A learning experience for the Indian team
Partab Ramchand - 5 February 2002
In the last couple of years, the Indian team has registered limited-
overs series victories over New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe at
home, and had only lost to world champions Australia, that too by a
slim 3-2 margin.
Yet another lesson is that the lack of an all-rounder continues to have considerable impact on the middle overs. Agarkar, in this context, continues to be an enigma. Despite a couple of good performances with bat and ball, he still has not cemented his place in the side, which for a lad of his undoubted talent can only be termed disappointing.
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Given this admirable record, it came as no surprise when they were
listed as hot favourites to wrap up the six-match series against
England in double-quick time. With these expectations in mind, when
the final margin reads three-all, then it is clear that there is
something wrong with the Indian side and that there are lessons to
be learnt.
The first lesson to be driven home is the fact that the Indians just
do not learn from past mistakes; notice how they threw away winning
chances in successive games at New Delhi and Mumbai. When the asking
rate, with wickets to spare, is under six an over, where is the need
to go for shots that have an element of risk?
The second lesson is that they cannot move in for the kill. The best
example of this came about during the last-wicket partnership between
Andrew Flintoff and Darren Gough at Mumbai. When the ninth wicket fell
at 218, there were still eight overs left in the innings. Javagal
Srinath, Ajit Agarkar and Sourav Ganguly, between them, had 10 overs
yet to be bowled. And yet, the bowling was entrusted to Sachin
Tendulkar and Hemang Badani. Flintoff and Gough, scarcely believing
their good fortune, alternated between singles and the occasional
boundary, and before one was aware of it, the score had leapt by 37
runs from seven overs. When the final margin of victory is five runs,
the folly in allowing the last-wicket pair to put on so many is
underlined. Incidentally, Srinath later needed just one delivery to
terminate the partnership.
The third lesson concerns India's bench strength. With Rahul Dravid
unavailable and VVS Laxman dropped midway following a series of low
scores, the responsibility in the middle order rested on the young and
inexperienced shoulders of Dinesh Mongia, Mohammad Kaif and Badani.
The trio generally failed to give the scoring rate an impetus after
the electrifying starts from Tendulkar, Sehwag and Ganguly. This was
true even in the matches that India won.
Yet another lesson is that the lack of an all-rounder continues to
have considerable impact on the middle overs. Agarkar, in this
context, continues to be an enigma. Despite a couple of good
performances with bat and ball, he still has not cemented his place in
the side, which for a lad of his undoubted talent can only be termed
disappointing. Under the circumstances, India had no option but to
play six batsmen and four bowlers. It must be said that overall the
bowling was better than the batting, even though the gamble of playing
Sarandeep Singh instead of Harbhajan Singh at New Delhi proved costly.
In Ajay Ratra, it must be said that Indian cricket has unearthed a
true find. With encouragement, he could be the solution to the vexing
wicket-keeping problem. But there were a few other gains from the
series. The recognised batsmen scored the runs, while the frontline
bowlers took the wickets. It was also good to see Ganguly return to
form with the bat, even though his leadership qualities took a bit of
a dent. The tendency to let things drift at times was apparent. It may
be tempting to say that England, admittedly a team with certain
limitations, did not deserve to share the series. But their showing
was a supreme example of what fired-up team spirit and inspiring
captaincy can achieve. Certainly, history and form were against them,
and yes, man for man, the Indian team looked stronger.
But matches can also be won in dressing-rooms and hotel corridors, and
not necessarily on the field. England proved this cricketing adage in
spades by delivering a performance that could not fail to win the
hearts of even the most diehard Indian cricket supporter. They were
the underdogs, and for a team dismissed as no-hopers, their leveling
the series in the manner they did should rank as one of the most
outstanding feats by any visiting team in India.
England clearly had no intention of throwing in the towel even after
they were down 1-3, or even when India looked to be in a winning
position in the last two games. If the batting lacked consistency,
they could always depend on one or two batsmen making a sizeable
score. Marcus Trescothick was a revelation, and there is no doubt that
the tour will do him a world of good. Hussain himself came up with a
number of useful contributions. Nick Knight took some time to find his
bearings, but his century at the Kotla was a classy effort. The middle
order remained a problem, but Flintoff made up for this with a few
breezy knocks.
The bowling covered up for any loopholes in the batting. The seamers
were quite outstanding, and Gough, Andrew Caddick, Flintoff and
Matthew Hoggard served the side admirably. By the end of the tour,
Flintoff had emerged as a genuine match-winner, and Hussain got an
unexpected bonus with spinners Jeremy Snape and Ashley Giles striking
when it was most needed. Giles' second spell at the Kotla was one of
the highlights of the series. It takes guts for a bowler to even think
of bowling again after he has conceded 32 runs in his first four overs
and when confronted by an inform Ganguly treating spinners with
disdain. But Giles ripped the Indian innings apart with some incisive
bowling, and his five wickets in five overs proved decisive.
England were also well served by young James Foster who, with
encouragement, could have a long and fruitful career behind the
stumps. The fielding, not generally known to be England's strong
point, was a revelation. Led by their skipper, the players threw
themselves at the ball, dived and leapt to take catches, and displayed
an efficiency that almost matched the South Africans at their best.
Hussain, as he had done in the Test series, again led by both personal
example and with tactical acumen. A lot of thought had been given to
plotting a particular batsman's downfall, and in matters of strategy,
Hussain certainly stole a march over Ganguly.
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