RISING DOWN UNDER

Notwithstanding India’s recent successes in Australia, the country remains the toughest place to tour for a cricket team as a whole gamut of factors comes into play, writes Madhu Jawali.

India’s first-ever overseas series win came in New Zealand in 1968, almost 36 years after they were given the status of a Test-playing nation in 1932.

Their first Test series win in England came way back in 1971, close on the heels of a 1-0 triumph in the Caribbean against the then-mighty West Indies.

How long did it take for India to win a Test series in Australia then? A good 71 years after their first tour Down Under, when the Virat Kohli-led team won in 2018-19! Remarkably enough, India repeated the feat in their next sojourn to the country in 2020-21, thus demystifying Australia’s “invincible” aura to a great extent.

What makes Australia such a tough cricketing nation to tour? While there is no single definitive answer to the question, it’s not an unreasonable sentiment to entertain.

The records don’t suggest otherwise, either. Out of 447 Tests at home, Australia have won 260 for an impressive win/loss ratio of 2.504. India are the only other country to have a 2+ W/L ratio (2.068) for a country with 200 or more Tests at home.

Of course, each country has its own challenges. While India no longer remain the biggest threat on rank turners, they are almost unbeatable on traditional Test pitches where the batters and pacers come into the picture for the first one and a half days or two before the natural wear and tear brings spin and reverse swing into play.

England are almost impregnable in swinging and seaming conditions, as are New Zealand, while South Africa remain a force to reckon with at home on spicy pitches. While playing surfaces and overhead conditions largely dominate the conversations in the aforementioned countries, a whole gamut of aspects springs into discussion when it comes to Australia.

The differing nature of the pitches from venue to venue, the extreme changes in weather patterns from one city to another, the long flights, the partisan crowd, and the media... All these factors and more combine to make Australia a unique challenge. You have to overcome a cluster of obstacles to get the better of them.

While the bounce is always emphasised when it comes to Australian decks, no one surface is similar to the other. Perth has its own demands with its pace and the cracks that open up gradually. Adelaide poses different questions in day matches and day/night matches. Now that the venue has a fixed D/N match, Australia are all but guaranteed a win there for some years to come.

Brisbane, not unlike Perth, had been Australia’s fortress with its pace and bounce. Melbourne and Sydney always bring spinners into play, though pacers have also called the shots. While Brisbane and Sydney have natural pitches, Perth, Adelaide, and Melbourne sport drop-in pitches, bringing in their own dynamics.

Jasprit Bumrah summed up the challenges of playing in Australia the best when he said: “If you come and perform in this country, then your cricket level will go up and your level will keep increasing.” This was, in fact, his message to the youngsters in the team ahead of the Perth Test, where he led the team in Rohit Sharma’s absence.

Test cricket has a different vibe in Australia. Sun-kissed mornings, colourfully dressed crowds, theme-based fan groups, and gallons of lager. The fans are the unofficial 12th man of the Australian team, trying to intimidate rival players either by booing or coining interesting slogans.

In the first Test, when Devdutt Padikkal, playing in place of the injured Shubman Gill, failed to open his account, falling for a 23-ball duck, the Aussie fans kept shouting “Dev Duck Padikkal.”

This is fun to listen to and watch but can be really unnerving for a batter, particularly for someone on his first trip to the country. Bumrah, who was a revelation on his first tour itself in 2018-19, felt the toughest challenge for a beginner in Australia is the ability to back himself to perform under immense pressure.

“In this country, this is the toughest challenge (backing oneself) to prove,” he said. “I give the same message to everyone. As a team, we are focusing on putting ourselves in tough challenges so that we improve and take our cricket to the next level.

“When I toured for the first time here, playing in Australia, it’s an intimidating place. To listen to the stories, take the advice, but for me, it’s just staying in your own bubble and finding those experiences, working them out for yourself.”

It’s not just a test of your cricketing skills. It’s a test of your character—how you hold up when the Aussie cricketers needle you. Do you crack or crank it up?

Most visiting teams, even to this day, choose to ignore the instigators for fear of more retribution—both from the players and the crowd. Australia have perfected the art of claiming the moral high ground, like in the case of the Travis Head-Mohammed Siraj face-off.

But once in a while, you come across a Virat Kohli who calls your bluff and says: “If you are giving it to others, you should be prepared to get some back.”

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why India have been able to win back-to-back series in Australia, a distinction that even the West Indies of yore can’t claim to have achieved—besting the Aussies at their own game.

“The last four series we have played (against Australia, at home and away), we have won. I don’t think we should be talking about intimidation,” asserted Shubman Gill, who played a stellar role in India’s series triumph in 2020-21.

Gill is an unanimated version of Kohli. He doesn’t go looking for a scrap but will not back down from one.

While that’s a justifiable claim from the 25-year-old, there is no doubting the fact that Australia, along with India, remains the most intimidating cricketing country to tour.

“I think the intensity at which the games are played here, especially Test matches, is one of the most difficult things,” agrees Gill. “To be able to maintain that intensity throughout the course of five days is what makes touring Australia so difficult. I think more than anything it is the mental intensity and the mental fitness that is required here in Australia.”

The familiarity with the big foul-mouthed players through the IPL may have diminished their aura and frequent tours to the country may have taken away the surprise element each of the venues possesses, each with its own unique history. But performances against Australia in Australia remain the biggest certificate for any visiting player worth his salt.