da aposte e ganhe： The Jodhpur one-day international was different from the previous fivegames for one reason – the nature of the pitch
EAS Prasanna22-Nov-2002The Jodhpur one-day international was different from the previous fivegames for one reason – the nature of the pitch. It was not an idealtrack for one-day cricket, with the ball not coming on to the bat.Stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid’s decision to bat second, then, musthave been based on the inferior spin bowling attack of the opposition.Against the likes of Sri Lanka and Pakistan, chasing a total on atrack that was keeping low and getting slow would have provedsuicidal.
© CricInfoThat said, even against the West Indies, India almost stumbled atJodhpur, making heavy weather of a modest run chase. What was requiredwas for somebody to play through the innings. But sadly none emerged.In the end, it was left to Sanjay Bangar to steer India home with abrilliant cameo.I feel all young players must look to emulate Bangar’s example. Hereis the most unassuming cricketer of recent times, one who has provedhimself to be the ultimate team man. In Test cricket, he plays therole of the sheet anchor to perfection, while his attacking brand ofbatting in one-day cricket is the result of a lot of hard work.The team management must feel proud for having found a player like himjust ahead of the World Cup. I also thought that Bangar bowled verywell in the Jodhpur one-dayer, claiming the valuable wicket of CarlHooper. But it was with the bat that he proved what a champion playerhe is.When all the players around him threw away their wickets, Bangarcalled upon his tremendous powers of concentration to make sure thathe stayed on to score the winning runs. He is not a flamboyant player,but his utility value is immense. Bangar was my Man of the Match atJodhpur.But some of the other players, who had been given an opportunity bythe selectors to prove themselves failed.Dinesh Mongia, for one, made a mess of a great opportunity. I am surethat he would have come across similar tracks on numerous occasions indomestic cricket. But that did not seem to help him. With the level ofcompetition for the batting places being high, his failure could costhim dearly. As for Reetinder Singh Sodhi, I just do not know what wasgoing through his mind; he seemed to have forgotten that there was ajob to be done.Probably what these players need to do now is to spend some timeplaying in Ranji trophy matches. Over the last few years theimportance of the tournament has diminished somewhat with therelentless amount of international games. But what needs to beremembered is that it still can play a vital role in moulding aplayer’s career. Ask Ajit Agarkar.After he was dropped from the Indian team, Agarkar took eight wicketsin the Ranji Trophy game against Delhi and forced his way back. Theresults were there to be seen; at Jodhpur, Agarkar bowled with a greatdeal of confidence, and importantly he picked up crucial wickets totake the Man of the Match award.
© ReutersAnother man who covered himself in glory was Murali Kartik. A left-armspinner in Indian cricket these days is a forgotten breed. I rememberthe days when I had the legendary Bishen Singh Bedi as my fellowspinner. >From my experience with Bedi, I am sure that Harbhajan Singhwould be a far better bowler, if he were bowling in tandem withsomeone who can turn the ball the other way.It is in this context that the success of Kartik was particularlyheartening, The young left-arm spinner has worked hard over the lastfew years in Indian domestic cricket and has been one of the mainstars behind Railways’ success in Ranji Trophy in recent times. I amglad to see him succeed at the highest level of the game, and thecraft he showed in the Jodhpur one-dayer should make any spin bowlerproud.I was also delighted to see Dravid leading the side so well. Hiscaptaincy was excellent – his bowling changes, in particular, alwaysspot on. Dravid’s success only underlines the key role he has playedas a deputy to Sourav Ganguly in India’s recent successful campaigns.Moving on to the final one-day international, I think India are thefavourites to win it and take the one-day series. Having said that,they should not take their opposition lightly, for the West Indieswith their rejuvenated batting line up could seize even the slightestof opportunities.