| |
SPORTS
1. No Illusions
Know
thyself, the philosophers said and the selectors would do well to bow
to that wisdom. Pick men with both the methods and the mettle for the
job. As far as the slow bowlers go, those appear to be extremely thin
on the ground. "I cannot see the Australian batting being dismissed
twice by our bowlers," says former India captain Mansur Ali Khan
Pataudi. "We give no thought to planning and we tend to leave everything
to the grace of God-and this is where it has taken us." With Anil
Kumble sidelined after shoulder surgery, it may seem like time to start
chanting multilingual prayers, but listen to the man himself. "I
believe we can beat Australia-it's not going to be easy for them and we
shouldn't be talking like it is. Sometimes we make things easier for the
opposition." Kumble has played Mr Dependable for so long that Sachin
Tendulkar talks of him like the team's own Ganesha, the remover of obstacles,
"We took Anil for granted ... Like whatever happens Anil is there,
if the wicket cannot be taken Anil will do it for us, if the wicket is
helpful Anil is there, if nothing's happening Anil is still there."
Anil's not there now but says, "It's not one man's burden, it's got
to be shared all across the team. In 1998, I happened to get most of the
wickets, but the reason was that Sri(nath) played a major role getting
the first three out cheaply. Our batsmen put up the 400-plus totals. If
you put enough runs on the board you automatically create the pressure."
The batting trinity of Tendulkar, Ganguly and Rahul Dravid may sound formidable
together but neither Ganguly nor Dravid have racked up Test hundreds against
the Aussies (see box.) Only Tendulkar does well: barring Sri Lanka, he
has more Test centuries against the Australians than any other team. But
India has won just three of the 12 Tests in which Tendulkar has played
and lost the last four in a row. That's all the indication needed that
to actually win, all the good men in the batting need to stand together
and be counted.
 |
| TWO'S
COMPANY: David and Tendulkar tackle Warne |
Leave aside
Javagal Srinath and India's new ball attack is inexperienced, with only
Venkatesh Prasad of the probables called in for the team's camp having
taken five wickets in an innings, usually the benchmark of match-winning
bowling. Of the slow bowlers, only the two 31-year-old left-armers Sunil
Joshi and Venkatapathy Raju have done the same. The younger lot of bowlers
in the running-Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Murali Kartik, Harbhajan Singh
and Sharandeep Singh have played 22 Tests between them. Spin is no longer
an Indian strength so fretting about the wickets, says Sanjay Manjrekar,
is pointless. "Nobody talked about wickets when Zimbabwe were here-take
the focus away from the pitches now, worry about them on the morning of
the match. Right now look for those 14 men who can perform against intimidating
opposition."
2.
No Excuses
Routine chaos
and aborted last minute dashes to Sharjah aside, the Board has paid attention
recently: the players asked for and were given a professional coach. Ex-New
Zealand captain John Wright has built a reputation for uncommon composure
and uncompromising thoroughness and he smoothly pulls the shutters down
over questions about preparation. "I don't want to be part of the
hype and I don't want the publicity. The Australians have proven themselves
the best team in the world by doing the basics well over and over again."
Team physio
Andrew Leipus has introduced the team to the benefits of dietary supplements,
worked on varying the physical training of the squad and compared their
fitness data to that of the Australians ("Indians are lighter, more
flexible, have less lung power but aerobically are not too bad").
The Indians put in 12-hour days at the conditioning camp in Chennai, which
began with eating breakfast together and included two sessions of training,
swimming to cool off, team talks and a special screening of the American
football movie Remember the Titans. Videotapes of the previous Australian
tour to India and recent matches featuring the current Australian team
have been pulled in from TWI, Singapore. And in Bangalore, Nandan, a Ranji
panel umpire, finishes his day job at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and then
works overtime to input data into the new eCricketpro software developed
for the team. There's now a committed support staff working for these
Indians and working to keep them together. But the last and biggest piece
of the jigsaw is the cricket Ganguly's men play on the field. Without
that, all the rest is only pretty icing left with no cake.
|
|
METRO TODAY
Web
Exclusives