MELBOURNE:Australia, after having dominated the T20I series against Sri Lanka, will be looking for a clean sweep when they take on the visitors in the fifth and final match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here later on Sunday.
The Australians, under the captaincy of Aaron Finch, have shown how difficult it is to beat them in home series, having won all four games so far -- three of them with consummate ease, while one match went into the Super Over.
The Australian bowlers, especially Josh Hazlewood -- who returned to the side after missing four Ashes Tests due to a side strain -- have been outstanding. In the first three matches, the tall fast bowler struck early to dent the Sri Lankan batting line-up, and whenever required, it was Adam Zampa who did the rest in the middle overs.
After winning the first three T20Is and securing the series, Australia tried out new players in the fourth T20I. The strategy worked as young pacer Jhye Richardson impressed with bowling figures of 2/20 in the contest.
Despite the fact that the series has gone entirely in Australia's favour, the hosts have struggled in various departments. Finch's form has been a concern. He has struggled with his timing of the ball, forcing him to move positions in the batting order. But this strategy hasn't worked either. With Ashton Agar opening the innings with Ben McDermott and Finch at No. 3, other batters like Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, and Marcus Stoinis have been pushed down the order.
The top-order has failed to deliver in the last two T20Is, and it has been the middle-order that has delivered at the right time and fulfilled the task for Australia.
The visitors, on the other side, will be disappointed with their performance here. Despite being hit by COVID-19 on several occasions during the ongoing series, they have shown immense character, but it has only been the bowlers who have been up to the task. Sri Lanka's over-reliance on Pathum Nissanka has cost them victories. The openers haven't been consistent but whenever Sri Lanka have got off to a good start, they've struggled to keep the momentum going. In the middle overs, Sri Lanka have lost wickets and the misery has continued in the death overs, owing to their inability to put up a solid total or chase it down.
Going into the final T20I, Sri Lanka will have to overcome their batting woes in order to avoid a clean sweep.
During the fourth ODI at the same venue, Australia defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets to go 4-0 up. The visitors could only manage 139 runs at the end of 20 overs. The Sri Lankan top-order contributed but owing to a batting collapse, they missed the opportunity to put up a big total.
Chasing the total, Australia lost early wickets but Josh Inglis and Glenn Maxwell starred with the bat. Maxwell scored an unbeaten 48 off 39 deliveries and Inglis' fiery innings of 40 in 20 balls helped Australia chase down the target with 11 balls to spare.
Finch said ahead of the fifth T20I that he was impressed with the left-arm spin of Ashton Agar.
"Our bowlers got shuffled around a bit. Agar is bowling beautifully. His variations in pace has been wonderful. He is contributing with the bat and is a great fielder. We need a strong 6 and 7 if we need to win the WC. We saw (Matthew) Wade did that for us against Pakistan in the WC and then against SA in the WC as well. Josh (Inglis) is hard to bowl to as he can hit you anywhere on the field. Maxi (Maxwell) has been playing very well. He was able to sit back and support Inglis. Played a mature role to get us over the line, " said Finch.
Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka lamented the lack of runs from his batters.
"A few positives but not enough runs on the board. The spinners bowled well. We are lacking a little in the batting department. It is always a nice feeling at Melbourne. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a win for our supporters here, " said Shanaka.
That was an eternal debate in the years gone by. People had little exposure to fashion. Traditional families, especially women, could only imagine themselves indulging while the most fashionable attire for men was a suit and a necktie. Sporting a T-shirt while on a holiday was the most fashionable a man could get. Jeans were not in contention yet. And, yes, one accessory that helped change the look of a man or a woman was glares, popularly known as goggles.
Guys like to follow their favourite star and the one way to show it was to copy his hairstyle. The Raj Kapoor hairstyle had to come naturally, so few could manage it. The hairstyles of Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar were the most popular.
Actually, women stars spread more fashion than their male counterparts. For instance, Sadhna's Chinese cut was the rage among young girls. And, just about every female actor wore a bouffant hairdo and women fans loved to follow it, especially during occasions such as weddings. One can easily find pictures where top female stars, such as Waheeda Rehman, Nanda, Sadhna and Asha Parekh, sporting a bouffant in one frame.
