The  Indian cricket team is back after playing some very good competitive cricket down under. We won the tri series, beating the Kangaroos comprehensively. That too on their own soil. One thing is certin: we were certainly the better side in the contest. The blend of youth and  experience worked perfectly for us under some shrewd and inspired leadership of MS Dhoni. Aussies were rather a pale shadow of their once all conquering selves. And they resorted to some very ordinary and highly unconvincing tactics of off the field antics to distract their opponents. Now they are wellknown for their sledging but up until now their sledging used to be a part of their armoury which only accentuated their on field skills. This time round, though, sledging was all they had, it seems and the on field supremacy with the bat and the ball was conspicuous by its absence. They tried to compansate for the slump in their on field performance levels with sledging alone and the result is there for all of us to behold. That they lost in just the shorter version of the game is just half truth. They lost the Test series too, by a margin of 2 to one. The Sydney test result must be the worst travesty of  the spirit of the game. Had the umpiring been upto the mark and just one decision ( Andrew 'monkey' Symmonds had clearly edged Ishant Sharma into the gloves of  the 'keeper)  gone the way it should have, the result would have been different. He went on to remain unbeaten on 162. Now remove these 132 runs frm the equation. ( Forget all the other bad ones... Jaffer given out off a big Lee no-ball, Dravid, Ganguly , Hussey, Symmonds' stumping, etc etc... Forget too that Hogg too would not have gone on to contribute 72 to that partnership without the comfort of having the monkey at the other end...)  We only lost the game by 120 odd runs. So with 132 plus getting taken off the Aussie tally, we actually ended  up getting more than what was needed of us in the second innings. So it is really stupid of Healy to say what he does.

And one another thing, a salute to an Aussie who really played the game in the true spirit. 

 Though Gilly was there just physically, having made up his mind about quitting after the series (just one knock against the Lankans at Perth in his swan song appearance on his home ground and he was practically retired. That he was allowed to don the Aussie colours for the rest of the games speaks for the generosity of the CA and probably their belief  in their own bench strength!) he will always be remembered for his spirit. We respect him for that. Not many players in the international arena command this kind of respect from the fans all over the world, loyalty notwithstanding.