India v West Indies, 4th ODI, Ahmedabad
Friday, November 16, 2002

It's been an incredible series so far for teams batting second, though today West Indies seemed to have done enough - first up - to buck that trend. Under pressure to set an imposing target, they did just that after Chris Gayle's whirlwind knock set the tone in the first 10 overs. It could have been even better if Harbhajan Singh had not applied the brakes. Coming on within the first 15 overs, he bowled one of the best spells of his career, at one stage having enviable figures of five overs for six runs.

Murali Kartik had to bowl steadily. He is a natural left-arm spinner but sometimes, he can appear a little casual with his bowling. What was noticeable today was his balanced approach towards the game. On pitches such as this, you have to bowl slow, and Kartik - in tandem with Harbhajan - did exactly that. With the new-ball pair of Javagal Srinath and Ashish Nehra having an off day, the two slow bowlers showed how it was possible to escape punishment in conditions that were distinctly unfriendly for bowlers. That was the only refreshing aspect of India's display in the field.

By the time India embarked on their run chase, dew had settled on the surface and the West Indian new-ball pair of Mervyn Dillon and Pedro Collins made good use of the conditions. As it is, the new Kookaburra ball bounces a lot and Dillon was the first to strike when he came up with the ball of the series to Virender Sehwag, who could only fend a short one through to slip. In another day and age, it would have meant curtains for India.

But despite Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif being unable to chisel out sizeable knocks, they succeeded in chasing another huge target. It was another chapter written in what is turning out to be memorable year for the Indian team, one that bodes well for the future of the game in this country.

Rahul Dravid was clearly the man to pilot India to the finish and his performance was in keeping with his recent ones. He appears a much more accomplished and assured batsman in limited-overs matches these days. What was most impressive was the manner in which he rotated the strike and played sensibly without going for any desparado heroics. The most amazing aspect of his heroic feat was his ambition, the belief that he could carry India to safer shores even as wickets kept falling at the other end. It was a truly exemplary performance.

As for Sanjay Bangar, his performance came as a surprise to many, including perhaps himself. But without being too harsh, I think it's too early to read too much into it.

Sanjay Manjrekar, the mainstay of India's batting in the late 1980s and early '90s, will be providing the Expert View on every match of this ODI series. He was speaking to Nagraj Gollapudi.

More Expert View
Match 1
Match 2
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