India reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy
India regained the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy, their first series win over Australia in eight years, after they bowled Australia out for 209 to win by 172 runs
India regained the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy, their first series win over Australia in eight years, after they bowled Australia out for 209 to win by 172 runs
Dhoni pumps his fist and signals to the dressing room. Stumps have been uprooted for souvenirs. Harbhajan wants to lift Ganguly, Laxman and Ishant join in and the they lift him up in the air. Indian flags are waving out there. The Indians shake the hands of the Aussies. Kumble is there too, hugging every Indian player as he walks up the stairs. And now shakes Dhoni's hand and hugs him. Gary Kirsten is there some where too, celebrating with the team.
On the other side, Ponting shakes every Australian's hand. Critics all round the world will look at this series and wonder whether it's the time when Australia lost their aura. Critics have said this is the most unAustralian team in recent memory. Can they regroup and reclaim their halo? Will Dhoni and his boys be the new leaders or will it be some other team? The upcoming season of cricket will provide the answer.
Some 2000 mails have poured in from you lot in the last few minutes! I don't know what to do! So will just type in Chappelli's comment instead.
Ian Chappell on Ponting the captain: "If they just lost the series I don't think there would be any problems. But the fact that they had the chance to level the series at tea-time yesterday.. that might cause a few questions. I believe Sutherland, CEO, is going to ask Ponting about that. The good thing for Ponting that he comes up against New Zealand in Australia very soon and they can win those two and I suspect things might die out after that."
Ceremony is about to begin. Hang on.
Ponting: "It has been a fair result to tell the truth. We played good cricket in Bangalore but from there we have been chasing our tails. India played good cricket. India's tactics slowed us down dramatically on that third day. Looking back that was the turning point. We weren't good enough; probably not patient enough.
"The partnership between DHoni and Harbhajan was vital. Being nine overs behind doesn't help you. There was a similar partnership in Bangalore (harbhajan and zaheer) .. we didn't take our chances. We weren't good enough here and weren't good enough in Mohali and hence the two results. I am still learning about the game, some of the guys will learn. Jason Krejza has had a very good debut. Other guys too would have learnt. We have a Test series in Australia. This has been as a brilliant tour. We have been here seven weeks and the time has flown quickly."
Man of the Match: Jason Krejza : "It has been an experience I will never forget. To take 12 wickets on your debut is unbelievable. What a wonderful game. I was a bit nervous, I tried to keep it inside. glad it has turned out well. My team backed me up, Ricky was a great captain for me and I really appreciate that. I had more confidence going in to the second innings. What I have learnt is .. Test cricket is a tough tough game and you have to be patient. I can come next game and pick none."
Man of the series: Ishant Sharma : "I think in Indian wickets, you have to be patient and bowl in the right areas. All the senior players supported me; that's why I bowled well. I know how your body recovers and I know quite a lot about my body [fitness] now. Zaheer has quite bit of experience and he has constantly adviced me about two things: be patient and bowl in the right areas. My best wicket was taking Ponting in the second innings at Mohali. "
Dhoni: We didn't start off well, it was worrying but we knew once we got a few wickets ....
On the series : This is more important than the India Pakistan rivalry. We had our plans and executed it well.
On Gambhir: The starts were very important. Gautam and Sehwag run well and helped put a big score on the board.
On Kumble and Dada:" They are marvelous cricketers. They have done everything, they led India. When we grew up we saw them playing cricket; we didnt think we would be in the same dressing room. The youngsters will have a tough task filling their shoes. They just need to concentrate on doing their best."
Dhoni moves away from the interview and gives the trophy to Kumble and the entire team celebrate and pose with the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
The Indians get on the man-of-the-series car and drive around the ground. All the players are sitting all over the car! Cannot see who is the brave driver. Scenes reminiscent of Benson & Hedges series in 1985 when Ravi Shaz won the Audi car.
That's it then from us. On behalf of Binoy George, this is Sriram Veera signing off. Thanks for logging on through the series. Good bye and good luck! Shab Bakhair!
MG Johnson lbw b Harbhajan Singh 11 (22m 16b 1x4 0x6) SR: 68.75
Mohit: "This is Indian Cricket at its best. Dhoni knows how best to respect seniors. I and all of India shall miss Saurav."
Sourav Ganguly talks about making the decision to retire in this extract from his new book
The cricket in the Nagpur Test was variously decried as being defensive and unimaginative. But who said Test matches are about attacking all the time?
Shane Warne believes Ricky Ponting could learn something from Allan Border and Ian Chappell, two of the former captains who criticised Ponting over his tactics in the fourth Test in Nagpur
Ponting may deserve criticism for his moves on day four at Nagpur, but he deserves a measure of sympathy as well
Tim Nielsen, Australia's coach, has launched a lengthy defence of the fourth-day tactics that have landed Ricky Ponting in the firing line from a wide range of commentators and former players