Denness might have achieved the impossible
Woorkheri Raman - 21 November 2001
A negative emotion like anger can sometimes stoke enough fire in the
belly which results in enhanced performance. That's precisely what
happened at the St. George's Park in Port Elizabeth on the final day.
Mike Denness with his bizarre ruling has made this a memorable Test in
more ways than one. He has docked more than half the side for some
reason or the other with suspensions and fines.
Getting back to cricket, the rookie opener Deep Dasgupta did a fantastic
job by applying himself like a seasoned campaigner. He showed good
judgement, extraordinary resolve and sound temperament. His innings was
one of admirable concentration as was Dravid's. These two put an end to
whatever hopes Pollock and his men entertained of winning the Test.
Dravid has once again demonstrated that he is best suited to bat at one-
drop especially on foreign soil. His steely character came to the fore
when he was under pressure to put up runs against his name. He could not
have chosen a better occasion to get back into form. The Indian vice-captain
is surely one batsman I would pick from this line up for grinding any
attack under any conditions.
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While Dravid had the experience to withstand the pressure-cooker
situation, no one would have imagined that Dasgupta would play such a
stellar role. He stood up to the challenge and the provoking asides from
the South African bowlers with a cool head. One would have been hard
pressed to believe he was just playing in his second Test. His maiden
half-century would go down as one of the best innings in recent times
considering the circumstances.
At the end of the day, every Indian can take pride from the fact that
the Indian batsmen battled hard and forced a draw rather than through
Mother Nature helping them. It has to be noted that the light failed
every evening and as such full credit must be given to Ganguly's gang.
Ganguly and Tendulkar negotiated the new ball in the closing stages of
the match safely and it was evident that the two teams enjoyed healthy
relations from the manner in which they shook hands after the game.
Albeit everything being on even keel the Indians were mauled by some one
not even on the field. The ICC match referee, Mike Denness, came down
heavily on the Indians and his handling of the situation can only be
termed as a sick joke. He failed to realise that sometimes the spirit of
the law is a factor before any judgement is meted out. If he deemed that
the Indians' disregard for procedures as laid in the laws of the game
should be punished severely, then he is also guilty of the same folly as
he has not followed the procedures laid out in the ICC manual for
referees. One wonders if the ICC will ban Denness for his misdemeanor.
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Denness has in a way done a favour for the Indian players. His conduct
has made the BCCI back the players strongly, which has never happened on
a consistent basis in the past. The BCCI deserves to be appreciated for
their strong reactions because it was about time that the referees
stopped docking the Indian players on their whims and fancies. Denness
forced the ICC and the cricketing World with his zealous decisions, to
have serious re-think. If the ICC does act, then Denness should go down
in cricket history as a person who achieved the impossible.
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