India surrenders meekly

By G. Viswanath

PERTH, JAN. 28. The Indians' surrender at the WACA was pathetic. They even showed utter disregard for the rules which resulted in the injured Jacob Martin being sent back soon after the fall of the second wicket. There was a deathly silence when their top order was dismantled by Pakistan's most famous pace duo in the last decade.

Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis found the rhythm that had made them such a dreaded new ball pair. They were so emphatic in their opening spells that the penultimate match of the Carlton & United Series became a thoroughly one-sided contest. Pakistan won by 104 runs, with Robin Singh scoring a half century.

The Indian batsmen's inability to come to terms with the pitch and the Pakistan new ball attack was in sharp contrast to fightback that prevented Pakistan from posting a formidable score. In the event, Sourav Ganguly's intelligent bowling remained the high point of the day.

The debacle did not imminent when Sachin Tendulkar was striking the ball with the meat of his bat against Younis, who had come into the squad at the expense of Abdur Razzaq, who Akram clarified had a stiff leg and not a pulled muscle. The Indian captain had looked unsure and faltering in the initial stages of the previous six matches. But when the ball was standing up and coming on nicely onto the bat off a hard WACA pitch, he seemed to be happy punching and driving Younis.

But Younis hit back in the over he was driven through the covers twice. The express delivery from Younis that pitched in line with the stumps beat Tendulkar neck and crop, but what cannot be said with conviction was whether he edged the ball to the wicketkeeper Moin Khan. In one way Tendulkar has been an unfortunate victim of doubtful decisions on this tour. Simon Taufel was the umpire who ruled him out. Tendulkar did not show dissent, but looked unhappy with the decision.

``These decisions are to be taken in the stride. It happens in all grades of cricket. I was trying to look for the ball and to pick up my bat which had slipped. I think I was given out caught at the wicket,'' said Tendulkar. His counterpart said, ``I could hear the sound at mid-on. We felt that he had edged it. There was a big edge. These young and new Australian umpires are very good.''

There was no such doubts in the dismissals of Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Akram and Younis were accurate and fast with the ball really carrying to the wicketkeeper, which was not the case when Javagal Srinath bowled. It was Ajit Agarkar who made the ball hurry off the pitch, but then again it appeared that Agarkar was rushed through for this match. Younis might have proved a point or two to his captain that he can still deliver, but it was Akram who gave expression to the nuances of bowling with the new ball.

Akram's seven-over spell cost him only 10 runs. Dravid had to play at a delivery that was slanted at him from over the wicket, pitched around middle and off stumps, took the edge and landed in the gloves of Moin Khan. Then he made V.V.S. Laxman's presence a short one, overpitching one and hitting the batsman on his boot. And when Sameer Dighe steered to Moin Khan, Akram had completed a remarkable opening spell. He and Younis sealed the fate of the Indians for whom Sunday's day match against Australia will be purely of academic interest.

Pakistan's top and middle order which had been floundering for more than two weeks might not have come up with satisfactory performances. There was not a single Pakistan batsman who made a half century. Pakistan profited from the fearless batting by Afridi, who even top edged a hook on to the sightscreen.

Afridi and Saeed Anwar put up the best stand for Pakistan. The fact that the left-hander made 44 off 52 balls and Afridi 41 off 59 balls gave the impression that Akram might have asked them to be a little patient. Even as it appeared that Pakistan would become the second team to put up a 300 plus total, Ganguly appeared on the scene, bowling his medium pace which proved his effectiveness in humid conditions. He was able to achieve lateral movement which rewarded him with three wickets in his immaculate ten over spell.

Inzamam-ul-Haq had made only 62 runs in the previous seven matches. He looked confident and was poised to break free, but his show of aggression did not take the ball beyond Ganguly. The Indian comeback was so strong that it was only a 34-run stand for the seventh wicket between Akram and Mahmood that proved more than useful in the end.

Coach Kapil Dev said he was disappointed with the way Srinath and Agarkar bowled. ``They got carried away and bowled short. Srinath's thinking on this tour has been different. He bowls a good delivery, but gives loose deliveries too. I am very disappointed. We were aware of the rules, but we thought the umpires are the best people to take a decision in the given situation. It does not matter who took the decision to send him (Jacob) Martin back.''

Akram said he had sought a clarification from the umpires with regard to the status of Martin. ``According to the rules, he could come in to bat only at No. 7. But it was the umpires who decided to send him back.''

SCOREBOARD

PAKISTAN 


S. Anwar b Srinath                   44
(52b, 6x4)
S. Afridi c Prasad b Ganguly         41
(59b, 2x4, 1x6)
Ijaz Ahmed (run out)                 13
(12b, 2x4)
I. Haq c Ganguly b Robin Singh       35
(42b, 3x4)
Y. Youhana c Dravid b Ganguly        18
(22b, 1x4)
Moin Khan c Tendulkar b Ganguly      23
(30b, 1x4)
A. Mahmood c Tendulkar b Prasad      24
(37b, 2x4)
W. Akram (not out)                   31
(38b, 1x6)
S. Malik c Srinath b Kumble           5
(12b)
W. Younis (not out)                   3
(4b)
Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-5, w-13)       24
                                    ---
Total (for 8 wkts. in 50 overs)     261
                                    ---

Fall  of wickets: 1-77 (Anwar), 2-96 (Ijaz), 3-133  (Afridi),  4- 
165  (Haq), 5-180 (Youhana), 6-202 (Moin Khan), 7-236  (Mahmood), 
8-254 (Malik).

India   bowling:  Srinath  9-0-42-1,  Agarkar  8-0-60-0,   Prasad 
10-0-51-1,  Kumble  8-1-36-1,  Ganguly  10-1-34-3,  Robin   Singh 
5-0-32- 1.

INDIA

S. Tendulkar c Moin Khan b Younis    17
(14b, 4x4)
S. Ganguly c Moin Khan b Younis       1
(4b)
R. Dravid c Moin Khan b Akram         3
(14b)
V.V.S. Laxman lbw b Akram             1
(14b)
Robin Singh c & b Afridi             51
(106b, 2x4)
S. Dighe c Moin Khan b Akram          2
(13b)
J. Martin (run out)                  39
(71b, 3x4)
A. Agarkar c Akram b Afridi           0
(3b)
A. Kumble c Mahmood b Afridi          7
(14b)
J. Srinath (not out)                  8 

(14b)
V. Prasad (run out)                  14
(17b)
Extras (lb-4, nb-4, w-6)             14
                                    ---
Total (in 46 overs)                 157
                                    ---

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Ganguly), 2-20 (Tendulkar), 3-23  (Dravid), 
4-24 (Laxman), 5-33 (Dighe), 6-119 (Martin), 7-119 (Agarkar),  8-
133 (Robin Singh), 9-133 (Kumble).

Pakistan bowling: Akram 7-4-10-3, Younis 8-0-33-2, Akhtar 5-1-16-
0, Mahmood 6-1-11-0, Malik 10-0-41-0, Afridi 10-0-42-3.

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