India v West Indies, 2nd ODI, Nagpur
Saturday, November 9, 2002

West Indies did the right thing by fielding after winning the toss. The pitch was a beauty, and there was no doubt that it would last 100 overs. I believe that had India won the toss, they too would have inserted the opposition, and might well have ended up winning the match.

Having said that, the Indian strategy continues to defy logic. Ajit Agarkar's promotion to No. 3 was touted as a success, but I agree completely with Michael Holding when he said that the move was successful for the player, but not for the team. A pinch-hitter is expected to score at a strike rate of about 130% and upset the gameplan of the bowlers; Agarkar scored at slightly less than a run a ball, and while he batted well, it did not necessarily benefit the team.

In this match, not only did Agarkar retain his spot, but India blundered further by promoting Harbhajan Singh to No. 5. It meant Mohammad Kaif came in at a ridiculously low No. 8. Also, Yuvraj Singh hardly had time to play himself in, and will now have the burden of going into bat next time with two successive failures behind him. India have made it needlessly difficult for themselves in the last two matches.

Though India got a fair number of runs on the board, no one was sure if it would be enough on this pitch. And the key for West Indies was the start – Wavell Hinds didn't get too many, but his early flurry ensured that West Indies maintained the psychological advantage they had got in the last match.

West Indies were also helped by the fact that every partnership fetched them runs, and India were never allowed back into the match. India's trump card was always going to be the spinners, and for the second time in two matches, Harbhajan and Anil Kumble were ineffective.

I was disappointed to see that neither spinner tried to deceive the batsmen and buy wickets. It's a shortcoming that has been around for some time, and could cost India dear in the World Cup. The inability of the spinners to take wickets means that the opposition batsmen play out the middle overs without too many alarms, and go into the final overs with plenty of wickets in hand. Also, the fact that Virender Sehwag, and not Harbhajan, bowled when the field restrictions were in use, was a clear indication that West Indies had scored a few points over Harbhajan.

Though India have lost two in a row, I don't think Sourav Ganguly should panic too much. He must still believe that India is the better team, and that they can turn it around by going back to the basics. Do away with the pinch-hitter idea, and reinstate VVS Laxman at No. 3 and Rahul Dravid at No. 4. If the Indians keep it simple, I see no reason why they should not bounce back into the series.

Sanjay Manjrekar, the mainstay of India's batting in the late 1980s and early '90s, will be providing the Expert View on every match of this ODI series. He was speaking to S Rajesh.

More Expert View
Match 1

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