An authoritative display
By: Venkatachalam. A. Krishnan
This was published in CRICKETNEXT.COM on Friday, March 21, 2003 - The day after India's win over Kenya in the Semi-final.
http://www.cricketnext.com/yoursay/krishnan/krishnan10.html
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The Kenyans had played out of their skins to reach this stage. And there were quite a few people who were hoping that they could win their Semifinal match against the Indians and reach the final too. If it had indeed happened, it would probably have gone down as the biggest ever upset the game has even seen. The Kenyans had nothing to lose while the Indians had everything at stake.
Saurav ganguly decided to bat first and out came Sachin Tendulkar and Virendar Sehwag. Over the next three hours and a half, the Indian batsmen taught the Kenyans a lesson or two on how to bat on a pitch where the ball was not coming onto the bat.
Although he began with caution, Tendulkar gradually opened out and added yet another fitfy to his kitty in this tournament. He was in a murderous mood having a hundred in sight while he got out to an amazing display of athleticism and timing on the field by the Kenyans. Had he got a reprive, Tendulkar might have ended up with yet another huge score.
Ganguly once again proved that he is one of the best players of slow bowling after the ball loses its shine. He is one batsman who doesn't waste any opportunity which presents itself. The result was a majestic unbeaten hundred - his third in this edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup. He has scored all his runs against the lesser teams so far but his confidence is sky-high now. India needs Ganguly to fire against the Australians in the final if they are to cause an upset.
Ganguly should be more flexible about his batting position. If an early wicket falls, Rahul Dravid may be a better option. It can even be Dinesh Mongia coming in at number three rather than Ganguly getting exposed to the fiery pace of Brett Lee earlier in the innings.
Sehwag once again threw his wicket away after having settled down nicely. He has not had a big score so far in this tournament and one is due. I hope it comes in the final. He is too good a player to be clubbed with Dinesh Mongia in the list of failures. The latter also has one final chance to redeem some pride.
Even if Kaif scored only a few runs, his ability to rotate the strike and more importantly reach the other end in a jiffy was the key to India reaching this huge total. Yuvaraj also chipped in with his show of power to ensure a total way beyond the reach of the Kenyans.
The Indian bowlers were fantastic once again. They never gave any room for any of the Kenyans to free their arms. The final part of the Kenyan innings was used by the part-time bowlers to catch up with some match-practice. Tendulkar was clearly rusty as he has not been used regularly by his captain. He took some time to settle down and ultimately ended up with a couple of wickets too.
Now the Indians go to Johannesburg for the biggest match of their careers. The Australians will come hard at the Indians trying to remind them of their earlier loss to them in the preliminary round. A billion fans and more will be praying for an Indian win in the final. It is now time for Saurav Ganguly and his men to display all they have. Both the teams have been on a roll with continuous wins. All good things should come to an end. I hope it is the Aussie run that ends.
Rahul Dravid's injury is a cause for concern. A crucial catch may be the difference between winning the biggest prize in the game and bungling at the final hurdle. The team management should think about playing him as a specialist batsman and bring in Parthiv Patel as the specialist wicket-keeper in place of Mongia. But the problem here is that Parthiv Patel has played almost no cricket at this level. His selection ahead of proven campaigners like Vijay Dahia and Ajay Ratra is a colossal mistake by the selectors. Dravid's ability or otherwise may decide the fate of the all-important final.
In sport, or for that matter anything in life, nothing comes easy. As the great man Swami Vivekanda put it...
`A WINNER IS A WINNER NOT IN THE ABSENCE OF, BUT IN SPITE OF PROBLEMS'!
GO INDIA GO !!!
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