Sedition
Panel of Selectors
Ok so when AUS conquered the sub-continent in 2004, by winning in Sri Lanka & India. Which tour did you find tougher challenge?.
I still have to go with India. I always regarded both sides as equally dangerous with bat, but the spin combination of Kumble and Harbhajan always had me worried we'd be bungled out for <300 while India puts on 400+.. and the idea of batting day 4 or 5 on those pitches with two world class spinners operating was frightful.
Since neither team is far apart in terms of ability, it's mostly external factors that give the edge to India as being tougher.
As I touched on about the crowds, they seemed almost hostile towards the Australian team at times, though there were never any real incidents, it still made you nervous watching from back here.
The media in India is another major external factor, fueling the flames and exaggerating incidents as much as possible, which then comes out on the field between the players and makes for some good tv between balls.
The biased nature of the Indian media, propagating stories to the fans and adding to the tension between players always made me feel we had to fight harder mentally for victories in India.
I looked back over the scorecards of those series meanwhile and see we cleansweeped Sri Lanka 3-0, whilst beating India 2-1 and a no result due to rain with India in a strong position. Brought back a lot of memories of M. Clarke's 150 on debut vs. India in India.