South Africa v India
Friday, October 19, 2001

India looked a little flat when they came out on the field, but to be fair to them, Herschelle Gibbs got off to a rollicking start. Apart from trying a few short deliveries, Srinath and Agarkar could have done little else to stem the flow of runs.

Ganguly quickly learned that the wicket was more conducive to slower bowling, and made clever use of the part-time spinners, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh. By using Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in short spells, Ganguly kept the South African batsmen guessing and brought India back into the contest. Jonty Rhodes and Lance Klusener, two of the best batsmen at the death, cut loose again only when the pacemen were reintroduced in the last few overs. Unless the pitch actually improves in the second half, the South Africans have put enough runs on the board to win comfortably.

In hindsight, the surface might have been better suited for Venkatesh Prasad. His ability to bowl the slower delivery would have been useful on this pitch, and he could have been considered over Ajit Agarkar.

Sehwag was again impressive with his off-spinners, though Klusener hit him for a few runs in his last over. Sehwag seemed unfazed bowling the death and showed that he had a mature head on his shoulders.

The 48th over of the innings was perhaps Srinath's best over in one-day cricket. He looked relaxed, ran in much slower and mixed up his deliveries superbly. He went for a few runs in his last over, but that is inevitable in the later stages of an innings.

The absence of Tendulkar from the bowling attack was puzzling. Ganguly's handling of Tendulkar hasn't always been ideal, and he has either over-bowled him or completely ignored him. Tendulkar's leg-spinners could have been handy when the two right-handers, Jacques Kallis and Boeta Dippenaar were at the crease. I wonder if his lack of fitness has kept him from bowling a few overs. Ganguly's failure to use Tendulkar today, and his decision to use Reetinder Sodhi for only three overs on Wednesday, are two decisions which need to be explained.

Lastly, VVS Laxman's recall might have been slightly premature. Though he scored a hundred at Nagpur in the Irani Trophy match, some reports indicated that he was not entirely comfortable running between the wickets. To bring him back for the one-dayers, which takes a lot more out of players than Test matches, might have been hasty.

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

More Sanjay Manjrekar
A night to forget

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