African Safari: The tour diary

The Wright workout?

John Wright has been a hard taskmaster. There have been days when the Indians have had two nets in a day as the soft-spoken Kiwi insisted on getting his team in shape for the stern battles ahead. But it is not like it is all work and no fun for Ganguly's men...

Last Sunday, September 30, saw the team at the famous Ellis Park stadium engrossed in a rather lively game of rugby. Earlier on Saturday, they attended an official function at Indian High Commissioner's residence. Monday (October 8), again will see them at a function the one-day series sponsor Standard Bank has planned for the three competing teams.

But after that it is back to the Centurion Park and practice again. The Indians had pitched their tent in this city at Pretoria even ahead of the Friday game at the Wanderers. A decision prompted solely by the fact that Centurion, along with Kingsmead at Durban, has the liveliest wickets in South Africa. Come Wednesday, India would then taking on the South Africans in what has become a home away from home. Hope that helps.

That don't impress Sunny Gavaskar much

As Ian Chappell would say he is the ultimate authority on the issue of `conservation of energy on the cricket field'. No wonder then that Sunil Gavaskar, in South Africa as a commentator, was not too pleased to see the Indians having a workout immediately before the match at the Wanderers. It was a steamy Friday afternoon and Sunny felt that it simply made no sense for them to put themselves through the wringer before the all-important tour opener. "It was okay to do so, say in England, where your body needs time to get warmed up but not in places like this where you actually lose your freshness in a real match." No questioning the man who knows all about `Sunny Days'.

Gavaskar and Shastri are up in arms

Ace off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, rested for Friday's game that India lost to South Africa, hopes he will get a look in when India play South Africa next at Centurion on Wednesday. "I was pleased with the bounce I could extract from the practice pitches at the Centurion whenever I bowled," `Turbanator' said.

Bhajji has a couple of powerful backers in Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri. Sunny feels that the young man's ability to take the ball away from the right-handed batsman makes him a very useful bowler to have in the squad. Shastri, renowned for his cricketing brain, also agrees that Bhajji's inclusion will serve India well. In fact he wanted him for the Wanderers match itself. "I would rather have gone with him (Harbhajan)," the former Indian captain said while giving his opinion about the squad for Friday's match at the Wanderers. "This is not a grassy track. The pitch looks to be on the drier side."

Hope Ganguly is listening...

In awe of Yuvi

A shot by Yuvraj Singh that nearly killed Boland fast bowler Charl Langeveldt at Benoni in a practice match against South Africa `A', is being talked about with awe.

"No less than four Indian players have spoken to me about it," former Indian opener Navjot Singh Sidhu said. Noted commentator Harsha Bhogle was at hand to confirm this. "Sachin (Tendulkar) told me he had never seen a harder hit in his career," Bhogle said Ajit Agarkar, who was at the non-striker's end at that time, too was shell-shocked after witnessing the incident from close quarters. "I would have died of shock had the ball hit him," Agarkar reportedly said.

Langeveldt, named in the South African side for the next two games, might come up against Yuvi again on Wednesday...

Ganguly is worried

Sourav Ganguly is a worried man. The failure of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad in the opening game has really put him in a quandary.

Srinath looks fitter and more agile than he has for a long, long time, but bowling a disciplined line is still not his strong suit. His return to one-day cricket, after a self-inflicted banishment, was something that had many people rubbing their hands in excitement. But Friday's performance would have been a dampener to `em all.

Prasad has a better control on his line and length but the problem is that he has lost a fair bit of his pace. This means the batsmen can take the liberty to hit across the line against him, especially when the field is up in the first 15 overs.

Agarkar then has been the only one who has provided some cheer to his skipper. His has been another instance when Ganguly's instincts have proved right. Remember, it was the 'Prince of Kolkata' who fought Agarkar's case successfully before the five wise men.