India frittered away a great start
They say seven days is a long time in politics
They say seven days is a long time in politics. It is an even longer time in cricket. Ask the Indian cricket team.
Last Friday (October 12) we all witnessed what we thought was a mundane massacre of the Kenyans at Bloemfontein. At that stage, everyone, myself included, was talking about whether it was right to throw the inexperienced Kenyans before the mighty South Africans and Indians. Now, exactly a week later, the upcoming encounter at Paarl between India and Kenya next Wednesday (October 24) has turned into a virtual semi-final!
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The Indian performance at Buffalo Park in East London was again pathetic. The fast bowlers were wayward after South Africa elected to bat and it was no surprise to see Herschelle Gibbs lay into them with the utmost glee.
Javagal Srinath, from whatever I have seen of him in South Africa until now, seems to be on the wane. Ajit Agarkar also was erratic on the day. I have noticed that the young Mumbaikar, who is rated highly by his captain, has a tendency to lose his way when the team needs him the most.
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After the passing shower during the interval between innings, it was the turn of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar to rain boundaries. Ganguly has looked to attack from the start of his innings, stepping out and hitting the South African quicks into the stands repeatedly in the first fifteen overs. The amazing success that the Indian skipper has had every time he has looked to improvise at the batting crease, is a glorious tribute to his gifts and his cricketing brain.
Sachin also played a few exquisite shots and was dominating the bowlers when he made the error that saw him bowled by Kallis. Once he departed, the momentum was lost.
The Rahul Dravid-Ganguly partnership that followed after Shiv Sunder Das' abrupt dismissal, in my opinion, helped South Africa regain the initiative. The duo could only add 48 runs in 12.2 overs. The run-rate might still have been a healthy 5.3 runs when Ganguly was dismissed but remember it was around 6.5 an over when Sachin left. I felt this fall in the run-rate had a big role to play in the Indian skipper's eventual dismissal.
The rest of the batting line-up simply lost the plot. At a time when sensible batting was necessary, they began to throw their bats at the ball and play unpardonable shots. In the end, India lost despite their top three - Sachin, Ganguly and Dravid - scoring 193 runs between them. The fact that the other eight could only contribute a measly 37 tells a sorry tale indeed.
Without doubt, our younger batsmen will have to learn quickly to think on their feet and play innings of substance. It sure is an uphill climb from here and every man will have to stand up and be counted if we are to win the tri-series.
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