India winning at Perth is great news for the team and fans. Kudos to the Indian team for turning victorious at Perth with a stupendous all-round performance. What is most satisfying for me is that while the Australian pace bowlers struggled to show their mark against a solid Indian batting lineup, their Indian counterparts showed a great resolve in conquering the hosts. Aggression is what was missing one expected from the Australians. Here, I’d like to put my views about a couple of questions I’ve in mind. What does one understand from this match and/or How different was this win for the Indians than previous Test wins? And what should the Indian team take forward from this match?

First of all, it is a fantastic win, emerging strong from being down 0-2 in the series and after the Sydney Test (which will be remembered and talked about for all the wrong reasons) and crashing the Australians on a pitch that was considered to favour their bowlers. Not only fans, but several cricketers opine this is the best test win for India in the last three decades. It was tremendous achievement in the sense that we witnessed an all-round team effort. Anil Kumble has led the team in a truly professional way. The win was different in the sense that Indian team has mostly known for its formidable batting lineup and spin bowlers than the pace bowlers but it is the fast bowlers who turned the match in India’s favour. The young pace trio of Pathan, RP Singh and Ishant Sharma have displayed exceptional bowling and a great resolve to get rid of the opponents twice.

It was different because India won the match within four days on a bouncy pitch against Australia in that country while Australia, has been known to register their win within four days of a Test match. It was also different because Indians have been aggressive while the Australians were not up to their normal behaviour on the field. Bret Lee was highly defensive against Sehwag while Ponting struggled against Ishant and succumbed to pressure example of this. Now what should the team take from Perth, to Adelaide – The passion and commitment to downplay the Aussies and level the series. In the recent past, the Indian team has won several matches away from home but something was missing in those – Consistency. This is what has to be maintained if we are to look at becoming the world champions. We’ve won matches against Australia (2003), England, South Africa but failed to capitalise on those wins and carry the spirit through those series thus losing matches again and again. The Indians have to take a cue from the way Australians have played in the last 8-9 years. They have been the No.1 team not only in the one-day cricket (hatrick of world cups – a huge achievement) but also in the longer version of the game. Indians have proved that the Australians are not invincible but what they should not ignore is the fact that the Australians will comeback strongly (losing a Test after more than four years on the home soil is something which they cannot digest) and that is why they have been the champions of the game for such a long time. This win certainly shows the way forward for the Indian team – Downplay the Australians at Adelaide and level the series.

Common India – Jeet ke Dikhado.