the race on a street, the baton was passed on to Melbourne’s Albert Park. Adelaide also is one of the four circuits that has a corner named dedicated in the circuit 'Magny Cours', which hosted French Grand Prix several times. 

Lost Track: Circuits of the Yore Part V - San Marino Grand Prix

Alfredo Ferrari, nicknamed Dino was the son of legendary Enzo Ferrari. Right since his childhood Enzo groomed Dino to be his successor and hence sent him to some of the best schools in Europe. Fate has it, Dino suffered from a muscular dystrophy (a sort of muscle degeneration which results in death) and passed away at a very young age of 24 in 1956. He was actively involved in the designing aspects of the Ferrari race engine and his untimely demise cut short of his dream of overseeing the project which he had initiated. In the fifth edition of Lost Track, a racing circuit whose name is a tribute to the pioneers of Ferrari, one who managed to live and sustain his dreams (Enzo Ferrari) and the other (Dino Ferrari) who had all the talent to succeed his father, but was not able to.

In 1980, the Italian Grand Prix arrived at a different location. For the first time, the race was moved out of Monza to another circuit in a town named ‘Imola’. One of the reasons was a direct result of Ronnie Peterson’s death in the opening lap of the 1978 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Although the race was intact at Monza the following year, a move was decided by F1 authorities and Imola hosted the Italian Grand Prix in 1980. Owing to political manoeuvring and a subsequent compromise resulted in Monza hosting the 1981 Italian Grand Prix and Imola as a separate race in the F1 calendar.

Imola was introduced into the F1 calendar as San Marino GP, named after a nearby municipal state. Since Italian GP was a regular at Monza, the name San Marino was chosen for this 5 km circuit.

The race under the banner of San Marino took off in a grand way with Nelson Piquet (driving Brabham-Ford) winning the race enroute to his first of three championships he won as a driver. The1982 edition had a lot of drama with race marked by a boycott of many teams as part of a political war, unrelated to the event itself, involving the two dominant forces within the sport, the FISA* (Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile) and the FOCA (Formula One Constructor’s Association). This caused the field for this race to be only 14 cars as many of FOCA-aligned teams such as McLaren, Williams, Lotus and Brabham didn’t participate and that left only Ferrari and the Renault cars to be competitive on track.

The race especially the final stages was an epic - Despite the Renaults of René Arnoux and Alain Prost qualifying 1-2, their cars failed in the race leaving Ferrari occupying the top two positions with Gilles Villeneuve leading Didier Pironi. The third-placed Tyrrell of Michele Alboreto was far behind, so Ferrari ordered their drivers to slow down to minimize the risk of mechanical failure or running out of fuel. Villeneuve interpreted this order to mean drivers retaining their positions. However, Didier Pironi thought they were free to race and passed Villeneuve. Villeneuve thinking, Pironi was just trying to bring in some excitement to the dull race, passed Pironi immediately. On the last lap, Villeneuve took it easy and Pironi passed him in the final stages of the lap and took the top step on the podium. Enraged with Pironi’s act, Villeneuve famously vowed – “I will never speak to Pironi again in my life”. So it remained. Still not in talking terms, Villeneuve crashed and died in the next race (Dutch Grand Prix) during qualifying.

This track known for its high-speed corners namely ‘Tamburello’ will be remembered for eternity in Motorsports.  Nelson Piquet had a near death miss when he crashed his Williams in 1987 onto the very corner which would consume the life of the legendary Aryton Senna seven years later.

In fact, the San Marino Grand Prix of 1994 will be known as the darkest race Formula One ever witnessed. It all started with Rubens Barrichello crashing hard into the fence at the Variante Bassa in which he decelerated violently and was knocked unconscious for a few minutes.There was also the death of Roland Ratzenberger at the Villeneuve Corner in the Saturday qualifying session, and the death of Ayrton Senna during the race itself at the 6th-gear Tamburello Corner. Senna in memory of Roland was found with a folded Austrian flag in his pocket, when he was examined after the crash.

As a result, for the 1995 race, the Tamburello and Villeneuve corners were altered from flat-out sweeping bends into slower chicanes, and the Variante Bassa was straightened. It was also the catalyst to changes being made to other circuits, and the sport as a whole, in an attempt to make it safer.

