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Vivian Richards - 15 November 2002
If that was not bad enough, there were statements issued by the administrators at this venue that the West Indians overreacted when they refused to return to the field. Such comments by self-appointed pundits are way out of line. What should we have waited for, - a player's head to be busted? Will only the sight of a bleeding player make the administration to take crowd trouble seriously? As far as I am concerned, accusing us of overreaction is merely an attempt by certain officials to defend their turf after failing to provide adequate security. Fortunately, things have not been as bleak for the West Indians on the field. We are still 2-1 up, and must not let fatigue wear us down. It was a little worrying to see the bowlers struggling to defend a total of 300 at Rajkot. Vasbert Drakes is still reasonably fresh, but some of the others looked a little shabby. At this stage, being tired is simply not an excuse for our bowlers. We did not do well enough in the Test series for bowlers to cry off on grounds of stress and exhaustion. Moreover, it was only a three-Test series. I have always felt that winning gives you strength, and the players must keep an eye on the 2-1 scoreline and seek inspiration from it. If you are a pro, this is simply not the time to be rested. Tomorrow's is the only day-night match in the series. We had a late evening practice on Thursday in order to help us judge the conditions and see whether there was any dew factor that might make the toss crucial. Captain Carl (Hooper) will also see whether he is fit enough for the game. The initial plan was for him to last out this series before getting some rest and treatment. However, if he feels unable to carry on, we will have to rest him since we would not like to take any risk with his knee before the World Cup. The batting for both sides has been consistent in all three games. For the West Indies, it was great to see Ramnaresh Sarwan pulling us through in the first two wins. He has been magnificent in all the games and once again showed his class. The only cause for concern is that in Rajkot he once again fell short of three figures. We have spoken to him about this inability to reach three figures at length. You are never really up there in the elite list of batsmen till you get to the magical figure of 100 a couple of times. We know Sarwan is classy even without him scoring a century. But that said, I'm sure his game will only improve once he proves to the world and more importantly to himself that he can get a ton. Judging from the outside, maybe he needs to be a little stronger physically to cope with the stress at this level. He might have to rework his training routines to equip himself when he enters that 80-plus zone - when one is tired and tense about reaching a hundred. Sarwan has been the player of the tournament so far, and a century from him would be the icing on the cake. Other Articles by Vivian Richards:
© Gameplan
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A lot has been written about the misbehaviour of certain sections of
the crowd in each of the three one-dayers of the ongoing TVS Cup. My
opinion is that it should have been nipped in the bud after what
happened in Jamshedpur. The events there should have sounded a warning
to administrators in the next six venues that they needed to beef up
security and get their basic infrastructure in order. If one warning
was not enough, a repeat performance from the spectators stopped the
game briefly in Nagpur. However, people looking after the ground
facilities in Rajkot were still not able to ensure player safety.