Hooked on winning
Kuldip Basu - 24 July 2002

An Indian cricketing fan-group, we - the Grandstand Boys from Surrey, England - were going to put down our thoughts on digital paper much earlier, but our arms still ached from punching the air that evening at Lord's. Our voices are hoarse and we still can't speak, but here are our thoughts, plain, simple and unvarnished.

We saw Sourav Ganguly's joyous celebrations after the game, and we saw the faces of the boys as they paraded on their victory lap. And like the fans, they too seemed to be addicted to winning. The entire team must by now know how much that win meant to us. There was a certain glint in the eyes of all the players, and that is something we haven't seen in a long, long time.

As far as India are concerned, however, in the short run at least, a lot has happened since that gut-wrenching partnership between Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif - the injury scares that have rattled England, the eyebrow-raising individual performances at Arundel versus the West Indian 'A' side, and of course the hoopla from the press at large. Although we were far too bruised from the NatWest final to be able to express more than a groan at the stories we came across in the various media, it is clear that beating England on a pearl-top at Lord's is one thing, and taking on Australia on a rice field in Bloemfontein is quite another. By beating England, India have confirmed that they are a good bet for the Super Six stage, but little more than that in terms of the World Cup. Surely the smart money is still on Ricky Ponting and Co.

Thankfully, though, there lies an ocean of six months from here till the shootouts in South Africa. Dada and his boys have a chance to convince us then, once and for all. Before the World Cup, we want the ICC "Mickey Mouse" Trophy too, and at least five of the seven one- dayers against the West Indies at home. Then will come the real test. After India play the one-day series against New Zealand, do we dare to whisper to the Aussies, "We'll see you in the final"? Until then, let's keep our mouths shut and our focus intact.

There are obvious plusses in the current Indian set-up, and I won't bore you with those further. Let us skip then to our penultimate thought and look closely at the match at Arundel. Since the conclusion of that tour match, one would hate to wear the shoes of Ganguly or John Wright. Does one play Virender Sehwag or VVS Laxman in the Tests? Does Ganguly come in at number five or number six? Ajit Agarkar may have something to say about his participation as well.

What the think-tank should be most concerned with is the confidence level of Shiv Sunder Das. I shall admit straight away that I am an ardent fans of the little man. His defence sometimes reminds us of another little opener who used to notch up centuries for fun. But recently, including and from the series in the Caribbean, Das seems to be stuck in a rut. Either he lacks the necessary footwork or his defence is coming undone. That sort of situation is not very helpful at the top of the innings when on tour, be it in the Caribbean or in England. One hopes - for the team's sake - he sorts himself out soon.

Our sympathies, incidentally, to another opener, Marcus Trescothick. He has become a batsman all bowlers respect now, because they all have a premeditated plan of attack for him. And in most cases they end up using the backup plan of containment. It is an utter shame that we will not see him in action at least for the first Test. England have been seriously rocked by the injury gremlins, and as Kapil Dev said, this is India's best chance of a series win abroad. (I know we said the same about the West Indies. But this time it's for real. Honest.)

Yet, as with the NatWest Trophy final, a win in the Test series will serve as nothing but a confidence boost. The real prize would be Australia, in a five-Test series Down Under. For now, we want more - more wins, more celebrations and, of course, more good cricket. We are addicted to it, and it's all thanks to the Indian cricket team.

The views expressed above are solely those of the guest contributor and are carried as written, with only minor editing for grammar, to preserve the original voice. These contributed columns are solely personal opinion pieces and reflect only the feelings of the guest contributor. Their being published on CricInfo.com does not amount to an endorsement by CricInfo's editorial staff of the opinions expressed.

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