|
Extras playing havoc
 The
Indian team has every reason to feel better after their clinical approach
against Bangladesh. After their defeat against Sri Lanka,
I was not sure whether skipper Sourav Ganguly was more concerned about the
rustiness of the top order batsmen or the penetration of the bowlers. But once
Ganguly won the toss and opted to field, it was quite clear that he was more
concerned about bowling.
Sending Bangladesh
to bat first was a conscious decision to get the bowling combination right
before the all-important game against Pakistan on Sunday. The team think-tank
decided to go even further to rest Anil Kumble and give both Harbhajan Singh and
Ashish Nehra a good run. Even if Zaheer Khan is declared fit by physio Andrew
Liepus, the team cannot afford to take the risk of playing him in such crucial
encounters.
Although Bangladesh is
considered minnows, the performance of Ashish and Harbhajan has furthermore
given the captain a good measure about their form and fitness. With Anil coming
back into the side, the game against Pakistan will be a toss up between the
third seamer and a second spinner, much depending on the nature of the strip.
For some strange reasons, the extras have been playing havoc in this tournament.
It's not only the Indians, even the Pakistani bowlers are equally at fault.
 Indians
gave away a staggering number of 37 extras out of which 23 were wides and four
no balls. That happens to be the second highest score in the Bangladesh
scorecard. Equally baffling were in the manner the Pakistan bowlers conceded 17
wides and four no balls.
The Indians will have to get
better in this area. After all, in tight contests, discipline makes a major
difference. Sachin's cautious approach was quite understandable since it is
always important for the batsman to spend time in the middle. Still a keen
student of the sport, Sachin plays the game according to the merit of cricket.
He, perhaps, showed maximum respect to the weak Bangladeshi attack to derive the
best for his batting. The mind and the body coordination are so important in
this game that even an ounce of arrogance and recklessness can bring down the
greatest of batsmen.
 It
was a lesson for the youngsters to learn from the way Sachin went about building
his innings. Ganguly followed the same pursuit to be among the runs. Pakistan's
dismal show has once again exposed their brittle batting line-up. Their lack of
experience is very much evident in recent games. The argument to induce fresh
blood into the team does not necessarily always bring victories. The truth is
that not much importance is given to the fact of blending youth with experience.
The problem is that too many youngsters in the side automatically lead to the
delay in maturing at the international level.
Pakistan's idea of having a
foreign coach is a benign departure from conventional routine, which has failed
more often than not. Bob Woolmer at the helm of affairs certainly has a far
better grasp of things. He transformed the South African team into a good side
and proved that one need not be a great international player to be a good coach.
Javagal Srinath
PTI
|
