India create history with first-ever tri-series triumph

BRISBANE: “We’ve done it, damn it!” In the shoving, jostling and hugging, one member of the Indian team was heard saying. “We’ve done it,” it was repeated. The world champions were tamed in their own den. Few believed it could be possible. India showed it was possible. Yes, they have done it!

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has an uncanny knack of doing it. He had done it in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. He has now done it in Australia. He has done what some of the best Indian captains could not do.

As Ravi Shastri said, it was one of the best ODI wins of all time — on par with India’s win in the 1985 World Championship series. For the record, it was India’s first tri-series win in 29 years. And this was also the last tri-series.

The match was not won or lost till the final over, when Australia needed 13 runs with two wickets in hand with rookie James Hopes looking dangerous. Dhoni handed over the ball to Irfan Pathan, who had an awful match till then.

But Dhoni’s famous instinct was right again. He snapped both wickets, both caught by Piyush Chawala at mid-wicket. The move was reminiscent of Dhoni’s now-famous decision to hand over the last ball to an unheralded Joginder Sharma in the T20 final. Joginder had done it then. Irfan has done it now.

In home conditions, the world champions are known to be an inexhaustible force. To vanquish them here, required demonstration of class and skills. The Indian team showed that and much more — they showed a fierce will to win and a never-say-die spirit.

They turned a big challenge into a bigger opportunity. Ricky Ponting admitted that the Indian team had its selection right. “I was wrong to say the absence of Sourav Ganguly was surprising. We too should have gone with some youngsters,” he said.

But Irfan was not the only hero. There were a few others too. To begin with, it was Sachin Tendulkar, who ensured India had a decent total to defend. Then there was this unlikely hero. Praveen Kumar, who was the match-winner in the crucial league match against Sri Lanka at Hobart, delivered a few lethal blows.

He finished with four wickets, and four vital ones at that — Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Brett Lee. Man-of-the-match was a tough decision but in the end, Kumar was the right man. He gave India the start they needed when Australia began their chase for 259.

Then there was Harbhajan Singh. He enjoyed the constant booing from the stands, and bowled some unfathomable balls. Yes, once again, he had a role in the dismissals of his two nemesis — Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds.

It was in the 26th over of the Australian innings. The match was almost won at that stage but the Australian hopes were resuscitated by a 76-run partnership between Hopes and Mike Hussey. But S Sreesanth could not be stopped from contributing his bit to the famous win. He chipped in with two wickets at crucial stages. Aussies were all out for 249.

Earlier, India lost way in the late overs after looking set for a 300-plus total. Fall of wickets in quick succession stymied the team’s progress after they crossed 200 in the 38th over. The last 10 overs fetched them only 51 runs. From 208-4, they ended up at 258-9, with Sachin Tendulkar crafting a well-paced 91.

Yuvraj Singh made a power-packed 38, the second highest score in the Indian innings, but his fall at 175 put the brakes on the Indian march. India fell at least 50 runs short of what their innings promised at one stage.

Yuvraj looked in good nick, and went after the fifth bowler — the weak link in the Aussie line-up which had four pacers. The left-hander started with a six and attacked the home bowlers relentlessly. He also went after Andrew Symonds but perished at the wrong time. MS Dhoni came ahead of Rohit Sharma in search of some quick runs but fall of wickets at regular intervals foiled India’s plans. But the Indian bowlers made 258 much more than it was.