THIS may appear to be a view engendered by hindsight. Yet, it must be said that India's captain Sourav Ganguly and coach John Wright made the right decision in giving an early call to off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. And the young Sardar did not let his team down taking three for 27 in a straight spell of 10 overs. India won the match against the Proteas by 41 runs, its third on South African soil and the first in the Summer Spice Series.
Harbhajan has evoked curiosity among the South African spectators, not only for the yards of cloth that is sitting on his head as a 'patka', but also for his bowling tricks. Right from the time he arrived here with the Indian team in the last week of September, they saw him as a special man because they had seen him run amok against the Australian batsmen. So Harbhajan was never going to fall short of admirers. He won more probably after he foxed three South African batsmen at the Supersport Park, Centurion.
The young off-spinner from Punjab is certain to win more matches for India in both versions of the game in future. There will always be arguments that will not support his inclusion in one-day internationals, but he is more likely to come out the winner, as he proved the other night in front of a colourful home crowd.
Harbhajan's effort must be rated as first class because he bowled to take wickets and not to contain. It would be a great folly should any captain ask him to do something which does not favour his way of bowling. Harbhajan is more of the Muttiah Muralitharan type. Saqlain Mushtaq is a captain's and a team's dream, possessing the talent not only to take wickets but also to check the scoring rate. The batsmen tend to take more chances against Harbhajan but he is bound to succeed as he plays more and more internationals.
At the Centurion he was an able ally to the senior spinner Anil Kumble who made a good comeback after being mauled in the inaugural match at The Wanderers. There was considerable interest with two spinners figuring in India's bowling attack, especially so when the pitch was regarded a good one for the fast bowlers. It was Kumble who gave the breakthrough when he had the aggressive Neil McKenzie who smashed the Indian for a four and a six. Similarly Jonty Rhodes, who received a fantastic reception that suggested his popularity, was bent on going for the leather. He hit a four off the first ball he faced, took two runs each of the second and third balls, and edged the fourth to Rahul Dravid, whose successful attempt won him the 'LG Catch of the Match' award.
So it was the combination of Kumble and Harbhajan that sounded the death knell for the South Africans. There was a third spinner who made a fine contribution. Players like Sehwag, bracketed as a batsman-allrounder, will get wickets in certain situations, as he did against Australia in Bangalore. With Sachin Tendulkar once again proving to be expensive, Ganguly, per force, had to look upon Sehwag to make up for the absence of the fifth bowler. In the event, Sehwag did exceptionally well in his spell of eight overs.
Sehwag was also responsible for breaking the eighth wicket partnership between Mark Boucher and Lance Klusener, which threatened to take the match away from India. Klusener, who was sent in at No. 8, was the highest scorer with 44. The duo put on 77, taking the score from 106 for seven to 183. Once this pair was separated, there was no doubt about an Indian victory.
Indian cricket is used to the likes of Ganguly, Tendulkar and Dravid winning one-day internationals, but on this day players like Yuveraj and Sehwag played their part. Yuveraj made 42 off 55 balls and Sehwag 33 off 27 balls while Harbhajan made 15 off 14 balls. They all had a word of praise from their captain Ganguly who said the win was a result of several good things that were initiated six or seven months before. He mentioned the contribution made by coach Wright and physio Andrew Leipus.
India, after winning the toss, did not bat right through its 50 overs, and was bowled out seven balls short of its quota. Ganguly once again tried to steal the thunder, hitting boundaries off the bowling of his counterpart, Pollock. He was successful on three occasions when he struck Pollock for a four and two sixes (his 100th and 101st in one-day matches). "Did I hit so many?" he asked at the press conference.
But Pollock had the last laugh. He had him 'caught' by Kallis at second slip, the fairness of which was debated at length during the course of the match and at the conference by both captains, but Ganguly and Pollock stayed away from making comments. "I had doubts about the catch claimed by Klusener (of Rahul Dravid), too," said Ganguly. Pollock said he would 'trust the player' who claims a catch.
Dravid was all chancy in the beginning, dropped twice before he had reached 15. He prospered thereafter to make a half century (54, 79 balls, 5 x 4) and in the process crossed 5000 runs in 158 one-day internationals. His partnership with Yuveraj (42, 55 balls, 4 x 4, 1 x 6) helped India recover from 75 for three to 165 after which there was another slump, with Pollock returning for his second and third spells to take three more wickets and finish with 5 for 37 from 59 balls. It was the 10th time he had taken more than four wickets in one-day internationals. He also reached a personal landmark of 200 wickets. "Well, I feel great, but it did not count in the end," he said.
