Introduction

My earliest memory of Australia is Ravi Shastri winning The Champion of Champions and driving his Audi around the stadium. He had had a superlative tournament and needed special permission and the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi’s intervention to drive it into India without paying customs duty. I was probably 8 then, similar ages to what my daughter is today.

What stuck with me then and the years after that was the sheer quality of cricket and facilities which the Aussies are associated with. The fiery Craig McDermott gave Curtly Ambrose a run for his money. Steve Waugh and his tenacity to win matches reminded us of his

commitment to the sport. Allan Border, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Glen Mc Grath, Shane Warne – The greatest. The best.

These memories were made possible thanks to Kerry Packer and the advent of colored clothing, matches under lights and a sheer spectacle for us watching matches on our Sony TVs; maybe even recording them on our VCRs!! Bill Lawry, Richie Benaud, Charles Cowdrey, Tony Greig – Fantastic cricket commentators and a pleasure to listen to.

What did it for me though was the 1992 world cup – Javed Miandad aping Kiran More but India still going on to beat Pakistan who eventually took the cup. The matches were spectacular. They had to be fun watching them in the stadium.

1996 and I was at the Chinnaswamy stadium. Watching Ajay Jadeja giving the stick to Waqar Younis. While chasing the total, Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar made mince meat out of our bowlers in the first 8 overs. However, Aamir Sohail made one mistake. He showed the bat and the direction to Venkatesh Prasad – the boundary. The next ball he was on his way back. Bowled of a slower ball and Venki showing him the direction – the pavilion. This was Javed Miandad’s last match. Run out, given out by the 3rd umpire. I so clearly remember the red light and the thunderous roar in the stadium. It was a moment to die for.

It was an awesome match and I relived the moments in 2011. In 2011 though, it was not India beating Pakistan or India beating Sri Lanka which appealed to me. It was Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina out playing Australia which was the best match for me. The guys did it with ease. They did it with confidence. They did it with no fuss. It was sublime. It felt so good. It felt as good as the Dravid-Laxman partnership at Eden Garden in 2001 when India started to believe that they could beat Australia. It felt as good as the win in Adelaide in 2003-04 when Dravid kissed his cap. It felt as good as the win in Perth in 2007-08 after monkeygate.

There was so much behind India-Australia and cricket in my memories that I had to see the world cup in 2015 in Australia. When the schedule was announced sometime in Feb-2014, India-Pakistan figured as one of the first few matches. I had to see this at Adelaide – the home ground of Sir Don Bradman.