South Africa v India
Wednesday, October 10, 2001

It was a much-awaited duet -- Harbhajan Singh in tandem with Anil Kumble -- and the two spinners made the South Africans dance to their tune as India scored a well-deserved victory. The win not only reminded us that Ganguly's side can be an opposition to reckon with, but also made South Africa look beatable.

South Africa did not bowl particularly well. But if their bowling was bad, then their batting was very poor. India must now realise the wisdom of playing spinners against South Africa with Harbhajan and Kumble among the wickets.

One of the things that baffles me is the attacking approach contemporary batsmen adopt all the time. Most of the South African batsmen on view today did just that when the Indian spinners were running through the side. They took too many risks -- something the Australians were also guilty of against Harbhajan in India. It was only at the fag end of their tour that the Aussies realised they had to be selective in their attack. It's a common failing of modern-day batsmen.

One of the reasons why the match almost stretched until the very end was because of Ganguly's approach to defending totals. At 107 for 7 when Shaun Pollock was out, Ganguly did not show any urgency to pick up the eighth wicket. He was quite content to play the waiting game -- he did that in the previous match as well -- and his strategy looked as if it would backfire at one stage. Fortunately for him, and India, Lance Klusener was left with too much to do at the end.

It's amazing to see Kumble. In the last match his bowling was not all that impressive, but today he proved that he is still the bowler he was before his long lay-off. Physically, too, he looks the same as he was before the injury. There was no apparent niggle or chink. The fire he showed is really heartening.

Venkatesh Prasad looks a better bet than Javagal Srinath. Prasad is a better one-day bowler, especially where there is a bit of pace and bounce. He is also much better than Srinath at the death.

Virender Sehwag looks a typical one-day player. But more than his skill what impressed me today was his focus. His growing confidence is good news for Indian cricket because he could be a dangerous batsman at No. 6 or No. 7, and as a bowler showed that he is capable of holding his nerve against dangerous batsmen.

With Kenya the third team, India are not really hard-pressed to make it to the final. But this win will do India's pride a lot of good.

Sanjay Manjrekar, mainstay of the Indian batting in the late '80s and early '90s, was talking to H Natarajan.

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