Stars were not very adventurous when it came to fashion ideas as, mostly, Hollywood stars and films inspired their dressing.
There came a time when tailors turned into costume designers. Each star had his own tailor, now called costume designer. In the same way, each star had his own hairstylist. In most cases, the hairstylist and costume designer remained exclusive to a particular star because star egos stopped another star from going to the same person!
Even if these designers remained exclusive to one star, if their star was popular, his fans provided all the custom he needed. They struck it rich with their star clients acting as their models. This was because someone or the other wanted a kurta similar to the one Rajesh Khanna wore in many of his films, or an open-collar shirt that Amitabh Bachchan wore in 'Deewaar' or 'Trishul'.
Those were the days when a top-selling star was committed to as many as 12 to 20 films and shot for three to four films a day, allotting shoot time by the hour to his producers and jumping from one studio to another. The costume designers had to be handled as tenderly as the stars, for they could upset four to five hours of a shooting 'date' allotted by the actor! In such an event, for a superstar, fashion and clothes did not matter.
There is the instance of Dharmendra, shooting three songs for three films on the same day moving from one location to another. He was still the much sought-after romantic hero (the action tag was yet to come). As there was no time to change, he was seen wearing the same yellow-and-brown striped shirt in three songs shot for three different films -- 'Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke', 'Jeevan Mrityu', and 'Mere Hamdam Mere Dost'!
Now, as the stars had started wearing specially designed dresses, they also inspired many of their followers, especially young people and college students. In my time, if I have seen a star most followed for his fashion statements, it was Rajesh Khanna. Whatever he wore was fashionable. His costume designer suggested he wear a kurta instead of tucking in a shirt because of his rather big hips. And that came to be known as the 'guru kurta' and became a fashion statement of the day.
Rajesh Khanna was a star of the masses and his ways were easy to adopt. So was Dev Anand. While a lot of what he wore and did was followed, the specially designed checked hat that he wore in 'Jewel Thief' probably sold more than the tickets for the film!
The fact is, Rajesh Khanna and Dev Anand's fashion was more affordable for their fans to follow, while Bachchan's was a bit more elegant and hence, the fans could only admire it.
Amitabh Bachchan's dress sense was considered to be the most stylish. His style statements, however, were expensive and also needed a certain personality to carry them off. Not everybody could imitate him. But his costume designer benefited the most, as the rich South Mumbai youth made a beeline for his designer, Kachins.
More than Rajesh Khanna's dress designer or Amitabh Bachchan's, the ones who were most in demand by the producers were the ones who made clothes for the villains and the character artistes. That was because a character actor does a number of films at a time, plays a different character in each film and needs more change of dresses than a hero does.
Madhav Men's Mode was one such designer who prospered delivering this service for most of the villains and character actors. There were many prominent male costume designers such as Kachins, Bada Saab, Lifestyles, Stylo, and such.
Being a designer for female stars was tougher and more challenging. There are a number of Indian dresses for women and, depending on the film, many situations to provide for, so a designer had to work hard. Some designs made an actress look divine, like a character out of a mythological tale, while others would show her as a trendy modern girl. Unlike today, the costumes had to go with the theme of the film and the character the star portrayed.
There were many designers for female stars, such as Bhanu Athaiya, Anna Singh, Neeta Lulla, Dolly Ahaluvalia, Manish Malhotra, and so on. The spouses or kin of some actors have also taken to costume designing.
Where all designers failed, if their services were sought for this, it was to design costumes for the poor or the desperately poor characters on screen. The best they could come up with was a worn-out garment with patches here and there. It looked so forced.
What is the fashion scene now? There does not seem to be any. Male actors now sport six-pack abs, which are designed in a gym with a lot of protein supplements. These muscles are complemented by body-hugging shirts, which amplify the hard work, and that is the costume designer's job.
As for female stars, anything that needs little cloth material and manages to reveal the most is the fashion.
There seems to be no relation between fashion and films anymore. If female stars showcase any fashion, it is on the ramp.