The Indian failure at the final hurdle
Woorkheri Raman - 28 October 2001
The Indian innings at Kingsmead resembled a pre-climax scene from a
bad B-movie, where the villain has a noose around the neck of the
heroine standing on an ice block. Most of the Indian batsmen appeared
to having nooses around their necks, and they only succeeded in
pulling it tighter, resulting in their dismissals. The only difference
was that they could not conjure up a hero to save the team from a
debacle. South African captain Shaun Pollock was clearly intent on
playing on the psyche of the Indian batsmen by inserting the tourists
on the day when it mattered most.
What really made a telling impact was the inability of the Indian
middle-order to play shots off the back foot. The pitch at Kingsmead
does have a lot of carry and bounce, but the shot selection on
display was poor by any standards.
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The Indians somehow got into all sorts of tangles by adopting some
strange tactics. The skipper perished in trying to up the run-rate by
playing, against his opposite number, a shot that had worked well for
him in the series. His dismissal meant that the Indians were pegged
down in the first fifteen overs, from which they never really
recovered. The only positive aspect of the Indian innings was the way
in which Virender Sehwag batted, though his mode of exit was
disappointing.
The move to make Rahul Dravid keep wickets opened up a slot for an
additional bowler, but the Indians stuck to their regular formula of
four bowlers. Dravid shouldered the additional responsibility without
any fuss, but it is not a long-term solution. He tried his best to
take the Indian score to respectability; in the end, though, it was
not worth the effort, as the South Africans over- hauled the Indian
total without any problems. But for the mini-partnerships that Dravid
built with Sehwag and Reetinder Singh Sodhi, the final would have been
an embarrassment for the visitors.
What really made a telling impact was the inability of the Indian
middle-order to play shots off the back foot. The pitch at Kingsmead
does have a lot of carry and bounce, but the shot selection on
display was poor by any standards. Nantie Hayward worked up good pace
consistently, and he will be a force to reckon with in the Test
series. A team that had seven batsmen in its ranks was unable to put
up a total to even make a contest out of it. The Indians, in fact,
gave the impression that they got things wrong in terms of the total
they planned to set; a total of 220-230 would have been very
competitive, given the conditions, but it seemed that the visitors
were looking at 250-plus , which might have caused the top order to
play rash shots.
Yet another final was lost simply because the Indians as a collective
unit do not believe in their ability; Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav
Ganguly always have to click with the bat if the Indians are to even
nurture hopes of winning. Even they, however, can succumb under
pressure when it matters most, in spite of all their achievements in
international cricket over the years. The Indian victories against
Kenya notwithstanding, the limitations of the make-up of the team were
always under the microscope.
Looking at a broader perspective, any side that struggles for the 10
crucial overs, in both departments of the game, is bound to struggle
in a pressure-cooker situation. That is the problem with the Indians,
since they are a bowler short and the middle-order batsmen do not make
the most of the last 10 overs, the most vital phase of the innings.
The idea of completing a fifth bowler's quota with Yuvraj Singh and
Tendulkar is just wishful thinking, and it will be difficult on
pitches where the bounce is even and true.
It is all history now, however, and one can only hope that the Indians
get their thinking sorted out during the forthcoming Test series. It
goes without saying that the Tests will be much more demanding, and
only the tougher side will eventually prevail.
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