Indians must get the balance of the team right
Woorkheri Raman - 9 October 2001
The Centurion Park, situated in a suburb of Pretoria, is one of the main
cricket centres in South Africa. As the Indians get into the coach for
an hour-long drive from the Sandton Sun Hotel, they can look forward to
the game ahead, with a sense of optimism about their chances of winning.
This was the ground that ended their sequence of defeats on one of their
earlier tours. Crowds turn up in large numbers for the one-dayers in
South Africa, and this centre is no exception. Succulent meat from the
portable bar-be-cues is dished out the moment the crowd settles down,
and the festive atmosphere continues till the end.
The Indians are once again carrying on the old tradition of one department hauling the other over the coals. Though the Indian bowlers were not on target at the Wanderers, there was no way the game could have been won with the combination that was picked.
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The pitch at the Centurion Park has a fair amount of pace and bounce in
it. The ground is huge as well; God help the reserves in the team, since
the dressing room is situated fairly high up, with the players having to
ascend steep steps. A couple of trips back and forth from the dressing
room to the pitch will test the fitness levels of the reserves.
Reserves apart, the skills of the batsmen will be tested out in the
centre. The faster bowlers in the home side will relish bowling on this
surface after being mauled at the Wanderers by the Indian openers.
Pollock bowled well within himself in the lung-opener, but the
limitations of the other inexperienced bowlers were exposed cruelly by
Tendulkar and Ganguly.
The South Africans may well adopt a different strategy when they bowl to
the Indian captain at Centurion Park. One can be certain that, as a
general rule, few full-length deliveries will be bowled. Not many in the
Indian side are good at playing shots off the back foot against the
faster bowlers. Nicky Boje also comes back into the side to add variety
to the attack, and his batting and fielding capabilities will come in
handy.
The Indians are once again carrying on the old tradition of one
department hauling the other over the coals. Though the Indian bowlers
were not on target at the Wanderers, there was no way the game could
have been won with the combination that was picked. Playing just four
bowlers was a misjudgement on the part of the team management.
Out of the four regular bowlers, Anil Kumble is coming back after a
break. Javagal Srinath is a reluctant one-day participant. If Srinath
prefers to play only the Tests, the matter has to be given due
consideration. Speedsters all over the world have taken one particular
direction at the crossroads of their careers. For instance, a bowler
like Donald is, of late, not too keen on playing the shorter version of
the game.
Reetinder Singh Sodhi would be a better option than Shiv Sunder Das at
number six because he is capable of tonking the ball. He can also roll
his arm over for short spells, and is a good fielder to boot. If at all
Das is played in the eleven he has to bat at the one-down position.
Sodhi, moreover, has been picked because of his utility value in the
one-dayers and as such his not figuring in the eleven is inexplicable.
The other option is to play Harbhajan Singh, but I am not sure it can be
done without sacrificing the balance of the team. Though he has scored a
few runs in international cricket, it may not be wise to bank on him to
do so in the shorter version of the game. India has to put it across
South Africa to gain the psychological advantage, and they have to do it
at the earliest possible opportunity.
© CricInfo
Teams
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India,
South Africa.
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Players/Umpires
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Shaun Pollock,
Sachin Tendulkar,
Sourav Ganguly,
Nicky Boje,
Anil Kumble,
Javagal Srinath,
Reetinder Sodhi,
Shiv Sunder Das,
Harbhajan Singh,
Allan Donald.
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Tournaments
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Standard Bank Triangular Tournament |