Dusk is on but dawn is beckoning

By Vijay Lokapally

NAIROBI, OCT. 16. ``Do not disturb.'' The sickening signs were back on the rooms of the Indian cricketers. Obviously the players need time to recover from the despondent evening at Nairobi Gymkhana when Chris Cairns destroyed their dreams with a clinical performance.

The skipper Sourav Ganguly was in grief, and understandably too. It was one great chance lost to showcase his leadership qualities; the spring in Yuveraj Singh's gait was missing; Sachin Tendulkar was sulking; Zaheer Khan was down. Generally the team was in mourning.

The reasons for the defeat were many. When pressed for his reaction, coach Anshuman Gaekwad snapped ``we played rubbish cricket.''

Ganguly had described the batting as ``stupid'' and now the coach confessed it was ``rubbish'' through the ranks. Timeless messages went out as New Zealand clawed its way back into the game from a precarious 132 for five but the Indians commited one mistake after another until proved fatal.

Who was at fault? Ganguly, for some of his inexplicable moves; the seniors for faltering at various stages; the team management for not realising the need to make a change in the batting order after considering the pitch and the situation when Tendulkar got out.

Gaekwad explained ``it is easy to say now but when Rahul walked out none would have imagined what was in store. He had done well in the previous match and we had two senior players in the middle.''

`Blame it on bad batting'

The Indian skipper emphasised the fault lay in the poor batting in the last ten overs. But what of the period from 27th the 40th over. The tempo was lost during the second wicket stand and even Gaekwad admitted.

``I agree we became overcautious needlessly. We had slowed down considerably'' he said. Knowing the batting depth, the Indians made little attempt to force the pace.

On his part, the coach sent messages. ``I asked them to accelerate. I sent message for Rahul to go after the bowling because it was important for Sourav to stay till the last, if possible. Sourav has this ability to force the pace and I was keen he batted till the end. But could you do or say if batsmen like Sourav and Rahul couldn't maintain the tempo. If not them, we were looking at the lower-half to deliver and that was not easy,'' Gaekwad pointed out.

Interestingly, none was prepared to take the step of pushing Vinod Kambli, Robin Singh or Yuveraj Singh in the order in place of Dravid, who will have to learn to innovate. He has the ability to push the rate and needs to adapt quickly for the sake of his team.

The coach did not spare the opening pair. ``They also slowed down at one point for no reason. I know they were averaging well but they missed out on lot of singles'' he said. Well, Tendulkar and Ganguly have hardly had a good understanding of running between the wickets since they both believe in scoring mainly through boundaries, at times rightly too in the first 15 overs.

The Indians made far too many mistakes on the field. ``Some basic mistakes'' bemoaned Gaekwad. There were too many singles conceded inside the circle, for, the swift fielders patrolled the boundary. Wrong bowlers were pressed into action against someone like Cairns, who likes to play on the rise.

Biggest blunder

The skipper erred in assessing the situation at various points. The biggest blunder lay in underbowling Venkatesh Prasad, the pick of the Indian bowlers. The Karnataka seamer bowled his heart out and gave the Indians a fine start as he packed off Craig Spearman and Stephen Fleming. But Prasad, shockingly, ended up bowling three overs short. The best bowler was given seven overs, the same as Zaheer, who was erratic in both his spells, and most critically Prasad, a favourite of Ganguly, remained off the line when Cairns and Harris had begun to peak.

``It was a mistake'' said Gaekwad. When the Indians ought to have choked the Kiwis at 132 for five, they concentrated on containing them by using Tendulkar and Yuveraj, neither a wicket-taking bowler by any yardstick. One would have expected Ganguly to accept the defeat graciously than publicly denounce his lower- order batsmen as ``stupid''. What of the top order then?

And pray what wrong has Robin done to be again denied chances. If Ganguly is not prepared to accept Robin as a bowler and a batsman of calibre to plug the loopholes higher in the order, why have him in the squad then. This Tamil Nadu cricketer could have been ideally used at number three or four against the Kiwis because he is a positive and thinking cricketer. In this tournament, Robin's prowess and experience has hardly been used by a captain who appears stuck with some of his pet theories.

``The captain has to use him'' was all Gaekwad would say on the poor utilisation of Robin for quite some time now.

Ganguly made a significant statement at the press conference. ``I have to keep the team together. That's what we lacked in the previous years. We all want to win and that's the reason we are together.'' He is making all efforts to get the boys together, give the team a new, winning look but then things will take time to fall in places.

Need to nurture youngsters

It is important this team is backed, with a few changes if necessary. The youngsters have shown they are ready for the big stage and care needs to be taken in the case of Yuveraj especially. Too much hype can give false hopes to anyone and this Punjab cricketer, as Ganguly said the other day, will have to be protected and groomed to be a balanced cricketer with his feet on the ground. He has class no doubt but will have to now begin to focus on his game, what with a long queue of commercial agents already beckoning him. Bishan Singh Bedi can certainly help Yuveraj remain focussed on his cricket.

Back to the tournament, the Indians had performed beyond expectations in beating Australia and South Africa. Yes, a victory in the final would have meant a lot to a much-harassed bunch of cricketers and the youngsters would have had a memorable platform to launch their career from. But Ganguly and company would do well to remember there are far too many areas still to be plugged and this tournament has raised hopes of a good future for this team.

Gaekwad summed it up ``we won two good matches but then we did not finish the job in the final. We played outstanding cricket in beating Australia and South Africa but gave it on a platter to New Zealand. We played rubbish cricket on Sunday.''

The transition period has begun well. The replacements have delivered and some are in waiting. Clouds of suspicion appear to have cleared and people might gradually regain their faith in the game. This Indian team is not the best in the world but it has a desire to be one. ``We need your support'' says Ganguly passionately.

Ganguly is understood to have promised more involvement for the bench strength in the forthcoming tournament in Sharjah with a greater role to play for Robin, maybe a few overs more and a batting slot at four or five.

The Indians fly home tonight for a day to spend with their families before assembling in Mumbai on October 18. Are you ready for Sharjah, someone asked Ganguly. ``Yes. I have not been home for eight months but I am ready for Sharjah'' he quipped with a smile.

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