India 7/613d (161ov; Gambhir 206, Laxman 200*) v Australia 0/50 (15ov), Day 2 of 3rd Test @ Delhi

[mcgillianaire]

VVS Laxman celebrates another double-century against the Aussies | Close but no cigar, Gambhir edges closer to his 1st double-century
[SCORECARD]
It's the first time India have had two double-centurions in the same innings and the first time Australia have conceded two double-centuries in the same innings. In the course of his second double-century (both have come against the Aussies), Laxman passed a number of milestones, including overtaking Gundappa Vishwanath's 6080 Test runs and becoming only the second Indian (after SRT) to score more than 2000 Test runs against the Aussies. The latter is an incredible achievement, almost Terry Aldermanesque in its proportion of runs against Australia to his total number of runs. If memory serves me right, half of Alderman's 180-odd Test wickets were against England and they came in only two Ashes series, separated by nearly a decade or something funny like that. Laxman's record against Australia is somewhat similar. Nearly a third of all his Test runs have come against the greatest team of his era, an astonishing record. Interestingly, this was only his second century against the Aussies at home and 6th overall. The first one was obviously that unforgettable 281 at Kolkata in 2001. Speaking of which, it will take the Aussies a similar herculean effort to come anywhere close to leveling the series. India are in an impregnable position and should reclaim the Border-Gavaskar trophy by the end of the weekend. Oh and before I forget, a special mention to Gautham Gambhir for becoming the first Delhiite to score a century at home since Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi in Feb 1964. Incidentally, Pataudi also scored a double century then. Gambhir has now scored back-to-back centuries against the Aussies and has cemented his place in the team. It remains to be seen how he will fare on non-Subcontinental pitches but if recent Indian performances abroad are to be taken into account, the confidence gained from this series should serve him well on our next such tour. COME ON YOU INDIANS!! JAI HIND!!

Comments

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

>They're still a very good team, but I honestly don't think they deserve to be called great any more.
Possibly but I'd like to give them till the end of the Ashes to decide that. They're going to make mincemeat of South Africa at home and away this summer (for them) even though the Proteas are probably thinking the complete opposite. India might be the team Australia has found most difficult to dominate in the last ten years, but there's something about South Africa that really gets them going in a way that they bring an intensity to it only seen in the Ashes.

>If only Panesar would learn the damn arm ball!
Hehehe! Is this trip of his to Sri Lanka going to happen or not!? I really hope he does go. It should do him a world of good.

>The real question for me is how much I'm going to care anyway.
This is what I hate the most about English and Aussie cricket fans. Even though our players don't rate England much, our fans treat every series with the same respect (though not necessarily with the same passion). It is disappointing we're only playing two Tests but I sometimes wish the Ashes never happened because to most English and Aussie fans, that's all that matters. :)

[loganberrybunny.livejournal.com]

Is this trip of his to Sri Lanka going to happen or not!?

Doesn't look like it. I think it's a big missed opportunity, and I can't understand what the club were playing at. You don't ask for thousands of pounds for the privilege of having a Test cricketer on your team!

our fans treat every series with the same respect

It's the Test/ODI balance that's wearying me, not the opposition; and I dislike the BCCI, but that doesn't extend to the players. I'd love to see a five-Test series against India, but I can't see it ever happening even in England. (I believe we are getting five against SA next time, which is great news.)

Having said that, partly guilty as charged: there's no way I'd swap an Ashes win for one against India, even if the latter series was five Tests long. After all, I doubt many Liverpool supporters really care about beating Portsmouth as much as they care about beating Man Utd!

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

The problem is not in the comparison you made, the truth is I wouldn't swap an India-Pakistan or India-Australia win with anything else. The difference is England is only obsessed with the Ashes itself and nothing else. At least with Liverpool and the footie, while a victory over the scum down the M62 is tastier than any other, the ultimate goal is to win trophies, particularly the Premier League. With England and the cricket, the goal is only to win the Ashes. They don't care about becoming the best team in the world. If it happens along the way of winning the Ashes, it's like a bonus. That's what angers me and moreso the approach taken by the English than even the Aussies. Even though the Aussies value the Ashes more than any other series, they set about to become the undisputed team on earth, in all forms of the game and they succeeded. And instead of resting on their laurels they went about maintaining their invincibility, something England is not bothered about at all. To them, the Ashes is the only series that matters and everything is simply practice or time-pass.

[loganberrybunny.livejournal.com]

the scum down the M62

That's actually one reason I'm not a big football fan; the virulence of the language between rival clubs puts me off a good deal. You don't get rugby supporters calling opponents scum. Yes, I know in this particular case it's an established and time-honoured ritual. I just wish it wasn't.

They don't care about becoming the best team in the world.

I think that's rather harsh, though perhaps it might not have been in the fairly recent past. I think the "resting on laurels" thing was certainly true after 2005, and we deserved what we got in Australia. I don't think Pietersen thinks like that; I was rather sceptical about his appointment to the captaincy, but my opinion of him has grown a lot since then.

[mcgillianaire.livejournal.com]

>the scum down the M62
Actually, I agree with you on this. One of the good things about not being a true Liverpool fan, in the sense I'm not actually from there and therefore do not share the same sense of hate towards Man U and Everton, is that I don't actually think of them as scum whatsoever. I tend to write such stuff as a way to poke fun at the "established and time-honoured ritual" while also partaking in it, if that makes sense.

>I think that's rather harsh
Yes it is harsh but I don't think it's far off the mark. And to be honest, I agree with you about Pietersen, but I'd contend that's more to do with the fact that he's a recent immigrant and therefore lucky to have escaped the parochial Ashes mentality that afflicts this country's approach to cricket. Perhaps he can prove me wrong in the months and years to come...

Don't get me wrong, I love the Ashes and recognize the history and passion behind it. I'm one of them non-English, non-Aussie cricket fans who would stay up all night or wake up at any time to follow it. I love its place in the game and would like nothing better than an English victory. I'm just annoyed by the fact that in all my years of following the game they remain fixated on a single series, when the game is much bigger than that. It's the single biggest reason they've rubbed the BCCI the wrong way since the 1980s, when they refused to believe any country other than England could host the World Cup and it's simply followed on from that.