The Indiansbowled out a fairly strong Rest of South Africa side for 138 and 224, butthe manner in which their own top order capitulated in both innings iscause for tremendous worry heading into the Test series.
Dileep Premachandran in Potchefstroom10-Dec-2006
Wise choice: VRV Singh, the wild-card pick haddivided opinion when he was called up for the Tests © Getty Images
It’s not often that a team wins a four-day game by 96 runs, with a day tospare, and finds itself with more questions than answers. The Indiansbowled out a fairly strong Rest of South Africa side for 138 and 224, butthe manner in which their own top order capitulated in both innings iscause for tremendous worry heading into the Test series.Even before the game, the focus was on how to deal with the pace attackthat South Africa will unleash at the Wanderers next Friday. And with thatin mind, the net sessions, especially with the bowling machine had beenextremely specific. A lot of the time, it was set to a “Pollock length”,so that the Indian batsmen could explore ways of scoring runs against aman renowned for giving nothing away. As Greg Chappell told Cricinfo: “Ifone can’t score from a particular bowler, it’s only a matter of timebefore he gets you out.” After all, that’s how Glenn McGrath has operatedfor more than a decade.One of the few saving graces was the batting of Sourav Ganguly and IrfanPathan. Ganguly’s first-innings 83 was all about sheer bloodymindednessand experience. He had his uncomfortable moments, being hit on the helmetand then dropped at gully, but more than a decade of experience allowedhim to keep going. He was getting into line, and he played some superbstrokes through the off side, even when Jacques Rudolph tried to choke offthe runs by having seven men there.And he wasn’t playing some kids either. Morne Morkel will take the newball for South Africa, sooner rather than later, and Alfonso Thomas ispart of that dying breed, a medium-fast swing bowler who’s tremendouslyaccurate. Nantie Hayward had his moments too, while Friedel de Wet gavenothing away. “Sourav played very well,” said Chappell later. “His feetwere moving well, and he showed the discipline that is required to makeruns. His example inspired Irfan.”Pathan carried on the good work in the second innings as well, even as therest folded for next to nothing, but his first-innings century wasrelegated to the shadows by Ganguly’s return. Right from the firsthandshake with Chappell at the nets after Ganguly’s arrival inPotchefstroom, the TV crews and others have tried to magnify every singlegesture made by both men, often arriving at ludicrous conclusions.On the morning after his 83, Ganguly arrived at the nets wanting topractise the cut shot. Chappell sent down about 20 balls, and the littleepisode was caught on camera by the ESPN crew, there to interview thecoach in the build-up to the Test series. The others went into a tizzywhen they realised that ESPN had such footage, and it was hard to believethat so much was made of something as innocuous as a coach givingthrow-downs to one of his players. Both men are professionals, with nearly200 Test matches between them, and neither has anything to gain bysabotaging the other in these desperately lean times for Indian cricket.If there was a negative, it was the manner of Ganguly’s dismissal in thesecond innings. Having ducked under one bouncer, he got himself into areal tangle against another short-pitched ball, looping up the simplest ofcatches off the right glove. The South African bowlers, who will no doubthave watched it, will certainly have made a mental note to bowl fast andstraight, with the ball pitched short of a length. Such a scenario willforce Ganguly to play either the hook or the pull to make runs, or waitfor the odd ball pitched on a driving length.In that regard, Pathan’s batting had only complicated selection matters.He’s clearly not intimidated by short-pitched fast bowling, and theassurance with which he got into line will tempt the team management toexplore the idea of fitting him somewhere in the batting line-up. For themoment, he can’t hold down a place on the strength of his bowling, butwith the likes of Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag so short on runs andconfidence, it’ll be interesting to see what decision they make.Even with Munaf Patel looking increasingly unlikely to play inJohannesburg, there are few such worries about the bowling. Sreesanthbowled good outswing at lively pace, while Zaheer Khan was simplyoutstanding. The delivery that nipped back sharply to castle Jean PaulDuminy in the second inning was perhaps the best of the match, but to anextent, even he was eclipsed by VRV Singh, the wild-card pick who haddivided opinion when he was called up for the Tests.For as long as most of us can remember, Indians have been at the receivingend when it comes to raw pace. Now, they have someone who can dish it out.Chappell, who had been anxious to have him in the touring party, came intothe press box on Saturday afternoon and spoke of how excited some of theseniors had been. “Sachin said at lunch time [on Friday] that he hadreally enjoyed watching from slip, and that he felt VRV had touched aroundthe 145kmph mark,” said Chappell. “They were standing so far back atslip.”Cyril Mitchley, the former umpire who was match referee for the game, alsospoke of how impressed he had been with the bowling from both sides.”There wasn’t much wrong with the pitch at all,” he told Cricinfo. “Butthe overhead conditions helped swing, and most batsmen are no longer usedto playing high-quality swing bowling at pace.”With Anil Kumble certain to slot in for the Test, India certainly appearto have the bowling resources to stretch a South African line-up that werehorribly exposed by the likes of Stuart Clark not so long ago. Whetherthey have batting to put runs on the board is another matter. RahulDravid’s return will undoubtedly help, as will an innings of substancefrom Sachin Tendulkar. Chappell and others feel that Tendulkar’s problemsare more in the mind than anything else, and if he can get his headspaceright, who knows what’s possible. As Lara, McGrath and Warne have shownrecently, writing off the old-stagers is an exercise fraught with danger.