The sinking of the Indian ship
Sandeep Hegde Alesar - 3 May 2002
The fragile Indian batting came undone at the seams with a
spineless display on a bouncy Kensington Oval track at
Bridgetown, Barbados, on Thursday. The third of the five-Test
series against the West Indies saw the hosts puncture the Indian
innings, after opting to field, for a paltry 102.
In reply, the West Indies ended the day on 33 for one, with
Ramnaresh Sarwan (0) and Chris Gayle (14) at the crease. Zaheer
Khan claimed the wicket of Stuart Williams in the final session
before rain interrupted play for the fourth time on the day. In
his very first over, the left-arm bowler angled the ball across
Williams, who edged it to Wasim Jaffer at third slip. Jaffer held
onto a sharp, low catch at his bootlaces. The rain interruptions
allowed only 46.1 overs during the day; India batted 33.4 overs
while the hosts faced 12.3.
The bias of the Kensington Oval is evident with even a single
glance at the record book, which reads: 19 victories and three
defeats in 37 Tests for the home team. The venue of the third of
the five-Test series between India and the West Indies has been a
cemetery for the Indians, who have lost six of the seven Tests
they have played here. The most intimidating memory of the ground
is the humiliation India suffered on the 1997 tour, when, chasing
120, they crumbled for 81 runs.
Former West Indian fast bowler Richard Edwards, who is in charge
of the Kensington wicket, said that the covering of grass at the
fast bowler's length could prove decisive in the game. The pitch
was rolled with the plastic covering on so that the moisture
could be retained and cracks prevented. Carl Hooper yet again
called correctly at the toss and invited India to take first
strike, hoping to pick some early wickets and seize the
initiative. Sourav Ganguly seemed happy to bat, saying that he
would have batted had he won the toss.
Hooper, though, won round one of the first day when Mervyn Dillon
disrupted the wickets of Shiv Sunder Das off the first ball of
the Test, nipping the ball back into the right-hand batsman and
finding the gap between his bat and pad. Das walked back to the
pavilion for a first-ball duck, underlining India's eternal
dearth of opening Test batsmen.
Rahul Dravid then walked out to the middle with an infectious
confidence following his successful run so far on the tour.
Jaffer, the Mumbai opener who returned to international cricket
after a gap of two years, seemed comfortable at the wicket,
finding the fence with ease. His feet moved well, his balance
impressed, and his back-foot play seemed tidy for an opening
batsman. Two strokes off the back foot past point to the fence
augured well for his reputation.
But history had to be proved right on a ground that is known for
the loss of early wickets on the first day. Dillon, mixing up his
length, drew Jaffer forward and found the edge to Ridley Jacobs
behind the stumps. The keeper, who had lost his place to Junior
Murray for the first two Tests, flew in front of first slip and
took a great catch to justify his inclusion into the squad.
India were 26 for two, and Tendulkar was walking out for yet
another damage-control exercise. Minutes later, the master
batsman was walking back to the pavilion with yet another maiden
personal milestone - back-to-back ducks in Tests. Bowling over
the wicket, left-arm seamer Pedro Collins angled one across the
little master, who, in a rare nervous moment, poked at the
delivery with the bat miles away from his body, only for Jacobs
to take a simple catch at the wicket. It was only the first time
in 94 Tests that Tendulkar was out for duck in two successive
innings.
Three wickets had gone inside the first hour of play, and though
the wicket has a history of easing out as the day progresses,
India sat tentatively with skipper Ganguly and Dravid at the
wicket, and only VVS Laxman - their last recognized batsman - to
come. Coach John Wright had mentioned earlier that his boys had a
habit of relaxing after a big win, and that he had to guard
against that all the time. Heavy downpour forced the teams to
take an early lunch with India 35 for three.
When rain stopped and play resumed after lunch, India's misery
continued. Dravid, the man capable of stemming the rot, was the
next to go, for 17, following a senseless run-out. Shivnarine
Chanderpaul's measured throw saw Cameron Cuffy, at the bowler's
end, whip the bails off before the batsman could make his ground.
VVS Laxman, India's hero at Port of Spain, followed him, bowled
by Cuffy for one.
India had lost their first five wickets for only 51 runs. Ajay
Ratra, out for a duck in both innings in the second Test, was the
sixth wicket to fall after the addition of another 10 runs. He
flashed at a good-length delivery from Dillon and edged to
Jacobs, who took an excellent catch, diving to his right. Ratra
made just one in India's score of 61 for six.
Ganguly, meanwhile, kept a cool head and played the ball on its
merit, hitting a four and a six off Dillon off successive balls.
Harbhajan Singh looked like offering some resistance as he found
the fence twice, but his luck ran out as he attempted to pull a
short ball from Adam Sanford. Dillon, at long leg, took a
comfortable catch. Sanford picked his second wicket in his next
over; he dug one in short to Zaheer Khan, who went back to play
and offered a simple catch to Sarwan at forward short leg. He had
made just four and India were 86 for eight. At tea, India were
reeling at 97 for eight.
Now the question was whether India would reach the 100-run mark.
Javagal Srinath came and went eight balls later without scoring,
Dillon having him leg-before with a good yorker for his fourth
wicket of the innings. Ganguly was the last to go, making 48; he
got a thick edge to a delivery from Sanford. The ball flew high
toward third man and looked like clearing the fence, but Dillon
carefully followed it and held the ball even as he fell down. The
third umpire ruled the catch clean, and Ganguly was out. India
were all out for 102 in just 33.4 overs, Nehra remainingunbeaten
without scoring. Dillon was the pick of the Windies bowlers,
finishing with four wickets for 41 runs.
The views expressed above are solely those of the guest
contributor and are carried as written, with only minor editing
for grammar, to preserve the original voice. These contributed
columns are solely personal opinion pieces and reflect only the
feelings of the guest contributor. Their being published on
CricInfo.com does not amount to an endorsement by
CricInfo's editorial staff of the opinions expressed.
© CricInfo
[Archive]