Monday, January 14, 2002 The Challenger Trophy unearthed no unheralded talent, but two significant things emerged from this four-day selection parade. One, given the will, India can produce pitches that rival the bounciest in the world. Two, India are not likely to win the World Cup in a hurry.

The tournament was played on three different tracks at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, one of which had the kind of bounce and carry that often defeat Indian batsmen in Australia and South Africa. The pitch for the first match might not have done out-of-form, out-of-sorts Sourav Ganguly any favours, but that's a narrow view. The broad view is that more such pitches would ensure that talented batsmen like Ganguly and Vinod Kambli will not discover the cruelties of world cricket too late in life.

Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar, certainly not India's answer to Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee, made the ball climb from just short of a good length at a pace that had India Seniors' batsmen hopping around for the best part of the day. Ganguly, softened up by a few snorters, guided one to second slip - with Ganguly, it's no longer a matter of edges; balls fly to slip even from the middle of his bat. Even the bowling of Daniel Manohar, presumably selected for his batting, was occasionally menacing. The strips at Chinnaswamy have been relaid recently, and whatever they put underground, India needs more of it.

But otherwise, the story was depressing. The first match of the tournament was lost by the team which was more desperate to lose it, and the last few overs epitomised all that ails India's one-day performance. With India Seniors needing 21 runs at less than four an over, Yuvraj Singh, who had batted sensibly for his 53, flailed at a ball three feet outside off with a vertical bat and was snapped up behind the stumps. Ajit Agarkar, perhaps determined to bury his reputation as allrounder so that we stop expecting runs from him, skied an almighty heave to be safely caught at midwicket. Soon, it became a case of who would bungle less.

Indian Seniors dropped two catches - Virender Sehwag a sitter at slip and Manohar a less straightforward one at mid-on - and allowed a dot ball to turn into a three, all off Harbhajan Singh's bowling. Disgusted, Harbhajan fired a wide down the leg side, and Deep Dasgupta predictably let it go to the fence. Sarandeep Singh sealed the match for India A with a pulled six. The less worse team had won.

I spent a couple of hours with Bishan Singh Bedi last week and he was aghast that while one-day cricket had ruined classical spin bowling in India, it had done nothing to improve fielding and physical fitness. India are second to none in the quantity of one-day matches they play, yet Kenya, who average seven one-day internationals a year, would beat India hands down if came to a tie-breaker involving breaking the stumps with a throw from midwicket.

Cricket, one-day cricket in particular, is as much a game of skill as it is of application and common sense. India will continue to win a few matches with spectacular batting or spirited bowling and, on a good day, they will even beat Australia and South Africa, but it's difficult to see them winning consistently as long as they continue to mess up the basics.

The best of India's cricket talent was on display in the Challenger Trophy. It was clear from their performance that India need to go back to the drawing board if they are serious about mounting a challenge in the World Cup. In 2007 that is.

Sambit Bal is editor of Wisden.com India and of Wisden Asia Cricket magazine.

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