Tugga's Waterloo

Faisal Shariff

"This is f****** unfair," screamed McGrath, as he returned to the team dressing room after Harbhajan Singh dug out an inswinging yorker for the brace that gave India a remarkable series win, sealing one of the most scintillating comebacks in the annals of Test cricket.

'Unfair' just about summed up the Aussie feelings as they walked back to the dressing room, heads bowed by the weight of the realisation that the Final Frontier had tripped them up. It was that much harder to take since the initial triumph in Mumbai had set the visitors up for rewriting history and winning a Test series in India after a gap of 31 years.

It has been a long time since Steve Waugh has had to attend a press conference as losing captain -- and defeat appeared to have taken the combative stuffing out of the super-tough 'Tugga', and reduced him, for once, to banality.

Sitting behind a desk in the brightly lit hall of the M A Chidambaram Stadium, Waugh fought to keep the emotion from showing on his face as he said, "Either side could have won the game. Looking back, I think that we did not expect the opposition to lift themselves up like this. Laxman's innings provided the impetus to the Indians and they picked themselves up very well."

Asked whether the defeat, after acquiring so many feathers for his cap, was particularly disappointing, the Aussie skipper responded: "The way we played, I think, was itself a feather in the cap. Winning is not everything. I always ask one hundred per cent of my players and if you have given that, then there is nothing more I can ask for."

Defending his bowlers, he said, "Warne can't do it every time. He gave his best, as he always does. His figures weren't great, but they weren't useless figures either. McGrath bowled accurately in one area, Gillespie was outstanding, he bowled his heart out. You can't really blame anyone."

Refuting allegations about his team's weakness against spin, Waugh said, "We play spin very well. We just had some bad sessions, that is all. When you go in to bat, you just have to hang in there. The first 10-20 minutes are pretty unnerving, but then, after you have overcome that, it's fine."

Did the Aussies fail to plan for Harbhajan? Did they discount him in their pre-tour planning?

"We knew he would play. We didn't know that he would take 32 wickets, though," Waugh joked, with a wry smile.

In parting, the Aussie captain made a subtle call for te media to give his team the respect he feels they deserve. "You guys are the judge -- so judge us. We performed to the best of our ability, but we lost the series in India. Numbers don't reflect everything."

Back outside, a gentle breeze blew across the ground, and a man sans his shirt jogged along the sidelines. John Buchanan, the Aussie coach, has been there through the series, watching,analyzing, masterminding his team's bid to do the seemingly undoable.

As he passed by, I asked, "What does this defeat teach you, John?"

"Humility," he replied, the disappointment in his eyes shielded well by the sunshades.

"It is a humbling experience to know that you have done all that you could, and yet lost. I think we didn't do our homework well, and the Indians were better than we thought they would be," he said. And he jogged on, in the gathering dusk -- physical activity obviously coming as an anodyne to mental stress.

Back in the Australian dressing room, the scene resembled the camp of a vanquished army -- bats, pads, and other cricketing paraphernalia strewn everywhere, like arms abandoned by a vanquished army.

In the midst of it all sat Steve Waugh, his cherished Baggy Green in place, staring at defeat, musing on what could have been, as he sipped a refreshing drink.

I resist the temptation to intrude into his space, and leave him be.

And wander away, thinking -- we learn from history that we do not learn from history.

Mail your comments