Ever since 1994, the race has been mostly dominated by Michael Schumacher, who has won the same record breaking seven times between 1994 and 2006. In 2003 Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher raced despite the death of their mother just hours before the race. Both Schumachers sported black armbands and no champagne was sprayed on the podium as a mark of respect.

The fierce battles between Alonso and Michael Schumacher with each driver out manoeuvring in successive races (2005 – Alonso and 2006 – Schumacher) were some of the moments, Imola managed to capture in its final two years of hosting San Marino Grand Prix.

Constructors had complained about the poor quality of the facilities at Imola so, after much talk of dropping the San Marino Grand Prix from the Formula One championship, especially since there was another grand prix held in Italy, on 29 August 2006, the race was excluded from the calendar released for the 2007 season, and has not featured since.

Although the passion of Italians for Formula One is unparalleled, we can safely say, Imola won’t be taking part in Formula One under San Marino Grand Prix, and the only possibility is if hosts Italian Grand Prix instead of Monza. In hope to make a comeback into the Formula One calendar, there is a lot of renovation work that’s being handled by the track owners.

Imola which was a catalyst to changes being made to other circuits, and the sport as a whole, in an attempt to make it safer, was initially named only after Dino Ferrari. After the death of Enzo Ferrari in 1988, the circuit was renamed to honour both the Ferraris as ‘Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari’.

*The Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) was the governing body for motor racing events. The organisation's origins date from 1922, when the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) delegated the organisation of automobile racing to the CSI (Commission Sportive Internationale de la FIA), an autonomous committee that would later become the FISA. A restructuring of the FIA in 1993 led to the disappearance of the FISA, putting motor racing under direct management of the FIA.

Enzo Ferrari (left) with Dino Ferrari 

Anatomy of India-England Series

The game at Cardiff, Wales, was not a regular match for most spectators at the stadium. For the Indian fans, the result was irrelevant; they had gathered in numbers to see and see off history: cheering one last time for Rahul Dravid taking the field for India in coloured gear.

The journey began in 1996 and 15 years on, it was sheer joy to see the legend retire from the shorter version of the game on a high. A fortnight ago, he made his debut in T-20s for India and it was surreal to see him belt three consecutive sixes off Samit Patel. That was his first and last T-20 international.
And after two weeks of ODIs, the curtains finally come down on the one-day career of this cricketer who represented cricket in its original avatar: a gentleman’s game. The tally in the end is impressive beyond doubt — 10,899 runs ODI at an average of 39.16 with 12 centuries — and the parting shot equally sound: a well-compiled 69 to ensure India scored their highest total in the entire English tour.
So, on we come to the trip that looked much, much different two months ago. It was difficult beyond doubt for India, and while the players sweated even amid the chill of English summer, the tour felt scorching and stifling like the dry Delhi heat for the fans.
They were outdone by a resilient English side that has ambitions to be the number one in world cricket. They managed to achieve that in Test cricket, and with their performance in the One Day Internationals, the team showed they are well on track to achieve the same in this version of the game as well.
But England’s real test will come later next month, when they tour India to play five ODIs.
Reams have been written about India’s collective failure on the tour, especially in the Test matches. And the series of injuries did not help matters much. But it might not be down the barrel all the way through. After remaining at the helm of Test cricket for close to two years, the Indian cricket team and its management would have learnt a valuable lesson: never rest on your laurels, and while you are at the top, striving to become better is an ongoing exercise.
As they say, the challenge to sustain at the top is much greater than climbing the peak.
India’s defeat in the ODIs also showed some positives, especially the rise of Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel’s re-emergence; and R. Vinay Kumar and R. Ashwin also had a decent outing. The re-invented Ravindra Jadeja looks a lot more matured player than his previous avatar, and is a welcome addition to the team.
Without the senior players, it was good to see India performing well and with luck, they could have won a couple of matches. Overall the batting wasn’t as bad when compared to the Test series, but the bowling could certainly be a lot better, for the key to be a successful side is a good bowling attack.
Like in life, every cricketer has ups and downs, and this series must have come as an eye-opener for skipper M.S. Dhoni. It was his first series defeat as a captain in Tests. But for a man who led a side that has toured fairly all over the place, barring Australia, it isn’t such a bad record.
At the start of the tour, India lost Zaheer Khan on the very first day due to injury, and on the last day Munaf Patel left the field with injury.
As India lost yet another match, and England chased down yet another target, eyebrows will, however, be raised about the quality and depth (or lack of it) of Indian bowling. The bowling let down the batsmen in the ODIs, while it was the other way round in the Test series for most part.
If you ask the Indian skipper, he will be the first man to admit that a lot of work needs to be done and a better system of player management needs to be put in place to reclaim the top slot. Which is a good way to look at things: play to your potential, take each game on its own, and leave the panic button for the journalists.
No rash decisions are required; just prioritise and put certain systems in place to manage the workload of players.
I can’ recall the last time India were whitewashed, but Dhoni and Dravid certainly did stand out for India in the ODIs and Tests, respectively, by winning Man of the Series awards. It sums up the lack of support they received. After losing the Tests 4-0, outplayed in the lone T-20, the only redemption was a tied match in the ODI series.
Overall, a very disappointing series and considering India came into the series as the world’s best Test team and ODI world champions, it was sad to see their reputation cut short. But rising from the depths and looking up is what separates boys from men. So pick up the pieces and put the jigsaw right again.
While it undoubtedly is a long road back to the top, all is not lost. The important aspect is to learn the lessons, and learn them well. Even the great Australian team is undergoing a rebuilding process, and has taken some important steps to set things right after the disastrous Ashes campaign at home.
Let us give credit where it’s due: England has played outstanding cricket consistently for some time now.

