January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Good to see India break Australia's dominance
They won the Commonwealth Bank series and they could easily have won the Test series as well if some controversial umpiring decisions had gone their way.
India has so many people to choose from and so much money but I still think they have shown the right way forward for Bermuda - a blend of youth and experience. I'll come back to that point, but as a fan it was nice to see the Aussies getting beaten at their own game.
I believe India have already broken their dominance. They schooled them in the one-day final and they would have won the Test series 2-1 but they got some bad decisions in the second Test.
Andrew Symonds was out about eight times before he scored a hundred.
India used the sledging tactics and Australia folded under the pressure.
Harbhajan just takes it all in his stride, Sharma, the young fast bowler, gave a bit too and you could tell Hayden and Ponting didn't like it.
Hayden was on the radio calling Harbhajan an obnoxious weed or something, but that just shows how much he got to him.
They rattled them, Australia are not as strong as they used to be and India showed they are closing the gap.
They have found a very good captain in Kumble. It took him a long time to get it but he is playing some of his best cricket and leading from the front. The players have really responded to the change in leadership.
What has really made India so successful is their junior players coming through. They won the Under-19 World Cup and some of their young players were involved in Australia already.
One-day cricket is very physical. You have to be in top shape. Most games are decided by about ten runs so a diving stop or a catch can make all the difference.
Under-19s
That's why I think it's great to see some young stars coming through from the Under-19s.
They equipped themselves quite well at the World Cup. You could see the players like Rodney and Malachi who had senior experience, benefited from that. The guy Jordan DeSilva got some exceptional figures.
He's a left arm seamer, which could add good variety to the national team.
He should be someone to look out for in the future.
It was disappointing to lose to Ireland the second time but they should keep their heads held high. The more they are exposed to high class cricket, the better they will get.
I think these young players are coming through just in time.
Now we need to get the Under-19s and the senior squad training together. The ICC tournament is in a year's time and we need to start training yesterday.
If some of those youngsters can put pressure on the senior guys for their places we can have a good pool to choose from.
Sun's sports blog
It was good to see my column on club v country got some reaction last week on the blog (www.talksportbda.com). My columns will be getting posted regularly on there and I don't mind if people agree or disagree. I'm like Harbhajan. I can take it. Bring it on.[[In-content Ad]]
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