Another absorbing contest on the cards
The Indians will have shed any sense of complacency that lurked within them as the scene adjourns to the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Motera for the second of the five match one-day series against Zimbabwe on Tuesday
Sankhya Krishnan
04-Dec-2000
The Indians will have shed any sense of complacency that lurked within
them as the scene adjourns to the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in
Motera for the second of the five match one-day series against
Zimbabwe on Tuesday. In spite of some appalling fielding and the top
order falling over themselves in an unseemly hurry to get back into
the confines of the dressing room, the hosts managed to overcome their
opponents in Cuttack. If the Indians do raise the level of their game
in the rest of the series, it could only mean that the outlook remains
bleak for Zimbabwe.
Hemang Badani of course was the toast of the side and Sourav Ganguly
today spoke glowingly of the young man's contribution. "He's scored
runs in all the one-dayers he's played and the important thing is that
he didn't get ruffled at any stage. He took the responsibility of
winning it for us after being involved in that run out with Dravid."
In keeping with tradition - and that dates back to the first ever
encounter between the two teams in 1983 at Tunbridge Wells - the
Zimbabweans failed to close out a game they should have won. They are
getting fed up with it and Heath Streak was not very convincing as he
sought today to explain away the phenomenon. "It was unfortunate we
let it slip. There is a little bit of inexperience but hopefully the
guys will learn from it. If we get another opportunity, we'll take
advantage of it." Well, the Indians can be hospitable but it would be
asking a lot to expect them to hand out another gilt-edged
opportunity.
Both sides had a good look at the wicket which does not seek to offer
much by the way of solace to the bowlers. Streak adjudged it as a good
batting strip. "The groundsman said the wicket will play the same
throughout but it looks like the pitch may get slower as the match
progresses. We haven't selected the side. We've just seen the wicket
and will decide in the evening."
The Indians, for their part, have gone ahead and announced their
twelve, Nikhil Chopra and Shiv Sunder Das being the ones sitting out.
Ganguly said that the only point of contention was between Reetinder
Sodhi and Sridharan Sriram and hinted that the Tamil Nadu lefthander
might sneak into the side ahead of Sodhi. "The wicket looks like
taking spin but we'll have another look in the morning after it dries
out before taking a final decision", said Ganguly. Sriram has been
cleared after suffering a painful blow below his left eye during
practice when a wayward Nikhil Chopra throw struck him on the full as
he was sprinting between the wickets.
Chopra incidentally must be pretty confused after the Board President
AC Muthiah made it clear that he was an undesirable presence in the
team until the Board officially exonerated him. Surely the Indian team
can ill afford the luxury of carrying a player who is unavailable for
selection. The chairman of selectors Chandu Borde however said that he
had not received any directive so far from the Board to leave out
Chopra. As for Ganguly, he declared that Chopra was very much part of
the 14 and the team was happy to have him. The Indian skipper
emphasised that the off spinner had been left out of the first two
games only because the team composition did not permit him to be
fitted in.
Ganguly sported a wry smile when asked about the innumerable fumbles
and misses in the field on Thursday. "I'm surprised how we can drop so
many and still win. It's a shame the way we fielded in Cuttack but I
don't think that's going to happen again." Heath Streak however
warned that Zimbabwe was spoiling for a fight after the disappointment
in Cuttack. "We're looking to come back hard in this game. It's a lot
easier to do it now then later in the tour. You don't want to get too
far behind and lose confidence", he said. With the battle lines
clearly drawn and the stakes heavy, it should make for another
absorbing contest.