Lost Track: Circuits of Yore IV - Pescara, Italian Grand Prix

Italy is known for its fanatic fan following for football and motorsports. In motorsports, you have stronghold German car manufacturers and English constructors in today’s game. But life in Italy is different and the passion for motorsports is something very different from the rest of Europe.

The story goes back in time when Fascists ruled Italy and under the Mussolini regime, Italy was establishing as a power house of Europe. In 1920’s when football had already created an impact among fanatics of Italy, motorsports was finding its way slowly and steadily across Italy, most notably at Monza.

Pescara, a small province on the Adriatic coast of Italy was no different and it hosted the first automobile race in the year 1924. It was known as the ‘Coppa Acerbo’, named after Tito Acerbo, the brother of Giacomo Acerbo, a prominent fascist politician. The inaugural race was won by the then unknown driver ‘Enzo Ferrari’, who later rose to fame with the launch of his ‘Ferrari’ in the late 1920’s.

In the European race circuits of that era, Coppa Acerbo was considered to be a very prestigious event. The home grown cars were among the winners most notably the Alfa Romeos who dominated the racing scene winning the seven out of the first nine races. Due to the changing regulations, the winners varied from Alfa Romeos and German Silver Arrows of Mercedes until World War II.

The race returned after a re-building process in 1947 with an alteration to the name of the circuit. Since the Fascists no longer ruled Italy, the circuit name was aptly changed to ‘Circuito di Pescara’.

When Formula One World Championships began in 1950, Pescara was not part of the official calendar but that didn’t stop it from being one of the most prestigious races in the racing circles. Well, strange thing do happen in Formula 1 and with the cancellation of Belgium and Dutch GP in 1957 it paved the way to Pescara, and it hosted the longest ever grand prix (26 km circuit length). The race of 1957 till date remains the longest race ever being hosted in the history of Formula One.

Juan Manuel Fangio in his Maserati took the pole position, while the race was won by the English man, Stirling Moss in his Vanwall. In spite of a successful race, the 1957 edition was the only race Pescara ever hosted as a Formula One event.

With Belgium and Dutch GP returning to the calendar and coupled with ever-increasing speeds and the fragile build-quality of most cars of the time, the race was discontinued after the 1961 event. It is also worth noting that, Italy already had a regular circuit in Monza, which hosted Italian GP since the inception of Formula 1 Championships and continues to do so.

With time, Pescara was long forgotten and the only recent connection to Formula One is that, Pescara also happens to be the birth place of the Italian driver, Jarno Trulli.