Dhoni pumps his fist and signals to the dressing room. Stumps have been uprooted for souvenirs. Harbhajan wants to lift Ganguly, Laxman and Ishant join in and the they lift him up in the air. Indian flags are waving out there. The Indians shake the hands of the Aussies. Kumble is there too, hugging every Indian player as he walks up the stairs. And now shakes Dhoni's hand and hugs him. Gary Kirsten is there some where too, celebrating with the team.
On the other side, Ponting shakes every Australian's hand. Critics all round the world will look at this series and wonder whether it's the time when Australia lost their aura. Critics have said this is the most unAustralian team in recent memory. Can they regroup and reclaim their halo? Will Dhoni and his boys be the new leaders or will it be some other team? The upcoming season of cricket will provide the answer.
Some 2000 mails have poured in from you lot in the last few minutes! I don't know what to do! So will just type in Chappelli's comment instead.
Ian Chappell on Ponting the captain: "If they just lost the series I don't think there would be any problems. But the fact that they had the chance to level the series at tea-time yesterday.. that might cause a few questions. I believe Sutherland, CEO, is going to ask Ponting about that. The good thing for Ponting that he comes up against New Zealand in Australia very soon and they can win those two and I suspect things might die out after that."
Ceremony is about to begin. Hang on.
Ponting: "It has been a fair result to tell the truth. We played good cricket in Bangalore but from there we have been chasing our tails. India played good cricket. India's tactics slowed us down dramatically on that third day. Looking back that was the turning point. We weren't good enough; probably not patient enough.
"The partnership between DHoni and Harbhajan was vital. Being nine overs behind doesn't help you. There was a similar partnership in Bangalore (harbhajan and zaheer) .. we didn't take our chances. We weren't good enough here and weren't good enough in Mohali and hence the two results. I am still learning about the game, some of the guys will learn. Jason Krejza has had a very good debut. Other guys too would have learnt. We have a Test series in Australia. This has been as a brilliant tour. We have been here seven weeks and the time has flown quickly."
Man of the Match: Jason Krejza : "It has been an experience I will never forget. To take 12 wickets on your debut is unbelievable. What a wonderful game. I was a bit nervous, I tried to keep it inside. glad it has turned out well. My team backed me up, Ricky was a great captain for me and I really appreciate that. I had more confidence going in to the second innings. What I have learnt is .. Test cricket is a tough tough game and you have to be patient. I can come next game and pick none."
Man of the series: Ishant Sharma : "I think in Indian wickets, you have to be patient and bowl in the right areas. All the senior players supported me; that's why I bowled well. I know how your body recovers and I know quite a lot about my body [fitness] now. Zaheer has quite bit of experience and he has constantly adviced me about two things: be patient and bowl in the right areas. My best wicket was taking Ponting in the second innings at Mohali. "
Dhoni: We didn't start off well, it was worrying but we knew once we got a few wickets ....
On the series : This is more important than the India Pakistan rivalry. We had our plans and executed it well.
On Gambhir: The starts were very important. Gautam and Sehwag run well and helped put a big score on the board.
On Kumble and Dada:" They are marvelous cricketers. They have done everything, they led India. When we grew up we saw them playing cricket; we didnt think we would be in the same dressing room. The youngsters will have a tough task filling their shoes. They just need to concentrate on doing their best."
Dhoni moves away from the interview and gives the trophy to Kumble and the entire team celebrate and pose with the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
The Indians get board on the man-of-the-series car and drive around the ground. All the players are sitting all over the car! Scenes reminiscent of Benson & Hedges series in 1985 when Ravi Shaz won the Audi car.
That's it then from us. On behalf of Binoy George, this is Sriram Veera signing off. Thanks for logging on through the series. Good bye and good luck! Shab Bakhair!
On the other side, Ponting shakes every Australian's hand. Critics all round the world will look at this series and wonder whether it's the time when Australia lost their aura. Critics have said this is the most unAustralian team in recent memory. Can they regroup and reclaim their halo? Will Dhoni and his boys be the new leaders or will it be some other team? The upcoming season of cricket will provide the answer.
Some 2000 mails have poured in from you lot in the last few minutes! I don't know what to do! So will just type in Chappelli's comment instead.
Ian Chappell on Ponting the captain: "If they just lost the series I don't think there would be any problems. But the fact that they had the chance to level the series at tea-time yesterday.. that might cause a few questions. I believe Sutherland, CEO, is going to ask Ponting about that. The good thing for Ponting that he comes up against New Zealand in Australia very soon and they can win those two and I suspect things might die out after that."
Ceremony is about to begin. Hang on.
Ponting: "It has been a fair result to tell the truth. We played good cricket in Bangalore but from there we have been chasing our tails. India played good cricket. India's tactics slowed us down dramatically on that third day. Looking back that was the turning point. We weren't good enough; probably not patient enough.
