By the way, Dinesh Karthik played in the last match against Australia. Seeing close-up shots of him behind the wicket, he definitely does look much the same as he did ten-odd years ago. It was just amazing when I saw him taking part in the celebrations with other players, especially Tendulkar, because at that age Tendulkar was like a God, and the mere thought that one of us would not only meet him but play alongside him would have been, well, unthinkable.

There was one incident where Damien Martyn was giving Karthik "advice" after the Indians unsuccessfully appealed for a leg-before shout, no doubt schooling him on the nuances of the game. Karthik quite appropriately told him to concentrate on his batting rather than his talking. Good stuff! It seems like the Indian players are starting to stand their ground when the opposition tries intimidation tactics, and they're not letting the opposition gain a psychological advantage. The best example is the one and only Harbhajan Singh, who met the Aussie's abuse with yet more abuse! It was despicable to see McGrath and the like abusing and trying to intimidate the tail, and I'm glad someone decided to stand up and show they weren't afraid. At one instance where McGrath finished an over off with some nonsensical abuse, Singh merely walked down the pitch and gestured McGrath to come forward, a truly immortal moment. My favourite Singh-moment was when he lifted Warne out the ground for six, and then starting clapping to congratulate Warne of his "century" (he conceded a hundred runs!). At first everyone thought he was congratulating himself (which would have been pretty funny also)!

Although Australia definitely outplayed India in the series, and probably deserved to be the winners in terms of consistency and application, I feel in spirit they didn't have the right attitude. There were too many incidents of sledging and intimidation; f'rinstance, Justin Langer (whom I now utterly despise) would make comments to the bowler nearly everytime there was an appeal that wasn't upheld. At one point even Dravid, maybe the most well-behaved player in the whole Indian team, had enough and had a little chat to Langer, hopefully requesting that he keep his fascinating ideas for the book he's bound to write next year, once he's dropped. The worst incident of all (maybe I'm overreacting here) was when Kaif gloved a ball which Gilchrist caught, but the umpire adjudged not-out. In a truly wretched display, Gilchrist began lecturing Kaif on the morality of the matter, telling him with an air of moral superiority "The whole world's watching, champ", and other nasty stuff throughout the over which the stump microphone didn't pick up. It was with some amusement that I read his comment that he didn't think walking was a big deal. I was waiting for Gilchrist to run onto the field when Langer cleanly edged a ball but was given not out, and naturally didn't walk, instead offering a smug smile to taunt the bowler. One must turn a blind eye to such things of course, because morals clearly only apply to one side, and not the other. Of course, there is also the matter that the captain, Ponting, clearly stated that he wouldn't walk, and that he encourage his other players to do so either. Kaif really should've called Ponting to the wicket and relayed Gilchrist's message to him. Oh, if only Harbhajan was the non-striker!

I'm not being very rational here, I suppose I take these things too personally. I think India has been intimidated for too long on the cricket field (then again, what do I know?). It's time we showed the world that we're not going to take it! This post probably has numerous factual inaccuracies, in the true style of a rant by me, where white-lies are abound. Not that it really matters in this case, after all my slander is worth nothing to anyone. I just need to get some rage out, and what better way to do it than with hyperbole and distortion?