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The 'crowd trouble stopping play' situation is becoming ridiculous to say the least. All the three one-dayers in this series have been marred by it. At Rajkot, the interruption came at a juncture when India were coasting to a win. Talk about idiocy. With this problem recurring with such alarming regularity, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) as well as the International Cricket Council (ICC) will now have do something to expressly address this problem. After all, we just can't have a situation where players always feel danger lurking behind them. That certainly is not the atmosphere in which any game of cricket must be played. Getting to the cricket, then, it was a tremendous sight to see Virender Sehwag nonchalantly tear apart the West Indies attack. The young opener has come a long way since he was first noticed as a Tendulkar-clone. With oodles of confidence and a formidable array of strokes at his command, he is now one of the most attractive cricketers in international cricket. On Tuesday, his assault meant that India were assured of a win despite the West Indies posting a mammoth 300-5. Sourav Ganguly complemented Sehwag beautifully. The Indian captain has always been a beautiful batsman, and his artistry and touch on the day was a sight for sore eyes. The way Ganguly and Sehwag have blended into a formidable partnership must give a lot of heart to all Indian supporters. With the duo as openers, and a few more talented batsmen down the middle, India have now developed into fine chasers. No total seems beyond the reach of this truly imposing line-up these days. The bowling, though, continues to remain a worry. On Tuesday, they received another pasting at the hands of the West Indian batsmen. That Ganguly and Sehwag were our most economical bowlers tells a tale in itself. Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul all made merry as the regular bowlers struggled on a placid wicket. Srinath, who mixed his pace well in the end overs, was the only one who showed some imagination. Sarwan's was the best of the three innings. The young man has been in fine form in this series and it was indeed unfortunate to see his miss out on a glorious opportunity to notch up his maiden international hundred. He, however, gave enough glimpses of his talent, proving why he has been called a modern-day Kanhai. Once he learns to build a big innings, he could become the future leader of the West Indies batting. With the score now 2-1, it is time to look forward to the next one-day international to be played at Ahmedabad. I can but hope that the authorities concerned will take the right steps to ensure that cricket, glorious cricket will be all that would be on offer when play gets underway there. © CricInfo |
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