A carnival of cricket lies ahead
Rajesh Kumar - 10 April 2002
The Bourda Oval at Guyana, possibly the most picturesque ground
in the West Indies, is looking as pretty as it usually does ahead
of the first Test between India and the West Indies due to start
on Thursday. The outfield, which resembles a billiard top,
assures value for money to any shot-maker.
But it is as you walk further down the ground to gaze at the
vital 22 yards of strip that doubts begin to surface. The pitch,
which was one of the best batting surfaces in the Caribbean, has
now degenerated into an unpredictable surface. If knowledgeable
observers are to believed, variable bounce will come increasingly
into play as the match progresses.
It could, however, prove a boon in disguise for Sourav Ganguly
and his side, who are hoping to win a series in the Caribbean for
only the second time in their country's cricketing history. For, Anil Kumble, who has proved to be their biggest match-winner in
recent times, is at his most destructive in such conditions.
Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, if he recovers in time, will be
expected to play a vital role in ensuring that the Indian
campaign gets off to a happy start. The duo have already struck
form, claiming 12 wickets in their team's victorious tour opener
against the Guyana Board President's XI. If they bowl at anywhere
near their best, they might succeed in running through a West
Indies line-up that has very few established players in its
ranks.
India, though, are not wholly dependent on their spin twins. With
Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra and Tinu Yohannan
also in the squad, they have the enough firepower in their fast
bowling arsenal too. With the bowling looking relatively healthy,
it is the batting that is suddenly looking suspect.
The batsmen, despite their much-touted abilities, have failed to
pull their collective weight during away tours. Even the lowly
Zimbabwe, led by unheralded medium-pacer Andy Blignaut, managed
to drive holes in the much-feted line-up at Harare in one of
India's recent away tours.
Disturbingly, then, most of the willow-wielders struggled against
a weak Guyana Board President's XI attack in the tour opener.
Coach John Wright has probably taken the first step in addressing
the problem by voicing it.
"We have the potential to beat any side in the world. What we
require is self-belief that we are capable of winning away from
home. It's a very important factor," he said, adding, "We have
quite a few brilliant players but have yet to click as a team.
What we need is a collective effort."
Evidence of new-found self-belief was found recently when Shiv
Sunder Das, the stocky Indian opener, professed the desire to
score big hundreds in the Caribbean, thereby following in the
footsteps of the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. If Das and the middle-order, consisting of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly
among others, manage to support the ever-consistent Sachin
Tendulkar, the tourists might manage to draw first blood in
Guyana itself, fair weather permitting.
Usually the rain almost unfailingly makes an appearance, and the
possibility of it doing so again cannot be ruled out. Another
adversary as far as the Indians would be concerned will be a
fully fit Brian Lara.
The West Indian master, who seemed to have regained his best form
in the recent series against Sri Lanka, has recovered from his
elbow injury and would, for his part, be hoping to lead his team
to an upset win over the Indians. Carl Hooper and Shivnarine
Chanderpaul, who scored tons of runs against the Indians in the
previous series between the two sides, are also capable of
leading the home team's batting.
As for the West Indies bowling, Hooper has decided to place his
reliance on his pace bowlers. "Since we don't have world-class
spinners like India have in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh,
we'll go for pace. India have very good batsmen in Tendulkar,
Dravid and Ganguly, but most of their guys are making their first
trip to the West Indies. We'd like to take advantage of that,"
the West Indies captain said in a recent interview to a private
television channel.
Talking to ahead of newspersons of the match, he showed every
sign of sticking to his plan, saying, "It's not easy to replace
Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, but we will be relying (on)
Merv Dillon, Cameron Cuffy, Marlon Black and Adam Sanford to
deliver the goods." The last named is rated highly by fast
bowling great Colin Croft, who feels that Sanford may be the
surprise packet.
All said, the stage is set for a battle of attrition between the
two sides. Both teams will be eager to gain the early advantage -
West Indies to revive the flagging morale of their side, and
India to assert the supremacy that is already theirs on paper.
With fans of both sides expected, for 42 percent of Guyana's
population is of Indian descent, to troop out to the ground, the
least that can be promised is a carnival start to the series.
Squads:
India: Sourav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar,
Wasim Jaffer, Deep Dasgupta, Shiv Sundar Das, VVS Laxman, Dinesh
Mongia, Ajay Ratra, Sanjay Bangar, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble,
Harbhajan Singh, Sarandeep Singh, Tinu Yohannan, Zaheer Khan,
Ashish Nehra.
West Indies: Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Stuart Williams,
Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ryan Hinds,
Junior Murray, Mervyn Dillon, Cameron Cuffy, Marlon Black, Adam
Stanford, Mahendra Nagamootoo
© CricInfo
Teams
|
India,
West Indies.
|
Players/Umpires
|
Sourav Ganguly,
Rahul Dravid,
Sachin Tendulkar,
Wasim Jaffer,
Deep Dasgupta,
Shiv Sunder Das,
VVS Laxman,
Dinesh Mongia,
Ajay Ratra,
Sanjay Bangar,
Javagal Srinath,
Anil Kumble,
Harbhajan Singh,
Sarandeep Singh,
Tinu Yohannan,
Zaheer Khan,
Ashish Nehra,
Carl Hooper,
Chris Gayle,
Stuart Williams,
Ramnaresh Sarwan,
Brian Lara,
Shiv Chanderpaul,
Ryan Hinds,
Junior Murray,
Mervyn Dillon,
Cameron Cuffy,
Adam Sanford,
Marlon Black,
Mahendra Nagamootoo.
|
Tours
|
India in West Indies
|