The king is dead.. long live the king

Yesterday was a watershed moment in sporting history and I feel obliged to comment on it. Years later when I look back I want to remember the day when the young pretenders usurped the throne from the ageing greats. That the two events happened on the same day is fateful.

Firstly in the morning, a resurgent Indian team won the CB series, an annual tri-series held in Australia. The reigning world Champions Australia were favorites before the best of 3 finals. In fact even after they lost the first final on 2nd March, the general view was that it is an aberration and that Australia will come back to conquer. Not quite. India dominated and although at one stage Australia threatened to take the game away, India came up with killer blows like the wickets of Hayden and Hussey. They deservedly overcame the champions. The fact that the team's average age was less than 24 means that the core group will be around for a long time and enjoying successes together. It is the team of the future.

A similar event happened in the evening. Arsenal overcame the experienced reigning champions AC Milan. It was a virtuoso performance from the Arsenal side. A defensive line up boasting the likes of Nesta and Maldini and the attacking threats of the World Footballer of the year Kaka and upcoming talent Pato in a magnificient and intimidating stadium like San Siro suggested an uphill struggle for the young Arsenal side. Media pundits in England had written off Arsenal's chances before the game. Of course, their words came back to haunt them as the midfield trio of Hleb, Flamini and man of the match Fabregas turned up the pace and aggression which was too much for AC Milan to handle. Adebayor played well upfront and the defensive back four had one of their best games in recent times. Once again we have the age parallels - the average age of the Milan side was close to 30 whereas Arsenal was about 23.

Two different games. Two different sides. Yet, the same lesson being taught to doubting Thomases. Both were hounded by media - the Oz media on the backs of the Indian team and the xenophobic jingoistic English media on the back of the Arsenal team. But the self belief, the desire and the togetherness made them overcome their toughest opponents.