| dbo:abstract
|
- The Second Test in the Indian cricket team's tour of Australia for the 2007–08 summer was a Test cricket match played over five days at the Sydney Cricket Ground from 2 to 6 January 2008. Australia won the match by 122 runs with minutes to spare at the end of the fifth day. The match attained notoriety owing to the number of wrong umpiring decisions given by international umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson and accusations of poor sportsmanship against Australian players (even Adam Gilchrist who is known for his fair play) and Harbhajan Singh. The match ended in a dramatic defeat of the Indian team in the final ten minutes of the five-day match, with some commentators suggesting that the umpiring mistakes had a major impact on the course of the match. The result ensured that Australia retained the Border–Gavaskar Trophy, as well as taking Ricky Ponting's team to 16 consecutive Test wins, equalling the previous Test record, also held by Australia under Steve Waugh. The controversy was termed by parts of the media as Bollyline, a reference to the 1930s controversy Bodyline. The name, a portmanteau of Bodyline and Bollywood, is tongue in cheek, but by referencing Bodyline, hints at the potential seriousness of the rift between the Indians and Australians. Indeed, according to Steve Waugh, the affair "now has the potential to affect relations between the countries". The Test itself was tightly contested, setting up a fifth (final) day in which the match could have been won by either team, but was most likely to be drawn. The match featured centuries by batsmen on every day of the match. Three four-wicket hauls were achieved and Brett Lee achieved a five-wicket haul in the first innings. Both Anil Kumble and Michael Clarke were, at individual points in the game, on a hat-trick. All-rounder Andrew Symonds was at the centre of much of the action, achieving 162* and 61 with the bat and taking 3/51 in India's second innings. Symonds was awarded man of the match. Controversies abounded; as well as the multiple umpiring incidents that were placed in the spotlight by the narrowness of the victory, Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh was charged with racial abuse in an altercation with Andrew Symonds. Harbhajan was banned by the match referee Mike Procter for three Test matches although the charges were downgraded on 29 January 2008 to the lesser charge of using abusive language and the ban was lifted. The Indian team had earlier protested and threatened to pull out of the tour. The match produced bitterness on both sides and an announcement by the Indian team that they would abandon their tour, followed by dramatic intervention by the International Cricket Council (ICC). (en)
|
