It's Even, Stephen

A virus a day after the Test series has forced me to stay back in Sydney while the rest of the team proceeded to Melbourne for the start of the VB Series. Solitude and the sick bed proved to be an ideal combination for taking stock of the Test series gone by, and the legacy that Steve Waugh has left, post his unforgettable farewell.

The 1-1 scoreline that we came to Sydney with remained, and after a point, it was obvious that this was the best result we could hope for. We were pretty disappointed with the cricket we played in the final Test, and with the pitch holding up so well, a better bowling performance in the first innings could have seen us win the Test even though we had to bat fourth.

The bowling was struggling a bit with both Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie returning from injury. However, it must be added that the fielding was way below our normal standards, with catches going down at important points in the game. Brett started off well with the new ball in both innings, but a mix of indiscipline and bad luck saw him get wickets of no-balls. Catches were also dropped, and after that, his subsequent spells were a lot less sharp. The young fast bowler is coming back from injury and it was imperative that we backed him up with some good fielding, but unfortunately, we let him and the team down.

It was evident by the end of the Test that Brett was a little tired after three-and-a-half weeks of cricket since his injury lay-off. The scrutiny of his rising average does not help either, however, I feel such opinions don't take into account his recent fitness problems. Brett is a fine, exciting bowler and it is only a matter of time before he regains his pace. Perhaps his body needs a little rest, and he must relax a bit for that to happen.

The Indian batsmen made us pay for these lapses, as any quality side would. Once again, there was a 100-plus opening stand, and that set things up for the sublime V.V.S. Laxman and the allegedly out-of-form Sachin Tendulkar. While I'll speak about the latter later, there is no doubt that it was Laxman's superb strokeplay that threw our bowlers off line. He seems to relish the conditions at Sydney as this is his second century here, but I rate this innings even higher than the one he scored here in 1999. He outplayed his great partner at every stage in the innings and frustrated the bowlers by piercing every field that was set for him. Right through the series, we tried various strategies to contain Laxman, but he certainly got the better of us in almost every game.

Tendulkar, on other hand, showed what happens when a player of his genius decides to play in a disciplined manner—he will simply not get out. He waited for the bowlers to make mistakes, and only then punished the bad balls. His dismissals at Adelaide and Melbourne, where he was out slashing wide outside the off-stump, must have really hurt him. In Sydney, I think he played only one cover drive, and if my memory serves me right, it was in the second innings. He seemed determined to play a long innings, but would be a little disappointed that his efforts did not result in a series win for his side.

For us, this series saw us underachieving in two of the four games, which does not speak very well for us as a side. The disappointment we feel is even more acute when we realise that we could not give our captain Stephen Waugh the winning farewell he so richly deserved. There are many who feel that Stephen's early announcement distracted the team, and that was what hampered us right through the series. I would not subscribe to this view, though it was harder to shut out the 'Waugh factor' in the last two Tests. The fact that we still won at Melbourne proves that while it was on everybody's mind, it did not hamper performance.

One of the key factors that was missing in this series was a contribution lower down the order. The only contribution from that part of our batting was when Simon Katich and Jason Gillespie got together. Normally, Adam Gilchrist and the lower order gives us crucial runs at a hectic pace, but that did not happen in this series. Gilly was certainly not his usual prolific self, while Damien Martyn got plenty of starts, but was unable to convert any of them to big scores.

As mentioned earlier, we know we could have done a lot worse than to draw the series, when we went into the last day with 443 to chase and 90 overs to play out. I think the turning point was when Parthiv Patel missed my stumping because my aim was to play out as much of the game as possible. Had he affected that stumping, a very tense, emotional Steve Waugh would have walked in just after lunch with almost two sessions left to play. We will never know whether that slip cost India the series win, but I sure was relieved to have got that chance.

The young wicket-keeper has shown great promise with the bat, but his wicket-keeping has been a little erratic, with a couple of crucial misses in the last two Tests. However, Parthiv is young, so it remains to be seen whether the Indian selectors will persist with youth or look for a more experienced pair of hands behind the wickets.

Once we lost two quick wickets, it was quite evident that the chase would not be on, so my role was to stay in the middle as long as possible. However, after the last drinks break, the team felt that we were in a fairly safe position and Katich did go for it for a couple of overs. However, we soon realised that we were up against the in-form Kumble who was bowling into the rough, and runs were at a premium. After Waugh's dismissal, the shutters came down, and perhaps a draw was the most fitting finale to a well-fought series. On the whole, the series was pretty satisfying for me, but I still would have liked to have made a more solid contribution in the final Test. I was also a little disappointed with my catching and would look to improve on it.

The Sydney Test will be remembered for the farewell that was given to Stephen at the end of the game. It was a sad moment for all of us, since we all belong to a generation that has not seen the dressing room without Stephen Waugh. I don't think any cricketer has got the kind of farewell that Stephen received, but then nobody has ever announced his retirement before his farewell series. It would have been wonderful to send Stephen with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on our side, but I'm sure that he will be proud of the way his team fought on his last day of Test cricket. It was a fitting farewell to an all-time great, and he deserved every accolade that came his way this past month.

It has not yet sunk in that I will be captain of the next Test Australia plays. I think the weight of that honour and the responsibility will only sink in when I go out for the toss of the first Test in Sri Lanka. Right now, I have a month of hectic cricket to look forward to. We now have to refocus on the VB Series which starts almost immediately. The Indians must be feeling really confident after their performance in the Test series, so it is up to us to ensure that we maintain our ascendancy over them in one-dayers.