Jan 18, 1999
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CRICKET Sheep Overseas Indians lose the Test series to a not-too-strong New Zealand on green bouncy tracks proving they are tigers only on home turf. By Sanjay Manjrekar in Hamilton
A wicket with a decent covering of grass was what the Indians saw at the Westpac Trust Park in Hamilton. The Indians have played here quite often in the past. The strip is well known as a spinner's paradise. The hosts obviously did not want to give that opportunity to a strong spin-bowling side. Hence the complete cover of grass to nullify any spin. "You bat," were the immediate words of Azhar after he won the toss. Robin Singh Jr was selected to give that extra edge to India's new-ball attack. However, it was Javagal Srinath who picked up two wickets in his first over. It is this which makes any captain happy, for he is sticking his neck out when he decides to field first on winning the toss. Matthew Bell, playing his second Test, got a beauty of a delivery from Srinath. Having fallen twice to the Indian paceman he can safely be called Srinath's bunny. Thereafter it was the familiar story: the Indians had to work hard for every wicket. Roger Twose, the left-hander making a comeback, defended for too long and eventually missed a well-deserved hundred. Craig McMillan seems to be in the habit of nursing the big occasions. He was the one who swung the game in New Zealand's favour. Srinath's hard work was rewarded with five wickets in the innings, the third time he has achieved this feat in his career. The haul was commensurate with his efforts. India's opening batsmen walked out to the middle with the burden of giving their team a good start -- a major reason why we have struggled overseas. With Ajay Jadeja and Navjot Sidhu out of form, Rahul Dravid, the No.3 batsman, was out in the sun before long. I strongly feel that Jadeja, in his and his country's best interests, should bat at No. 5 or No. 6 in Tests. He has certain qualities as a Test batsman but they are not suited at No. 1. It is now doubtful whether he will get another crack at opening in Tests for a while. Sachin Tendulkar thankfully came in at No. 4 and played an interesting innings. He initially played and missed but at the right moment changed his approach to play a more predictable game. He might have missed his hundred but got 67 quality runs. Back home I am sure this must be looked at as a failure. Such are the expectations from the little genius. The Indian first innings in effect belonged to Rahul Dravid. I was extremely pleased to see him play that innings of 190, without doubt his best. He is an honest and hard-working cricketer for whom success doesn't seem to come too easily. He deserves the success he gets. Srinath nearly did something that the great Kapil Dev had never done in his career: five wickets and a hundred in one innings. In the company of Dravid he performed a near miracle and India ended up with an important 50-run lead.
The fifth day promised much but was an anticlimax with the New Zealanders killing the game by declaring late and the Indians just not good enough to force the issue. Dravid and Saurav Ganguly were fortunate to be out in the middle and got a century each. Forgive me for not showering too much accolades on those innings because individual performances were inconsequential. Losing to New Zealand is more difficult to digest than losing 1-0. There are always some gains and losses from a Test series. I hope Dravid uses the confidence and the form that he has gained to establish himself as an useful one-day player. If that happens he will look back fondly at this series as the turning point of his one-day career. Azhar and Sachin lived up to their reputations. Srinath bowled his heart out but with Prasad not supporting him enough the Indian team needed him to perform "greater". Anil Kumble has a challenge on his hands after an ordinary series. He now has to prove that he can be a match-winner in all conditions. Saurav also lost out on an opportunity to enhance his reputation. It was a disaster of sorts for Jadeja and Sidhu. Harbhajan Singh promised more on the tour and as far as Robin Singh Jr is concerned there is a reasonable possibility that he may join the club of cricketers who have played just one Test match. The truth is the overall performance of the Indian team didn't come as a surprise to me. It is something that has been happening to Indian cricket for more than a decade. The sad part is that the managers of Indian cricket have also taken a decade to note this. It all boils down to the saying "tigers at home, sheep overseas". The worst part is we realise this only at the end of a disastrous overseas tour and forget it once we start winning at home. It is time Indian cricket sets a goal. The goal should be to build an elephantine memory! We should stop forgetting the overseas losses and remember that merely winning at home will not earn us a reputation. Real reputation is bestowed only when you perform away from home in unfamiliar conditions. To achieve this, we will have to work hard. Only then can we become a stronger force in the cricketing world. But is somebody listening? --Sanjay Manjrekar is a former Test cricketer |
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Mohammed Azharuddin,
captain of the Indian cricket team, won his 13th successive toss (would you believe it?)
in the third match of the Bank of New Zealand Test series at Hamilton. It is common
knowledge in cricket circles that Azhar is not an unlucky man. But even Azhar's love
affair with Lady Luck could not fetch India its second win in 48 Test matches abroad. Yes,
the just-concluded Test series against New Zealand was yet another unsuccessful one across
the oceans for India. 
The Indian lead made
everyone sit on the edge of their seats expecting yet another roller-coaster ride.
Changing fortunes was the major feature of the series. Quite a boost for Test cricket,
isn't it? But in the second innings we saw one more reason why India doesn't win overseas.
After gaining that all-important first innings lead and the psychological advantage,
Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh Jr opened with the new ball. When Srinath's
"bunny" Bell was on strike Srinath was not handed the red cherry.The New
Zealanders helped themselves to some easy runs and played India out of the game on the
fourth day. Of course, not before giving the Indians another chance on the fourth morning.
Martin Crowe, New Zealand's best batsman ever, told me: "It looks like both teams are
saying 'you win! you win!' " It did seem so watching the match. Neither team was good
enough to outplay the other. It won't be wrong to say that it was a series between two
not-so-strong teams in the world. 
