da apostaganha： The convincing victory at the Green Park Oval in Kanpur is really whatis expected of the Indian side considering its potential
Woorkheri Raman29-Jan-2002The convincing victory at the Green Park Oval in Kanpur is really whatis expected of the Indian side considering its potential. It was a muchbetter performance coming on the heels of their hara-kiri at Chennai,even though they managed to win there. The consistency of the visitorsin throwing away good starts through some ordinary batting in the middleovers helped India to keep the game well under control. I hasten to addthat this is no attempt to discredit the bowlers, but the English middleorder has made it a habit to allow the opposing side to get back intothe game.Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick got off to a flyer, with Knightfinally coming good on a low and slow track at the Green Park. The pitchat this venue has been the same for too long, and no attempt has beenmade to improve the surface. The Green Park is one of the oldest andmost-used centres in the country, and it is a shame that the authoritiesdo not pay attention to the most important aspect of a cricket ground.Inasmuch as the officials grumble if a match is not allocated to aparticular venue, they do not seem to be concerned about the playingconditions that they provide. It is not that the associations lack fundsor resources, but the indifferent attitudes still prevail with gayabandon.Coming back to the game, the weather gods decreed a truncated match and,in such a situation, it is imperative to alter the game plan. Knight,who was due for some runs, hit his way back into form and in doing thatshowed why he has such a good record. Knight’s career took a dip afterthe 1999 World Cup, and that was due to some indifferent treatment fromthe English team management. His was severe against Ajit Agarkar inparticular, hitting him on the up, and he also used the different modesof sweep against the spinners productively. Javagal Srinath was onceagain on target; in the last six months, he has shown a lot ofadaptability in his bowling. He has been criticised for lackingvariation over the years, but of late he has been varying his pace wellenough to outwit the batsmen.
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© AFPVirender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, who have similar mannerisms andend up confusing the onlookers, reduced Nasser Hussain to a merespectator with a scintillating partnership. Sehwag outscored Tendulkar -a rare occurrence – and their second consecutive century stand came upin the blink of an eye. The Delhi batsman matched Tendulkar shot forshot, and Tendulkar just played second fiddle without any complaints.Sehwag’s timing was outstanding, but the remarkable aspect was the wayhe brought common sense to his batting. There were several occasionswhere he had to change his shots at the last moment, bearing in mindthat the ball kept low. His innings came to an end when a century wasthere for the taking. and he has to realise that opportunities forscoring hundreds at the highest level do not come every second day.Tendulkar was visibly stunned by Mark Mascarenhas premature death, butsuch is the character of the man that he played brilliantly anyway. Heremained unbeaten, and one could not have expected him to repeat themistake of throwing his wicket away as he did at Chennai. The masterblaster also tried to egg on his skipper to keep him company, but SouravGanguly perished in an ungainly manner just when he appeared to behitting the ball like his old self. These are opportunities that abatsman struggling to regain form should latch on to, but the Indianskipper played one shot too many and paid the penalty. The heave was afair indication that Ganguly is still to get his thinking processes backon track, and he has little time to waste with just two one-dayers leftin the series.