Tendulkar's duel with Warne symbolised India's superiority
Partab Ramchand - 24 February 2001
Rarely has a series revolved around the personal duel between two
cricketers as much as the 1997-98 contest between India and Australia.
Well before the start of the series, it was hyped as Tendulkar vs
Warne and it was clear that perhaps even the result would take second
place to the duel between the Indian batting maestro and the star
Australian leg spinner.
Indeed, there was much good cricket in the three Test series which
ended in India's favour by two matches to one. This was a bit of a
surprise for even though India had a very good record at home, the
Australians had come over, having beaten every opposition they had
faced since they had lost to India in the one off Test in New Delhi in
October 1996. In fact, there was something very emphatic about India's
victory for they wrapped up the rubber by winning the first two games
in Chennai and Calcutta before Australia pulled one back in the final
Test at Bangalore.
The Tendulkar vs Warne duel ended meltingly in favour of the Indian.
In the first match of the tour against Mumbai, Tendulkar hit a double
century - the first in his first class career - and in the process
whacked Warne to such an extent that the leg spinner conceded as many
as 111 runs in just 16 overs. Round I then went to Tendulkar.
Round II followed in the first Test at Chennai. Warne seemed to have
recovered some ground when he had Tendulkar caught at slip by Mark
Taylor for four in the first innings. But in the second innings,
Tendulkar was at his majestic best and scored 155 not out. Warne again
came in for severe punishment and had figures of one for 122 off 30
overs.
Having won the first two rounds of the contest, Tendulkar proceeded to
take the third too. In the second Test at Calcutta he was restricted
to 79 but took his usual toll of Warne without conceding his wicket to
the leg spinner and had the satisfaction of seeing the Australian
finish with the nightmarish figures of no wicket for 147 off 42 overs.
In the final Test, Tendulkar scored 177 and 31 and did not concede his
wicket to Warne who had figures of three for 106 off 35 overs and two
for 80 off 25 overs. There was then no doubt as to which player had
won the individual duel but if any further proof was needed, it was
provided in the figures. Tendulkar finished with 446 runs at an
average of 111.50 and conceded his wicket to Warne only once on five
occasions. Warne on the other hand took ten wickets in the series but
they cost him 54 runs apiece.
Tendulkar's overwhelming superiority over Warne in fact symbolised
India's success. Outplaying their opponents in batting and bowling,
the home team won with surprising ease. The batting was in full flow
and with Sidhu, Dravid, Azharuddin, Tendulkar and Ganguly around, the
Australian attack, in the absence of the injured McGrath had their
hands full. Indeed, Sidhu always an excellent player of spin, softened
up Warne for Tendulkar to tear him apart. There was high class
batsmanship displayed by all the leading players and even VVS Laxman
and Nayan Mongia in their limited opportunities came good.
Even the fleet footed Australian batsmen found Anil Kumble too hot to
handle. The leg spin cum googly expert finished with 23 wickets at
just over 18 apiece. And while the supporting spin cast of Venkatpathi
Raju, Rajesh Chauhan and Harbhajan Singh provided Kumble with very
little support, Javagal Srinath was consistent in providing the early
breakthroughs.
The Australians came over with a side that was strong in batting but
their vaunted line up failed to live up to their reputation. An order
that starts with Taylor and Slater and continues with Mark Waugh,
Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Greg Blewett should not normally be
dismissed for successive scores of 328, 168, 233 and 181. And even
that score of 328 was reached thanks to a strong rearguard action by
Ian Healy and No 10 batsman Gavin Robertson. The Australians did come
into their own in the final Test with Mark Waugh leading the way with
153 not out and Mark Taylor coming good with an unbeaten 102 but by
then it was too late though it helped the visitors to earn a
consolation victory.
With McGrath out of action and Warne mastered, the Australian bowling
was always going to be up against it. And the Indians in fact put them
to rout with successive scores of 418 for four declared, 633 for five
declared and 424. It was left to Michael Kasprowicz to salvage some
pride for the Aussies. The medium pacer took five for 28 to bowl out
India for 169 and Australia were able to win the last Test by eight
wickets. But not before they had lost the first two Tests by 170 runs
and innings and 219 runs respectively - the second being the highest
ever victory margin in Indian Test cricket.
© CricInfo
Teams
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Australia,
India.
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Players/Umpires
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Sachin Tendulkar,
Shane Warne,
Mark Taylor,
Navjot Sidhu,
Rahul Dravid,
Mohammad Azharuddin,
Sourav Ganguly,
Glenn McGrath,
V.V.S.Laxman,
Nayan Mongia,
Anil Kumble,
Venkatapathy Raju,
Rajesh Chauhan,
Harbhajan Singh,
Javagal Srinath,
Michael Slater,
Mark Waugh,
Ricky Ponting,
Steve Waugh,
Greg Blewett,
Ian Healy,
Gavin Robertson,
Michael Kasprowicz.
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Tours
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Australia in India
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Internal Links
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Aus in Ind during 1997-98.
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