INDIA'S tour of Zimbabwe evoked mixed reactions. The performance of some of the youngsters gladdened one's heart. Yet, the Indians, as a unit, failed to deliver when it mattered most.
The fact that India has lost in the final of so many one-day tournaments indicates the inability of the side to raise its level in the moment of truth.
This clearly shows the Indians are losing the battle of the mind. That they are being overwhelmed by the big occasion.
West Indies, a side going through a period of transition, should not have troubled India in the normal course, however, Sourav Ganguly's men contrived to lose the summit clash of the triangular tournament in Harare. It was ironical that the bowlers, who had operated in a lion-hearted manner for most part, went for runs in the final. This is a part of the learning experience for left-arm pacemen Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, who are both young and promising, and should serve the country for long if they are encouraged in a proper manner.
Nehra, originally not a part of the one-day team for the triangular series, showed he could adapt to the abbreviated form of the game too, striking early blows in the league games. And Zaheer Khan, who was shockingly left out of the side for the Harare Test, responded by bowling quite superbly until the West Indians got into him in the final.
However, Ajit Agarkar remains an enigma, impressive one day, and wayward the next. When the Mumbai paceman gets it right, he can be a sparkling bowler, moving the ball away from the right-hander, sending down a useful yorker, but the problem is, too often in the recent past, he has not got it right. He does have to work on his consistency.
It was not a bad idea by the team-management to try out reserve pacemen Debasis Mohanty and Harvinder Singh in the latter stages of the competition, even if both the bowlers had their good and bad moments.
India has to build the side keeping the next World Cup in mind. And the only way we can do that is through trying out players against less than formidable sides like the West Indies and Zimbabwe in the relatively less important tournaments.
India requires cricketers for specific roles, and this is why Reetinder Singh Sodhi's display in the final was heartening. He bowled reasonably when bigger names failed and when everything appeared lost for India in the final, he infused life into the contest with some telling strokes under pressure.
And he's a live-wire on the field, making sensational stops, scoring direct hits and pulling off brilliant catches. Sodhi's positive attitude and approach were on view in the triangular tournament.
Wicket-keeper Samir Dighe continues to surprise people, many of whom questioned his credentials. He makes up for a lack of natural talent with his ability to slug it out, and his batting in the final was a revelation really. The performances of Dighe and Sodhi put the failure of the 'specialists' in the proper perspective.
There was an absence of planning in the Indian chase. True, the West Indies had set an imposing target of 291 in the final, yet the wicket was true, and the outfield fast. And the West Indies went into the match with only three specialist bowlers - Dillon, Collymore and King, the last two on a comeback trail.
The rest of the overs - at least 20 of them - were to be shared between Hooper, Gayle, Samuels and Hinds, and had the Indian batsmen paced the innings keeping this in mind, we could have seen a different result. In the end, Sodhi and Dighe strove hard, but by then, too much ground had been lost. The Indians were running out of wickets.
It is sad that India invariably depends on Master Batsman Sachin Tendulkar to fire in situations like these. And on the rare occasions he fails, the others fail to rise to the occasion. This has happened time and again.
After his heroics against Australia, V. V. S. Laxman would like to forget the Zimbabwean tour in a hurry. He looked good only to get out without making a significant impact on the game. He does have to do full justice to his enormous talent.
Skipper Ganguly discovered an element of form at last, but his captaincy left a lot to be desired. Ganguly's decision not to bring Tendulkar into the attack, when the others were getting hammered in the final was perplexing to say the least.
Tendulkar had operated quite superbly against the Aussies at home and could have surely troubled the West Indians with his bag of 'mixed' tricks. There were occasions when Ganguly seemed to lose his cool on the field, and this is not a good sign. A captain has to be in control of things.
He was lucky with the tosses though and India opted to bowl on all the occasions.
In the first three games, the pacemen did exploit the early moisture in the wicket and were backed by some splendid catching, especially in the slips. Fielding is one area where the Indians have displayed a marked improvement.
Catches in normal course should win matches, but then, the batsmen would first have to put enough runs on the board. That did not happen in the Harare Test, where the Indians faced yet another bitter disappointment after raising visions of registering a rare away Test series triumph.
Indeed, India collapsed like a pack of cards on the crucial fourth morning when a little more application from the batsmen on a seaming wicket could have enabled the side to set a target of at least 200 plus. The Indian pacemen made a heroic effort but the failure of the batsmen had left them with too much to do.
Tendulkar and vice-captain Rahul Dravid battled for India, so did the little opener with an impeccable technique, Shiv Sundar Das, but the rest hardly rose to the occasion.
The decision to ask debutant Hemang Badani to open the innings in the Harare Test was an ill-advised one. The think-tank keeps making the same mistakes, and the failure of Badani in a new role, unfairly thrust on him, was not surprising at all. Sadagopan Ramesh was injured, and the Indians paid the price for not taking a reserve opener.
It was also baffling how so many Indians faced fitness problems on what was not a gruelling tour, with a foreign fitness trainer around. Something is wrong somewhere.
So, the Indians returned from Zimbabwe empty-handed as far the results were concerned though some of the youngsters managed to capture attention.
Comments
SHARE