Sports: Cricket: Opening Folly

Sports

India Today, January 11, 1999
Jan 11, 1999

CRICKET
Opening Folly

Banking on the pitch turning later, the Indian team opted to bat first but were let down by poor starts in both the innings.

By Sanjay Manjrekar in Wellington

Caving In: The odds were always in favour of the home team though the sides were evenly matched. What a match! I enjoyed every minute of the rollercoaster ride that lasted for nearly 27 hours ... except the finish. Yes, that is what the second Test match of the Bank of New Zealand Test series between India and New Zealand was. A match of fluctuating fortunes and one of the very best I have ever seen. Only I wish the end was different.

The Indians came from Dunedin to the city of Wellington not in the best frame of mind. Out of the three games played before the second Test, they had lost two. The odds were in the host's favour. When the covers were lifted from the strip at the Basin Reserve, what the Indians saw was a hard wicket with a tinge of green on it. Immediately, the talk in the Indian camp was to put the opposition in to bat if the toss was won. This is a ploy frequently employed by India on tours -- and it has proved unsuccessful every time. It just goes to show the tentativeness of our team going into a Test series abroad.

However, on the first day the wicket looked a lot different and better sense prevailed. India won the toss, decided to bat and, what's more, included two spinners. Good decision. But this had to be supported by a solid opening pair to see the Indians through the first session. When the ball began to move around a bit straightaway we were given evidence of what can happen if you don't have a solid opening pair. The total number of runs scored on the first day by our first four batsmen was 15. Ajay Jadeja doesn't have the game to be a Test match opener. The qualities he does have are grit and determination. Jadeja might look an easy-going, flamboyant cricketer, but take it from me, he is a tough competitor and determined to succeed. However, in Test matches these qualities can bail you out only sometime, not all the time. Navjot Sidhu disappointed again. He has an average of 28 away from home (as opposed to an overall average of 43.08) which adds to the opening problem. Simon Doull, a vastly improved bowler, wreaked such havoc that you got to see Saurav Ganguly coming in at number four instead of Sachin Tendulkar. Well it worked that day but I do strongly feel, come rain, hail or Doull, the Little Master should bat at number four.

Mohammed Azharuddin, however, ruled the first day of the second Test for the Indians. It was one of his best innings I have seen so far. It came in a total of 208 which makes it doubly valuable. Azhar's approach certainly was the best. In recent times, especially in South Africa and West Indies, you saw the sad sight of our gifted batsman playing the hit-and-miss game from the very first ball. But the Indian captain seems to have put all this behind him, and that is very heartening. He played the way a captain should and a world-class batsman would. It was an innings which would make you take your hat off to the captain. I see a few good things happening to our cricket if Azhar continues in the same vein.

As for the New Zealanders, barring Dion Nash and Daniel Vettori, their batsmen made sure that we had a good Test match on our hands by putting in an ordinary performance. Of course, Nash and Vettori established a record partnership to give the New Zealanders a substantial lead and the Indians enough worries. Watching the two teams battle it out on the first three days, one could see clearly that here were two not-so-strong teams in the world. Both sides had problem areas and weaknesses. And even though it made for an interesting match -- one must say the cricket played was not of the highest quality -- there were only patches of brilliance. However, it was a battle between two evenly balanced teams giving a lot of excitement to a good holiday crowd in Wellington.

The Indians batted better in the second innings but they needed to get their highest total batting second in New Zealand to make a match of it. Thankfully, the weather conditions were to the liking of the Indian batsmen. Sun out, wicket looking brown -- just like back home -- and slight breeze. Ideal conditions for batting, unlike in the first innings. But we saw a common sight overseas yet again. The openers failing. I am sure, we will see a different opening pair walking out in Hamilton for the third Test.

Double Burden: For his own sake and his team's, Tendulkar has to score a double century soon. He had his chance in Wellington but disappointedly let it fall by Tendulkar got his 17th Test century coming in at number five in the second innings too. He took more risks than I have ever seen him take and gave the crowd an exhibition of all the reasons that have made him a demigod in India. He reached his 100 with a six. Tendulkar had done just this in the third Test in England in 1995. On that occasion he had lifted Min Patel, the England left-arm spinner . This time he picked Vettori. Most batsmen dream of reaching a Test hundred with a six (including great ones like Sunil Gavaskar). Tendulkar has done this more than twice already. However, India needed a double hundred, no less, from him to be in the driver's seat. And Tendulkar knew this. One could see the disappointment as he walked back to the pavilion, knowing in his heart how vital it was to get a big one for his team's sake and yes, for his own sake as well. The need to get his first double hundred is dire now for the Indian champion and, I get the feeling, he knows it too. He had a chance here ... but it was squandered.

Azhar batted well again in the second innings but got a rough decision from Eddie Nichols. Normally a very cool person, he showed his disappointment quite clearly. Such was the burden on the captain's shoulders. In the end, New Zealand only needed 213 runs to win. Azhar would have liked the figure to be 300. In keeping with the nature of the match, New Zealand promptly went down to 5 for 74. But this time Chris Cairns chose the last day of the match to make his first impression -- a lasting impression. They say, he who laughs last laughs longest. Cairns laughed last. His partnership of 137 runs with Craig McMillan saw India lose a close Test. It is now 47 Test matches overseas we have played since 1986 -- and of these we've won only one in Sri Lanka. This record will keep haunting us after all.

Anyway, I think each game is a tutorial and one has to improve from the lessons learnt. Though it is evident that we don't have too many options, save long-term ones, we will have to try and work hard to build an opening pair. As for now, problems persist. Ajit Agarkar, however, was sorely missed because though Venkatesh Prasad and Javagal Srinath bowled their hearts out they didn't have too many wickets between them. After all, you need to get 20 wickets to win a match. Anil Kumble and Srinath looked to be the only potential wicket takers in the match. Kumble bowled as well as he could and earned a lot of credit even though he ended up on the losing side. With just two strike bowlers, it required Srinath to do an Allan Donald act. But when the match finished his colleagues in the dressing room must have felt a little let down for they had clearly expected much more from their fastest bowler.

In the end, it was a great official beginning to the tour as far as cricket was concerned. But for the Indians, it was the same old story: so near, yet so far!

-- Sanjay Manjrekar is a former Test cricketer

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