May 26, 2001 01:09 PM
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India’s chances in Zimbabwe
No test victories on foreign soil since 1986. Tigers at home and kittens abroad. Or Apni Gali mein to dog bhi sher hota hai. These are some of the remarks that can be attributed towards the Indian team as regarding test victories abroad. Even Zimbabwe who played their first test match in 1992 managed to win a test series against Pakistan.
The term foreign soil is used loosely as India did barely manage to beat Bangladesh recently in a one-off test match. But the point is we haven’t been able to win outside the sub-continent. In the sub-continent, We have not played Pakistan since 89 so no question of beating them. We have not really beaten Sri Lanka. That does not bother me coz they prepare dead wickets so that they can save their matches or prepare rank bad wickets so that Murali can chuck and win them matches.
And we are not talking of series wins too, we are talking about a solitary test match victory. Name the who’s who of the remaining world, they have all beaten us. In the last decade on foreign soil, we have lost twice to Australia, twice to New Zealand, twice to South Africa, twice to England, twice to West Indies and once to Zimbabwe. The closest we came to victories was when we needed 120 to win against West Indies and Walsh and Ambrose played spoilsport. Apart from that innings, India was on top throughout the match. I can still remember Azhar’s stumps being shattered by a ball from Ambrose which was pitched on the middle of the pitch but in its turf kissing trajectory towards the stumps, it never rose above ankle height. And also in the recent series against in New Zealand when we set a target of 225 for the Kiwis, brought them on their knees by picking up 5 quick wickets and then watched as Chris Cairns and Dion Nash scored the remaining runs. And in the last test in South Africa when we were about to win and play was suspended due to bad light.
And in an anticlimactic twist I proclaim or predict that India will ultimately win one test match out of the 2 on offer against Zimbabwe. They’ll win one surely. Can’t say which one or what will be the series result. But they will win one for sure. Here are a few points why it will happen interspersed by a few points why it may not. But it will.
The coach John Wright is excellent. He is not warm-blooded like Kapil. Instead he is calm, cool and collected. In fact if he were not such a good man and a soft-spoken personality I would have said he was almost sinister and cunning. He does not encourage the players to play with their hearts. He prefers using the head more. He has a few tactics that if you observe closely you’ll see them on the field. Of course when they come off, who gets the credit, Ganguly. With such a Wright man things can’t go much wrong.
The captain, played 6, won 4, lost 1, drawn 1. Seems impressive but all of these matches were in India except that one win in Bangladesh. Of the 4 wins, two are against the Aussies and one each against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The loss is against Australia. Personal form not good at the moment. But I predict he will have a good time in Zimbabwe. He loves the ball to come to the bat and I predict we will see our old Ganguly back, the one who was God on the offside, the one whose mere touch of the bat meant the ball would kiss the ropes. Just hope he can keep his calm and cool and not forget his decency like the last time when he did.
Sachin Tendulkar, Maharashtra Bhushan, Padma bhushan, Arjuna awardee, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the best batsman ever to have played one day cricket. What’s next Bharat Ratna ? If he does get it, I hope I’m mistaken but he will be the first sportsperson ever to win it. This award has eluded Dhyan Chand the Wizard who was to hockey what Pele, Maradona , Ronaldo combined can never be to football. If I’m mistaken in this para anywhere please point out, I will be more than glad to correct it. The going may not be as smooth for him. He will have to play a few dot balls. He will have to slow down. No need to score at more than a run a ball. Beware Travis Friend, he does not like people getting him out more than once. Ask your teammate Olonga. Over all he will be his Sachin-self.
The openers: VVS Laxman will be a de-facto opener coz I predict Das or Ramesh to get out early. Maybe Ramesh. I hope both the openers have a huge score in the series so that they may feel confident but I doubt it.
VVS Laxman, surprise me. It is hard to tell how he will play. He played well in India. But in Australia, he played badly in all 5 innings. He was about to be kicked from the team when he decided to play that wondrous 168.
Dravid will play well and maintain an average of 40 plus in the series. Dighe, I can’t say. Let’s hope he keeps well. That will more than enough.
With Srinath, Agarkar, Mohanty, Nehra and Zaheer we have a good pace attack. But apart from Agarkar and Mohanty all the others have a tendency to ball short. I believe these too should be played in both matches. Srinath will have to lead the way. If he bowls as menacingly as he did in SA a few years ago then we win. But the captain’s preferences may mean that Mohanty and Nehra maybe mere tourists and may not actually play in a test.
It will be fun to watch Harbhajan. He will be swept, reverse swept and swept and reverse swept until he’s wept. Lucky he wears a turban, so no worries when he wants to tear his hair. With the bounce he generates, I hope he will be more than handy for the tail and most of the batsman. But he will have to keep his patience, his calm and his cool against the Flowers, Guy Whittal, Douglas Marillier and Alistair Campbell who will try to upset him and his line and length by unorthodox shots. But no way he will have as easy a time he had against the Aussies. And the other spinner Bahutule, he will roam Zimbabwe and come back. He will play a test match over Harbhajan’s dead body.
This is the test series. In the one-day series were West Indies will join to make it a triangular. India should and must win. The Windies are pathetic and India should play better than Zimbabwe. So I predict India to win after a lot of melodrama. But hey it is an ODI tourney. No body can be certain except the bookies and I ain’t one.
Overall I would advise all indian fans to chill out. Remember after the third day of the second test against Australia when we thought we would lose. What happened on the 4th day, remember. How can you forget? Do not keep any expectations. What has not happened for 15 years may not happen now,( but it will). If it does, feel happy, if it does not stand by your team and before bickering about how horrible our team is, catch a bat, wear some pads and go to Shivaji park and try to score 25 runs, or better still buy a cricket ball and throw it as high as you can (at least 5 floors) and then try to catch it without breaking your fingers. Then try to bowl a ball over 22 yards with one bounce and try not be hit for runs. If you are successful then bicker else __________________. (use your imagination to fill the blanks.)
