CricInfo.com
India in West Indies

 
  Results & Scores
India won by 56 runs
India 260 (50 ov)
West Indies 191 (36.2/44 ov)
[Scorecard]


Tour Index
Home
Schedule
News
Scorecards
Reports
Statistics

Tour West Indies

Squads
India
West Indies
Guyana B-Pres XI

Features
Rasna Utsav
Rasna Health Check
Caught & Bowled Over
The Writer in You
Nostalgia
Third Umpire!
Did U Know...
Wordsworth
Talking Point

Contests
CricWhiz
Fantasy

CricInfo
West Indies
India
Official Sites
Site Map
Cricinfo Home


The writer in you

Why can't India contain Hooper?
J Uthaman - 15 May 2002

It certainly is a million-dollar question. Although his knocks have been punctuated with half-chances for the fielding side, his wicket has become almost as valuable as Lara's. The West Indian skipper is notorious for playing reckless shots and getting out at the wrong time. But in this series he has transformed into a more responsible player without losing that sublime touch.

Not that his tendency to play fancy shots has been eliminated completely, and that is what Sourav Ganguly should be hoping to capitalise on. He should have created situations in which Hooper took one chance too many. Hooper's inability to play with complete discretion for a long period always works against him, even though there are no question-marks about his talent. He is probably one of the few players in the world who can play both spin and pace with equal ease, and on his day, he can handle the best of the bowlers with consummate ease, especially at home.

India are finding it beyond their abilities to contain this free- stroking batsman. His average against them is going up exponentially as he scores one century after another; right now, it stands at 57.61. Hooper's hundred at Antigua was his fifth against India in 15 Tests out of a total of 13 centuries in 96 Tests.

The Indians, thus, must be at a loss to understand why they cannot do what other teams have been able to. There are some players who take a liking to a particular team, and in Hooper's case, it unfortunately happens to be India. Much the same thing can be said about Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who made his third century of the series - his fourth against India - at Antigua.

In his early days, Hooper was dubbed another Viv Richards. But he lost that tag over a period of time with his unpredictable play and was part of the West Indian side for long without being taken seriously by any opposition. After he came out of retirement to helm the side in the interest of West Indian cricket, however, he had to play responsibly by dint of his position.

Hooper could not do much during his team's tour to Sri Lanka or the South African tour of the Caribbean - both series that West Indies lost. His best series performance before the current tour was against Zimbabwe, but that has been outstripped heavily by his feats in the last four Tests. He has shown no mercy to any of the Indian bowlers, completely dominating them. It would be no surprise if Ganguly and his bowlers had nightmares about Hooper once the series ends, much like Shane Warne had bad dreams about Sachin Tendulkar. Till such time, however, let us enjoy the play of gifted Carl Hooper, a player who is trying his best to make up for wasting his talent during the earlier part of his career.

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]


 

Brought to you by Rasna

www.mrfsport.com

Stumped
Cricket Fantasy
Buy! India v Australia Test Series
CricTxt: score alerts by SMS, ringtones and logos
Poll
Who is your Man of the Series?



Poll Results Archive