da apostaganha： Surely, there is no country for which the home and away records are sodisparate as India
Partab Ramchand26-Feb-2002Surely, there is no country for which the home and away records are sodisparate as India. The Test ratings place India at No 7 or No 8 butif the ratings were to be based purely on home results, there islittle doubt that India would be in the top three. After all, it istaken for granted that the Indians make for really formidableopposition at home, borne out by the fact that only one team theSouth Africans two years ago have won a Test series here in the last15 years.Given this background, the general prediction was that it would be abreeze for India in their two Test series against Zimbabwe, and thehome team has indeed started off well by winning the first Test by aninnings and plenty early on the final morning. A victory is a victoryand congratulations are in order for Sourav Ganguly and his men. Butthe proceedings were along such predictable lines that one should notlose perspective. True, the batsmen and bowlers did the job that wasexpected of them against an opposition with certain palpableweaknesses. But there were occasions when India’s showing attractedsome criticism.The first was during the second wicket century partnership betweenStuart Carlisle and Alistair Campbell on the opening day. For a time,the two batsmen made the bowling look pretty ordinary. The second waswhen the bowlers allowed the tail too many runs after scything throughthe middle order in the first innings. When will we see Indian bowlersrun through the tail a la Glenn McGrath at Johannesburg on Sunday?An adverse comment has to be directed at the batsmen too for dawdlingalong on the third day. Perhaps the final result would not have beenvery different but then there might have been a chance for the Indiansto wrap up the game with a day to spare. Such a victory, besidesgiving the extra day off, can also work wonders for team morale. Andfinally, the fielding can do with improvement but then is thereanything new in this?The tardy batting approach was due to the fact that as many as threeplayers Rahul Dravid, Ganguly and VVS Laxman were looking for asubstantial knock in order to play themselves back into form.In Dravid’s case, he was making a comeback of sorts after treatment toan injured shoulder. Always one who takes his time to build aninnings, the Indian vice captain had a good look at the bowling duringhis near four hour long innings but there is little doubt that his 65will stand him in good stead in the tougher campaigns ahead.Ganguly, woefully out of touch for a rather extended period now, took2-1/2 hours over 38 but there were signs that he could be running intoform sooner rather than later. Laxman took an hour to get 13 sketchyruns and was the only real batting disappointment. He is however toogood a player to be in a rut for long.Shiv Sundar Das, who is on course to overtaking Navjot Sidhu as themost prolific Indian opening batsman in the post Gavaskar period,displayed all the qualities already associated with his play theintense concentration, technical brilliance both in attack anddefence, the ability to play the sheet anchor role to perfection and ahealthy appetite for runs.A century by Sachin Tendulkar is almost taken for granted and his 28thTest hundred was again notable for both scintillating strokeplay andthe manner in which he nursed the innings through on the third dayduring the crucial period when Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman were mostlystruggling. The bowlers, as I said, did what was expected of them.Zaheer Khan was particularly impressive while Anil Kumble andHarbhajan Singh were deadly as the pitch broke up.Deep Dasgupta had a moderate match and the second Test could wellrepresent his last chance to prove why Ajay Ratra, in hot pursuit ofthe stumper’s slot, should not be selected ahead of him.I have saved till the last the single most positive aspect of India’svictory the batting of Sanjay Bangar for I would like to emphasizeits importance. Also, I would like to think that India have unearthedan exciting, long-term prospect. The Railways opening batsman wasunder tremendous pressure to perform as he was, in a manner ofspeaking, a rather unpopular choice, having been picked ahead of thein-form Virender Sehwag, who is already a favourite with the public atlarge.He had to come off, and he did so in the most spectacular fashionpossible. With Indian cricket badly in need of an all-rounder, Bangarwas given the nod, largely on the basis of some excellent performancesaround the domestic circuit. He came good with the bat but givenadequate opportunities, it is only a matter of time before he displayshis skill with the ball too. It was a brave decision by the teammanagement to play him instead of Sehwag and hopefully it will serveas an example that such a bold, adventurous outlook is what Indiancricket is in dire need of.