Goliath Masquerading as David
India's win in Australia remains the ultimate underdog story, but can they truly ever be the underdog?
In India, there are only men with big bellies and men with small bellies. So says Balram in Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. Indian cricket falls unambiguously into the former.
Here is a governing body that claimed tax exemptions on the basis that promoting cricket was charitable work, despite revenue of $860m in 2019, domestic league to which the entire cricketing schedule kowtows and the country most richly abundant in cricket’s natural resource; humans. When it comes to cricket, India is at the front of the dinner queue and overfilling their plate, regardless of the cost to those waiting in line.
So when prince suddenly became pauper, the narrative wrote itself.
India was dropped into a perfect storm in Australia, like Jeff Bezos being time-warped into Dickensian London and being handed a bowl of gruel. It was all very 2020s; further justification for those determined the end is nigh.
The WTF-ery of the Indian tour down under has still not dissipated. The pre-eminent cricketing superpower becoming the very being they have so often exploited: the downtrodden, the little man, the underdog. However, make no mistake, this was not a fairytale about the glorious resetting of inequity. This was a temporary underdog. Goliath masquerading as David.
Still, do you embrace it or do you crumble? The answer was emphatic.
There was a time when a similar type of adversity would understandably have been too great to overcome. Despite generations of great Indian cricketers, the mentality required to translate ability into a Test series victory on Australian shores appeared lacking.
In the 1970s and 80s unhelpful suggestions of inbuilt subservience being the aftermath of imperialism fed into an anglocentric view of India as being weak and an easy touch. Simply apply a little pressure and they will buckle. The kind of inherited views which manifested themselves in the contemptible scenes witnessed in the stands at the Sydney Test.
Regardless, it certainly took many years before there was a tangible belief in India that they could compete in an away series against Australia. Kapil Dev references the “gentle nature” of the Indian people not being conducive to competing in sport. Extreme aggression is so often seen as a prerequisite to success in elite sport. Sunil Gavaskar speaks of a culture lacking any sort of belief that they could challenge Australia. This was a country that churned out cutthroat demons one after the other. Dennis Lillee, the Chappell brothers, Alan Border and Jeff Thomson.
“I enjoy hitting a batsman more than getting him out. I like to see blood on the pitch. And I've been training on whiskey” Jeff Thomson
But that was then.
This is now.
Now Gavaskar and Border share their names on a trophy which represents perhaps the fiercest on-pitch rivalry in cricket. The awakening of India as a global economic superpower during the 1990s and 2000s breached the boundary rope. The little brother was now dishing out the pile ons and a more self-assured nation arose. The new India, as Narendra Modi is so keen to remind us.
A breakthrough win in Australia felt inevitable. But there were caveats when it arrived. Australian misbehaviour meant a ready-made excuse. No Smith and Warner came the retort on defeat. This time there was no such get out. On the contrary, it was India who would have a fall back for defeat.
I’ve always found it strange when football managers fight over the tag of the underdog before an upcoming match. Sure, I get it’s a cliched attempt at deflecting the pressure of being favourites from their players, but underdogs are underdogs for a reason, they are losers. Why would you seek that? But, this was different.
This Indian team aren’t losers. A freak chain of events had them tagged as losers before even having the opportunity to answer. Three months of continuous social distancing in a foreign land, the early departure of their influential captain and more injuries than a never-ending WWE cage match, meant judgment was passed. Bowled out for 36 and 1-0 down, they were written off.
India didn't lose again.
The storm hadn’t quite hit yet in Melbourne. No Shami was a blow, but the introduction of the energetic Mohammed Siraj became a defining moment of the series. Australia didn’t reach beyond 200 in either innings; the cool captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane saw India comfortably home.
Sydney was a different story altogether. Constantly straining to keep their head above water, the final day was backs against the wall. Perhaps in a previous era, the pressure would have been too much to withstand and a valiant fight in vain. Try telling that to the present day dasher, Rishabh Pant, who swaggered his team to an impressive draw, bringing the series to the decider at the Gabba.
Despite the pre-series hype, Australia clearly hadn’t clicked. The newly ruthless India would sniff out any weakness and expose it. Although not there in person, Kohli was certainly there in spirit, as the Indians slowly crept under Aussie skin. Langer’s mantras of elitism were stretched and pulled in every direction without ever snapping. Tim Paine channelled Partridge levels of insecurity and Steve Smith went weirdly scratchy, but nothing new there.
The Cricket Australia suits will have breathed a sigh of relief that the banter to abuse scale was brushed but not breached. It was all largely insignificant, and despite the rest of the world media attempting to flip the series into Cape Town Act II, the story remained one of Indian perseverance.
In Brisbane, everything went against India. They lost the toss, they lost their main bowler, they lost their influential all-rounder, but most importantly, these days, India are not losers.
32 and 4 were the numbers of significance before the toss. 32 years since a visiting team had won at the Gabba. 4 Tests of combined experience between India’s bowling unit.
The Test was of the nip and tuck variety. WinViz went full kamikaze, going back and forth like an elephant jumping on a set of scales. Eventually, India and their smorgasbord of Ranji Trophy men simply outplayed Australia. They were better over pretty much every day. For such an unlikely triumph, the result was deserved.
Only twenty-five men from the southern state of Tamil Nadu had previously played for India. Ten years ago the most recent one, Ravichandran Ashwin, debuted. At the Gabba, two of the eleven men in India’s line up were from Tamil Nadu, and neither of them was Ravichandran Ashwin. It barely registered. It was that kind of series. A series that had everything.
Make no mistake, this was an era-defining victory. However, the ultimate magnitude of the upset can’t truly be measured for some years. Ten years from now, when we revisit this series, it may be significant as the first for an all-time great in Shubman Gill, the discovery of the next great all-rounder in Washington Sundar and the emergence of Mohammed Siraj being the final piece in lifting India’s pace attack over the edge into greatness. That may place it as less of a shock than it initially appears.
Equally, we may look back on the final Test and see a bowling attack where not one of them earned another cap, an opening pair ending in unfulfilled potential and a one-time stand-in captain. In which case the shock factor would be off the scale.
India became such overwhelming underdogs for this one series based on a set of extreme circumstances. Not by their nature. Cricket is the number one sport in India. They have young boys, barely double figures in age, travelling by train four or five hours each morning to play cricket. Scratch the surface and there are layers and layers of international quality players. It’s clear that India will continue to produce them for decades.
These young players now have a completely different mindset from their predecessors. By the time they play in a Test, they have already overcome the ultimate rat race, where the odds of making it are so slim. These players need an insane level of mental toughness to even get anywhere near a First Class call up. Often they will have played in a domestic tournament worth billions of dollars, watched by billions of people and under extreme pressure.
Perhaps it was just that these players needed the opportunity, which is not straightforward when there are so many world class players as incumbents. The current squad - not team, the squad - is undoubtedly India’s best. This has only gone to prove the depth. Goliath indeed.
The joy in this victory can’t come from the fact that this is an underdog winning. I love that narrative as much as the next person, but the shoe doesn’t quite fit. This isn’t a true underdog.
The joy in this victory is of human triumph. Playing in the aftermath of the death of a father; having to confront racist abuse; having to confront racist abuse again; a Test debut when you’ve not seen a red ball for three years; being asked to step into the shoes of the most beloved cricketer on earth; taking a physical pummeling from the fastest bowlers on earth; being demanded to bat faster; being demanded to bat slower. Nothing can rival the beauty of the human victory.
The good guys won this time. Who gives a shit if they aren’t meant to be the good guys.
This is now. This is India.