For one,they had the advantage of facing an Indian team starting to fracture after their meritorious drawn Test series in Australia the preceding summer.
Sachin Tendulkar had an elbow injury and was not yet fully fit when he returned halfway through. Tellingly,too,the series was played in October and November,a more temperate time of year than February and March.
After resounding success in the first Test,Australia were staring at defeat in the second,with India chasing a smallish fourth innings target in Chennai,when the final day’s play was washed out.
The pivotal match of the series 19 years ago was played on a Nagpur pitch that,due to a dispute between the BCCI’s then president,Jagmohan Dalmiya,and the Vidarbha Cricket Association then led by Shashank Manohar,was decidedly Australian in nature.
It had live grass,pace,bounce and sideways movement for the fast bowlers,and Jason Gillespie,Glenn McGrath and the Australian batting line-up consequently took full advantage of the conditions,and enjoyed the unexpected gift. So helpful was the surface for Australia that it seemed to be made purposely to precipitate an Indian defeat.
Much more representative of what Australia will face this time around was the strip for the final match in Mumbai,a shifty and sharply turning surface. The game was over in little more than two days’ actual play,with 13 wickets falling in its final session.