As expected, the Australians have made a big hue and cry about the Wankhede. Many members of the team have come out and expressed their dissatisfaction about the wicket. In fact in a leading daily, Matthew Hayden stated that preparing a pitch like this for the Indian spinners was like 'giving a candy bar to a child'. Ironic, isn't it, that the same bunch of players had suggested India lost because they thought too much about the pitch at Nagpur, which favoured the Australians? So now why all the grumbling now?

True, the pitch wasn't a great one to bat on. But it wasn't that different surfaces were prepared for the two teams. Both teams played on the same track and India won because they played better cricket. By creating such a furore over the pitch, Aussies are accepting they are scared of playing on turning tracks. Ricky Ponting says he will go to the ICC and lodge a complaint. Interestingly, ('interesting' is how Dravid described this wicket), he wants Dravid to join in the protest too. It's really naïve of the captain of the best team in the world to come up with such a statement. Will he support Dravid if India want to register a complaint against the bouncy and nasty pitches of Perth?

Mark Waugh, in an article a couple of days back, stated that India will never do too well if Ganguly continues to be the skipper as he depends a lot on the pitch conditions favouring his team. Mark should give the same advice to his Aussie teammates who can't stop cursing the Wankhede track. Moreover, India's overseas record has been the best under Sourav Ganguly. India have won matches Test matches in West Indies, England and Australia under the captaincy of the 'Bengal Tiger'.

Ganguly did not have too many kind words to say about the Nagpur wicket. But the Indians never made a huge hue and cry after they lost at Nagpur. There were the odd comments here and there, but nothing as nasty as what is being said by the Aussies. Instead of finding excuses for their defeat, Aussies should have accepted the defeat gracefully and gone home with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Anyone who watched the proceedings on the third day will tell you that Jason Gillespie was the best Australian batsman on show. He never looked in any trouble at all against a formidable Indian spin attack, even as the other much-reputed batsmen fell one after the other. It is a clear indication that the Aussies went out to bat with a mindset that they would struggle to get the 107 runs required for victory. How else can one explain a tail-ender looking the most compact of all batsmen?

There were also suggestions that if India want to improve their record overseas, they have to prepare more sporting pitches. The same can apply to the Aussies too. If they want to win on turning tracks, they must prepare 'spitting cobras' back home. Australia did win the series. But their incompetence against spin was clearly evident in Chennai and Mumbai.
 

All this talk about the pitch by the Aussies has overshadowed the fact that they have won a series in India after a gap of 35 years. It won't be surprising if years down the line this series is remembered for India's shock victory at Mumbai rather than Australia conquering the 'Final Frontier'. Such has been the uproar by Australia over the past few days. This will be a really sad occurring as the Aussies played superlative cricket at Bangalore and Nagpur and should deserve the credit for a superb series victory. But the Aussies have only themselves to blame for many people forgetting their wins and remembering only their behaviour after the Mumbai Test.