There was good support for Pollock from Makhaya Ntini and in patches from Andre Nel and Kallis. Two of South Africa's bowlers, Allan Donald and Mfuneko Ngam, are in the sick list. The home team's attack is bound to get the sharpness and cutting edge the moment they return to the squad. Until then Pollock has to bear the brunt.
The scores:India: S. Ganguly c Kallis b Pollock 24; S. Tendulkar c Nel b Ntini 38; S. S. Das c Klusener b Pollock 2; R. Dravid c Klusener b Pollock 54; Yuveraj Singh b Ntini 42; V. Sehwag c Ntini b Nel 33; D. Dasgupta c Boucher b Klusener 8; Harbhajan Singh lbw b Pollock 15; A. Agarkar c Boucher b Klusener 1; A. Kumble (not out) 7; J. Srinath c Kallis b Pollock 2; Extras (lb-2, nb-4, w-1) 7. Total (in 48.5 overs) 233.
Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-52, 3-75, 4-165, 5-167, 6-204, 7-208, 8-208, 9-231.
South Africa bowling: Pollock 9.5-1-37-5, Nel 10-0-49-1, Kallis 9-0-42-0, Ntini 10-0-42-2, Klusener 7-0-30-2, Boje 3-0-31-0.
South Africa: G. Kirsten b Srinath 12; H. Gibbs c Sehwag b Agarkar 1; J. Kallis st. Dasgupta b Harbhajan 29; N. McKenzie b Kumble 21; J. Rhodes c Dravid b Kumble 8; S. Pollock lbw b Harbhajan 15; N. Boje lbw b Harbhajan 9; L. Klusener c Yuveraj b Agarkar 44; M. Boucher c Agarkar b Sehwag 38; M. Ntini b Sehwag 1; A. Nel (not out) 0; Extras (b-2, lb-4, nb-3, w-5) 14. Total (in 46.2 overs) 192.
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-38, 3-66, 4-76, 5-85, 6-101, 7-106, 8-183, 9-188.
India bowling: Srinath 6-0-32-1, Agarkar 8.2-0-40-2, Kumble 10-0-42-2, Harbhajan 10-0-27-3, Tendulkar 4-0-21-0, Sehwag 8-1-24-2.
IT must be one of those rare feats when a player walks away with the prize in his first appearance, wherever. Harbhajan Singh came, saw and conquered the South African batsmen at the Supersport Park, Centurion, on a cool Wednesday night on October 10. He bowled his first 10 overs in his first big match in South Africa in one spell (thanks to his captain Sourav Ganguly), snared three batsmen at the cost of 27 runs, and happily collected the 'Man of the Match' award.
One of his victims was Jacques Kallis, who earlier in his innings, showed his skills in forcing shots, off the front and backfoot, against the bowling of Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar. He played sound cricketing shots off deliveries that were not exactly pitched short. Harbhajan Singh invited the batsman, in good nick, to step out of his block in the crease, and trapped him, the second important piece of work done in the Kallis dismissal being the stumping by Deep Dasgupta.
Harbhajan's second and third victims were Nicky Boje and skipper Shaun Pollock. He had both of them leg before. The umpire had no doubt that the batsmen were beaten and in front of the wicket.
Pollock changed the batting order after Anil Kumble dealt blows, taking the wickets of Neil McKenzie and Jonty Rhodes. The South African captain struck a delightful four off Kumble, but the purpose of his coming ahead of Lance Klusener and Mark Boucher was essentially to stop the Indian spinners in their tracks, by smothering their spin. He did not succeed, as Harbhajan posed problems in the air and off the pitch.
There was much speculation about Harbhajan's inclusion in the team, not after India's defeat in the opening match of the tri-series at 'The Wanderers', but even before that and especially after his seven over spell against the Nicky Oppenheimer XI. The team management decided to pick him for the second of the back-to-back matches against South Africa, only for the reason that Harbhajan had the right to be seen as a strike bowler.
Before this match, Harbhajan had played 29 internationals, taken 35 wickets at 31.34 with three for 29 as his best against Sri Lanka at the Premadasa Stadium, recently. That he improved on his previous best was an encouraging sign, but what is even more commendable was the fact that he also took wickets in a clutch. He was responsible for breaking the back of the South African batting, though Kumble had a hand in the dismissal of two important batsmen in McKenzie and Rhodes.
Harbhajan is not new to South Africa and the cricketing conditions here. Three summers ago he had bowled impressively against the country's under-19 team in the MTN Under-19 World Cup. Three years later, he won a match for his country. His effort was properly acknowledged.
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