|
India in seemingly unstoppable vein
Erapalli Prasanna - 1 July 2002
© CricInfo |
The current Indian team seems to be showing a lot of character and a
real hunger to win. Two victories in consecutive days is indeed
something to cherish, and hats off to Sourav Ganguly and the boys for
getting off to a wonderful start in the NatWest tri-series. The most
important element of the triumphs was that on both occasions India
lost the toss and were forced to chase. Coming under such adverse
circumstances - for India are not willing chasers - the wins will be
an ideal tonic for a long English summer.
But no fan of cricketing heroics and entertainment - myself included -
can fail to look at Sri Lanka's continuing slide of form with more
than a tinge of sadness. Sanath Jayasuriya and his men look a pale
shadow of the team that notched up a nine-Test winning streak. Missing
ace spin bowler Muttiah Muralitharan is understandable, but Sri Lanka
has enough talent waiting in the wings to take on the very best.
After losing two Tests and two one-dayers in fairly emphatic fashion,
the morale of the Sri Lankan team must be close to rock-bottom, and
they are clearly lacking in self-belief. Having won the toss and
elected to bat, they were expected to put together a solid batting
performance against a confident Indian team. Unfortunately for them,
no Indian supporter would complain about their opponent's careless
approach or the modest total they reached.
In addition to worrying about his team's performance, Jayasuriya also
has to grapple with his own woeful personal form. Yesterday he showed
glimpses of the mighty attacking shots that he possesses in his
armoury - particularly in one fierce slash over square third-man off Zaheer
Khan for six - but Jayasuriya yet again was unable to translate it
into a noteworthy innings.
In such a situation, when a captain has worries in two departments,
failure in one inevitably feeds failure in the other. Charitha
Buddhika, brought in specifically to bolster the bowling attack, was
used for just three overs, and Jayasuriya's captaincy was found wanting
on a few other aspects of the game as well.
His counterpart, however, looks to me very confident on this tour, and
the series will go a long way in shaping Ganguly into a top-notch
captain. He seemed yesterday to have a good idea about the strengths
and weaknesses of the bowling at his disposal, and the field
placements and bowling changes were very effective.
It was good to see Ashish Nehra coming back into the side, primarily
because it would mean that Ajit Agarkar would not have to take the new
ball. I have always believed that Agarkar is a far better bowler with
the older ball, over which he has considerably more control. That was
proved amply at the Oval; it was Agarkar who destroyed the Sri Lankan
top-order with some purposeful fast bowling. The subtle variations in
pace and swing had the Sri Lankan batsmen guessing, leading to
their downfall.
© CricInfo |
Sri Lanka's seamers Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa too bowled extremely
well, and at one stage, India, teetering at 135 for five, could easily
have slid to defeat. But the Sri Lankans could not break the crucial
partnership between youngsters Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif.
Both youngsters play their game with much evident enthusiasm, and
their haring between the wickets for singles was particularly
endearing. Yuvraj and Kaif, I am sure, will be part of the core of the
Indian challenge at the World Cup in 2003.
If there were any disappointing factors at all from Sunday's match, it
must be the performance of Anil Kumble. He seemed to be too keyed up, and
that naturally restricted his bowling abilities. Kumble is an
experienced campaigner, and I am sure he will sort things out
quickly.
But it is sad to see someone like Harbhajan Singh sacrificed for the
sake of the team's balance. Having said that, Rahul Dravid seems to be
getting accustomed to his wicket-keeping tasks, and the catch he took
to dismiss Jayasuriya was an outstanding one. This clearly helps add a
certain depth to the Indian batting, and if they continue to play in
similar vein, I do not see any team stopping them in this NatWest
series.
© CricInfo
Teams
|
India,
Sri Lanka.
|
Players/Umpires
|
Sourav Ganguly,
Muttiah Muralitharan,
Sanath Jayasuriya,
Ashish Nehra,
Ajit Agarkar,
Chaminda Vaas,
Nuwan Zoysa,
Yuvraj Singh,
Mohammad Kaif,
Anil Kumble,
Harbhajan Singh,
Rahul Dravid.
|
Tours
|
India in England
|
Tournaments
|
NatWest Series |
Scorecard
|
3rd Match: India v Sri Lanka, 30 Jun 2002 |
Grounds
|
The AMP Oval, London
|
|
|