Long, arduous season ends for three Indian county pros

The PPP Healthcare County Championship officially ended on Saturday and the three Indians had some decidedly mixed fortunes in the competition. With 1039 runs at 49.47 in 15 games, Rahul Dravid was fourth in the Division One aggregate and seventh in the averages. But he would have been disappointed with his form in the latter half of the season, accruing a modest 300 runs in his last 12 innings as opposed to 739 in his first 12. Nevertheless Dravid easily emerged as Kent's premier batsman, although the team itself finished sixth in Division One, just about staving off relegation.

Saurav Ganguly was not in his elements in the Championship, producing 644 runs at 33.89 in 13 matches with six fifties but no hundred. He was a disappointing sixth in the Lancashire averages although only Neil Fairbrother and John Crawley scored more runs than he did. Lancashire finished second in the Championship for the third year running, 20 points adrift of champions Surrey. The tradition of no overseas pro from India ever being associated with a County Championship winning team thus continued. Ganguly, who was forced to endure murmurs of discontent over his commitment, rounded off with scores of 54 and 65 in his last bow against Surrey earlier this week.

In his second stint in county cricket, Anil Kumble was not the unqualified success he proved to be with Northamptonshire in 1995. In 12 games, Kumble scalped 45 wickets at 25.17 but he was put in the shade by other overseas spinning recruits like Saqlain Mushtaq (66 wickets at 15.39 in 12 matches) and Shane Warne (70 wickets at 23.14 in 15 matches). Kumble pipped new ball bowler James Ormond at the head of the county averages as Leicestershire finished fourth in the final Division One standings. He had the minor satisfaction of scoring a first ever fifty in two seasons of county cricket following which he was forced to shave off his moustache by overzealous teammates.

In the one-day competitions, it was a different story for Ganguly who displayed supreme touch with the bat although his running between the wickets in a National League game against Kent did not get full marks. The National League saw him run up 547 runs at 54.7 in 12 games including two hundreds and four fifties. The Indian captain's form failed to buck Lancashire's fortunes and with one game in hand the county is languishing at the bottom of the first division, having to taste the bitter pill of relegation. In the same competition, Dravid with 428 runs at 42.8 in 12 games and Kumble with 16 wickets at 21.62 in the same number of games went about their job with quiet efficiency. Leicestershire are currently tied for 4th and 5th spots and have managed to avoid relegation but Kent are teetering on the brink and need to win their final game on Sunday to avoid falling into the second rung next year.

In the NatWest Trophy, Ganguly was again in sparkling form with 272 runs at 90.66 in four fixtures but he came a cropper in the game which mattered the most, the semifinal against Gloucestershire. Ganguly fell for 4 as Lancashire, chasing 249, were cleaned up for 150. Both Kent and Leicestershire fell by the wayside in the fourth round, Dravid making 76 in two games at 38.00 and Kumble bagging six wickets at ten apiece also in two games.

The third domestic limited overs competition, the Benson and Hedges Cup, ended in early June before the three Indians could negotiate the cold, wet conditions with panache. Lancashire were again the only side amongst the three to advance into the quarters but their campaign was halted one round later by bete noire Gloucestershire. Ganguly made 62 runs in 6 games at 12.4 but missed the semifinal showdown, having flown back for the Asia Cup in Dhaka. Dravid's personal run tally stood at 50 in 2 matches at 25.00 and Kumble was the only one to acclimatise himself quickly and potently enough to hook a catch of nine wickets in four games at 10.66.