Beating India 'a special feeling' - Border
Allan Border, the Austalian captain who won the World Cup in India but could not manage a Test series win, has described the instant when Damien Martyn caught Zaheer Khan to seal the series win against India as 'one of those special moments'
Wisden Cricinfo staff
31-Oct-2004
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What was Border thinking when that catch was taken? Speaking to AAP, Border revealed, "I just thought back to the other times and other players who have been here doing it tough and the heartache they felt. I thought about Steve Waugh and the fact he was here in 2001 and went oh so close. It was amazing - he was the first phone call the boys got. Obviously it meant a lot to him, exorcising a few demons. He didn't quite do it and Mark Taylor was captain in 1998 and couldn't quite do it, either.
"It's been a long time coming," he continued. "We've always felt like there's a bit of unfinished business about the subcontinent." He said that many of these players were coming here for the second or third time, and knew that this could be their last chance to contribute to a victory in India. "As a group they will be together for a little while yet, but there's a changing of the guard ... I've gotten a lot of joy from watching this group of players over the last five or 10 years, watching them grow as men and cricketers and seeing the passion they have for playing cricket for Australia. The culmination of all that is here. The reflected glory it gives us all is a special feeling.
"Obviously conquering India has been very tough for Australia for a long time - insurmountable. But they way they've done it, it's been so comprehensive. It's just a good group of blokes who have endless amounts of ticker. They've just shown sheer willpower."
Despite the fact that many of the players are in the 30s and may not be around for long, Border was optimistic about the future. And the chief cause for this optimism was Michael Clarke, about whom he said, "If that's the future of Australian cricket, the future is looking good."
Border said that as a selector, it gave him special pride to have picked Clarke in the Test side. "It's immensely satisfying to back a young bloke that maybe didn't have the first-class statistics to justify selection against some of the others that were here. But just on gut feeling and knowing the character of the guy, you can't quite describe the pleasure you get out of that. It's just as good as playing and being part of it yourself to see a young kid take on probably one of the toughest assignments there is and come through. I don't know what's better than flying colours, but that's how he came through.
"He just belted them."