On 24/3/2013 India won the Delhi Test against Australia on the third day and the series 4-0. It is rare for a team to win all four Tests in a series. It was India’s first 4-0 series victory. When the series began all possibilities were open. Australia was not expected to lose all four Tests. It seems it was Murphy’s Law for Australia. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Last year Australia had won the series 4-0 at home. This time it was the reverse. Last time Australia lost 0-4 was in 1970 in South Africa.
Australians were a divided lot. Captain Michael Clarke had problems with some players. Suspending four players during the series was unheard of. Australia did that. One player was vice captain. Another was 12th man. They did not make the presentation asked by Coach Mickey Arthur. The players missed the third Test. Some felt the sentence was too harsh. Some put it as punishing cricketers for not doing homework.
India had home advantage. The pitches suited spinners. Australia did not have good spinners. Their fast bowlers were not effective. Ben Hilfenhaus was not in the team, perhaps due to injury. Losing the second Test by an Innings and 135 runs was the worst part of series for Australia. In the third Test Australia scored 408 runs in the first Innings yet lost the Test. Shikhar Dhawan had made debut as opener. He had backed up early and his bails were dislodged. The Test result could have been different if Australia had made a serious appeal for run out. Shikhar Dhawan would have been out without facing a ball. Michael Clarke joked about it. Shikhan Dhawan went on to score 187 runs off 174 balls. In the fourth Test experts predicted that it will be difficult to score 150 runs in the fourth Innings. Yet India did that easily and Australia lost.
Wrong umpiring decisions damaged Australia more than India.
The series win is a historic one for India. This series did not have Gautam Gambhir. Virender Sehwag was dropped after two Tests. Harbhajan Singh was not in the playing 11 after two Tests. The replacements played well.
How the mighty have fallen. Australia that twice had 16 consecutive Test wins had four consecutive Test losses. They had lost home series against South Africa 0-1 which they should have won 2-1.
