New Delhi: Adam Gilchrist has said the mental scars of Australia’s 2001 Test series defeat in India were so profound that he was under-confident when asked to lead the side three years later in the absence of the injured Ricky Ponting.
Australia arrived in India in 2001 on the back of a 16-test winning streak. Skipper Steve Waugh had identified a series victory in Indian as the final frontier for his all-conquering side.
Australia had not won a Test series in India since 1969 that added to the pressure for the visiting side. They won the first Test at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium by 10 wickets with Gilchrist hitting a hundred.
But things unravelled for Gilchrist and the Aussies from the second Test in Kolkata where India had their backs to the wall after being asked to follow on.
But the home team orchestrated one of Test cricket’s remarkable comebacks, riding on VVS Laxman’s 281-run knock and Rahul Dravid’s 180 complemented by Harbhajan Singh’s hat-trick.
India pulled off an unlikely victory at Eden Gardens and went on to win the third and final Test in Chennai to complete a stunning turnaround for a 2-1 series win, buoyed by Harbhajan Singh’s series-high 32 wickets.
Mentally scarred
Gilchrist was dismissed for a King’s Pair (zero in both innings) in Kolkata and failed to fire in Chennai too. Two deacdes later, he recalled how panicky he felt when Ponting’s finger injury in 2004 Champions Trophy meant he has to lead the team in India in 2004.
“I was absolutely in panic when we were playing I think in the Champions Trophy in the UK. We were at Edgbaston and he kind of took the ball on the thumb but he never (usually) left the field.
“It didn’t matter how bad an injury it was, he kind of stayed out there. He’s a tough little fellow. But he went off and never came back out. So we realised that: 1. he’s out of that tournament and 2. if it’s broken, he will not be able to go to India, certainly not at the start,” Gilchrist told on Stories After Stumps podcast.
“So I started to get nervous straight away, mainly because the memories of 2001, which was an epic series, one of the great Test match series, for me personally. (I) Went from highest of the highs – scoring a hundred in the first Test of the ’01 series but then closing the series out with a King’s Pair at Eden Gardens, and another pair of 1s in the last Test.
“So I was mentally scarred from the back bit of that tour. Was I ready to go back there in general? I wasn’t sure. And then to have to captain’s armband on, I was even less certain,” the former keeper added.
However, Gilchrist helped the team rise to the challenge, winning 2-1 to break their 35-year drought in India.
Australia host India for five Tests starting from November 22.