"The partnership between DHoni and Harbhajan was vital. Being nine overs behind doesn't help you. There was a similar partnership in Bangalore (harbhajan and zaheer) .. we didn't take our chances. We weren't good enough here and weren't good enough in Mohali and hence the two results. I am still learning about the game, some of the guys will learn. Jason Krejza has had a very good debut. Other guys too would have learnt. We have a Test series in Australia. This has been as a brilliant tour. We have been here seven weeks and the time has flown quickly."
Man of the Match: Jason Krejza : "It has been an experience I will never forget. To take 12 wickets on your debut is unbelievable. What a wonderful game. I was a bit nervous, I tried to keep it inside. glad it has turned out well. My team backed me up, Ricky was a great captain for me and I really appreciate that. I had more confidence going in to the second innings. What I have learnt is .. Test cricket is a tough tough game and you have to be patient. I can come next game and pick none."
Man of the series: Ishant Sharma : "I think in Indian wickets, you have to be patient and bowl in the right areas. All the senior players supported me; that's why I bowled well. I know how your body recovers and I know quite a lot about my body [fitness] now. Zaheer has quite bit of experience and he has constantly adviced me about two things: be patient and bowl in the right areas. My best wicket was taking Ponting in the second innings at Mohali. "
Dhoni: We didn't start off well, it was worrying but we knew once we got a few wickets ....
On the series : This is more important than the India Pakistan rivalry. We had our plans and executed it well.
On Gambhir: The starts were very important. Gautam and Sehwag run well and helped put a big score on the board.
On Kumble and Dada:" They are marvelous cricketers. They have done everything, they led India. When we grew up we saw them playing cricket; we didnt think we would be in the same dressing room. The youngsters will have a tough task filling their shoes. They just need to concentrate on doing their best."
Dhoni moves away from the interview and gives the trophy to Kumble and the entire team celebrate and pose with the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
The Indians get board on the man-of-the-series car and drive around the ground. All the players are sitting all over the car! Scenes reminiscent of Benson & Hedges series in 1985 when Ravi Shaz won the Audi car.
That's it then from us. On behalf of Binoy George, this is Sriram Veera signing off. Thanks for logging on through the series. Good bye and good luck! Shab Bakhair!
From other website:
Now the victory lap. All the team members are seated, stranded, etc... on the car, infact where's the car. It's vanished under the team guys, Sourav stands up from one portion of the car, waves at the crowd who have been waiting to catch the last glimpse of Ganguly donning the India colours.
Another beautiful gesture shown by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, he calls up the actual captain Anil Kumble to the dais now. Both of them together lift the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni walks up to the dais to receive the winning cheque. He is happy for his boys who played really well, it was a collective show and that is what makes this win all the more special. He lauds the efforts of his batters, bowlers and feels that this victory will help them kick on with some more vigour and passion. He has a few nice words for the two legends, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly. He says that he enjoyed watching them while he was young and has been a true privilege to share the dressing room.
Ishant Sharma is the Man of the Series. He is sent towards the presentation area after a nice little shower of cold drinks and champagne. He is happy with himself and his performance, he bowled with a lot of heart, always tried to stick to the basics. Ofcourse, he doesn't forget to mention that he plays for Team India and he doesn't want to leave any effort behind to be repented later. The wicket which meant very special to him was as expected, of Ricky Ponting in the 2nd innings of the Mohali Test. Ponting sports a strange look. Wonder what that conveys.
Jason Krejza is a delighted man. He felt a little nervous inside especially when he was thwarted all around the park, he was advised by his senior pros to stick to his game and he did that. Wickets kept helping him and that is what provided him success. He is very proud of his special debut. He gets the Man of the Match award.
Ponting feels that India deserved to win the series and so have they done it. He believes they were outplayed by some quality cricket. India has always been a tough place to tour, he says that he and his boys learnt a few new things and they would go back home with new lessons to look into.
And at the same time, spare a thought for this young man, Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has taken over the mantle and is enjoying a 100% record with his captaincy in Tests. He is without a shadow of doubt, the Future of Indian cricket.
As stated by Sachin Tendulkar, it's not the time to be sad about someone's exit. It's time to celebrate a fantastic career. It's time to support someone who has taken such a tough decision.
Applause buzzing all across the stadium, from the few people who have gathered in to witness this final day of the series and the final day of a great career too. Handshakes all around as the Aussies line up to congratulate the home side. Pat on the back of Ganguly as he slowly walks up the stairs and vanishes away soon into the dressing room. Emotions running high, he is popular man and has done a lot for Indian cricket.
India win 172 runs and they win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-0. Terrific scenes at Nagpur. Ganguly gets a lap of honour. He is reluctant about it but Harbhajan Singh forces him into the lap of honour. It must have been an incredible feeling for Ganguly when Mahendra Singh Dhoni asked him to take charge. Superb effort this by the Indians. Deserving winners. Stay connected for the post match presentation...
