Indian armada triumph at Port of Spain

Uncork the bubbly, have a ball, and go on a splurge. And then get back to work. That is my message for the Indian cricket team.

Victories abroad are such rare events in Indian cricket that it seems natural to go overboard, praise the heroes to the sky, and hail the victory at Port of Spain as a great triumph. It will certainly take its place in history as a notable win, even after taking into account the fact that the Indians, by and large, started as favourites against a West Indian side palpably on the decline.

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The fact remains, however, that India's record of two victories against 14 losses in the Caribbean compares most unfavourably and, as is well known, the Indians do not travel well abroad. Under the circumstances, it is difficult not to get excited by the victory notched up at the Queen's Park Oval on Tuesday. Certainly the ground has got to be the Indians' favourite overseas venue, simply for the fact that nowhere else have India registered three victories abroad.

Given the events of the disappointing rain-affected drawn Test at Guyana, there seemed little indication of things being different at Port of Spain. As I pointed out in my earlier column, this looked set to be a contest between two mediocre and evenly balanced sides, strong in batting and short on bowling. But the wicket and weather conditions were very different in Trinidad. Given very little interference from the weather and a newly laid pitch that encouraged pace even as it featured some uneven bounce, there was something in it for the bowlers.

Relishing such conditions, the eight principal bowlers on both sides made things that much more difficult for the batsmen, and the result was a cracker of a match, marked by fluctuating fortunes that could have gone either way until almost the very end. The connoisseur of the game could not have asked for anything more.

As I mentioned earlier, though, these are two sides with inherent weaknesses, and that was apparent during the five days. The suspect batting at the top of the order, the long tail, and the lack of variety in the bowling ­ the problems still exist. It was just that the one strong point in both sides ­ the middle-order batting ­ was able to cover up for these lapses. How long one admirable aspect can cover up for three weak areas is a moot point.

But then, one should not linger too long on the flaws alone. Indeed, the Indians deserve kudos for the manner in which they clearly performed above themselves. The most encouraging aspect was the way the pace trio of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra came off. True, the pitch was an ally, but they utilised the conditions commendably. Playing without their ace strike bowler over the last decade was a gamble, and it paid off in spades - proof that sometimes bold decisions have to be taken if the side is to succeed.

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Next to the pace trio, it was the batting of the big four that played a notable role in the triumph. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman have all played up to their reputations in the two Tests thus far, and this has helped plug the loopholes at the top of the order. How long they can do so is open to debate, and perhaps the time has come to replace Sanjay Bangar with Wasim Jaffer. Ganguly can always don the role of a fifth bowler, and it is about time a recognised opening batsman is given his due.

Ajay Ratra, as was expected, was a vast improvement over Deep Dasgupta. Now is the time to stop the wicket-keeping musical chairs, which has been an unfortunate episode over the last couple of years, and all encouragement should be given to this talented youngster.

The Port of Spain victory could well mark a turning point in Ganguly's captaincy. He has had his critics, his share of ups and downs during his two-year stint at the helm. But I for one have always felt that he remains the best person for the high-pressure job. If anything, the events at the Queen's Park Oval should give him the confidence to sharpen his tactical skills.

Some of these skills were in evidence even during the Test. His bowling changes were imaginative, and his tight field placings were responsible for bottling up even such natural stroke-players like Brian Lara and Carl Hooper. Gone was the diffidence, the defensive strategy, the 7-2 and 8-1 off-side fields that one saw at Georgetown. Ganguly's aggressive tactics hustled the batsmen into errors, and certainly his captaincy was as much a contributory factor in the ultimate result as the middle-order batting or the bowling of the pace trio.

I must end on a word of caution. It is very easy to sit back on one's laurels, to be lulled into a feeling of overconfidence. The Indians have it in them to wrap up their first series in the Caribbean for 31 years, and if they are to achieve it, they would do well to take a leaf out of their predecessors' book. On that occasion too, India won the second Test at Port of Spain to take the lead in the five-match series. Then, led by the superhuman feats of new boy Sunil Gavaskar, who got four hundreds in three matches, and helped by invaluable contributions at vital stages from other players, India were able to keep that lead and emerge triumphant.

The Indians would do well to remember that the next three Tests are at Bridgetown, Kingston and Antigua - venues where they have not exactly covered themselves with glory in the past. Just for the record, in 17 Test matches at these venues, the Indians have lost 11 and drawn six. So there is still a lot of hard work ahead. As the cliché goes, the Indians have won the battle. Now they have to make sure they do not lose the war.

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