A wake up call at the right time for the Indians!!!
By: Venkatachalam. A. Krishnan
This was published in CRICKETNEXT.COM on Saturday, March 8, 2003 - The day after India's win over Kenya in the Super Six stage.
http://www.cricketnext.com/yoursay/krishnan/krishnan7.html
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Their progress to this stage was seen as someting FARCICAL. They were called the `LUCKIEST EVER CRICKET TEAM'. Whenever they had put up some creditable display previously, it was written off as `ONE-OFF'. Even their fantastic win over the past title-holder Sri Lanka in the preliminary round was not taken seriously by anyone. The KENYANS were waiting for another opportunity to prove themselves.
And Prove they did in the Super-Six encounter against the mighty Indians in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 in South Africa. It came as a rude wake-up call to the Indians who were LISTLESS till an youngster decided to take the responsibility and carry the team home. This performance by the Kenyans shows that they have indeed arrived at the Big League and their reaching this stage of the tournament is no plain luck.
For the kind of show the Indians put on the field when the Kenyans batted, they do deserve some brickbats. They had a few days break before this match and they looked very stiff. It was almost like they were taking the field after a long off-season lay-off. The catching was pathetic and the ground-fielding was at best mediocre. This kind of a performance can not see them through against better sides. There is no room for complacency if you want to be the best.
The Indians had a disastrous start to their innings. It is very clear that Sehwag's rythm is upset. This maybe because he was not allowed to open in the first two matches of the tournament. He is basically a player who rides on his confidence. India cannot afford to have a Sehwag who lacks in confidence. He is too good a player at the top to lose and the team think-tank should make him realize that his wicket is really precious. If he survives the first half-hour or so, the result can be absolutely devastating for the opposition.
Tendulkar also failed but not before he played one of the best shots of the tournament so far - a straight drive (or should we call it a pat-back) which was the epitome of perfection. Maybe it is good that he has failed in this match rather than a crucial knock-out encounter at a later stage in the tournament. The law of averages is bound to catch up with anyone and maybe with this failure behind him now, he will score runs by the tons again.
Rahul Dravid's innings was definitely not the best we have seen from him so far. He scratched around painfully and was never sure of himself in the middle. But he did put a price on his wicket and it resulted in a reasonable partnership with Ganguly even if it was as fast as an ailing snail.
Ganguly had his moments of difficulties before he settled down to play a well-paced knock. Now, he is the only player to have scored two hundreds in this world cup so far, albeit against bowlers who have not been able to push him on the back-foot consistently enough.Hopefully he has regained his confidence. He is too good a player when the ball is soft and by now he should have realized that his place is well and truly in the middle order. Gone are those days when he just WALKED down the pitch to slog the pace bowlers. He has obviously been restrained from doing it now as the bowlers are allowed one bouncer per over. This innings was very important for the team and Ganguly. The Indians need a few more of these from him if they are to win the cup.
But the man who made the difference between India winning this match and going down to Kenya was Yuvraj Singh. So often in the past he has had only the slog overs to bat in. Today there was an opportunity for him to prove a point and he did it in grand style. The striking feature of his innings today was that he curbed his natural instincts and cut out all risks. He showed tremendous maturity and shot selection. And he ensured that he stayed on till the job is finished. Had he exited early, the Kenyans might have wrapped up the match. Dinesh Mongia should thank Yuvraj Singh for not giving him an opportunity in the middle.
The cool and composed presense of Yuvraj Singh in the middle eased the pressure on Ganguly and ensured that he could end up with a big score. Yuvraj handled the spinners (against whom he is considered to be weak) admirably well and he deserves a slot higher up in the order. His progress has been rapid and he has the potential to end up as a clinical FINISHER like Michael Bevan is for Australia.
The Indians are almost assured of a place in the semifinal now. They can play with a lot less pressure against the Kiwis and the Lankans. But they should remember that the Australian Juggernaut is rolling on relentlessly and a perfect performance is needed if they are to be stopped. The Aussies are also in a luxurious position to manipulate things and choose the opponents and the venue for their semifinal round. The Indians will have to beat them at some point in time if they are to win this tournament.
HEY YE MEN IN BLUE, ARE YE READY TO BELL THE OZ CATS ?!
