A remarkable achievement

Crossing the 10,000-run barrier is a truly remarkable achievement but then Sachin Tendulkar is among the rarest of jewels. He is glittering in all his glory now.

The notable aspect of Tendulkar's hundred in the third One-day international in Indore was the manner in which he applied himself on a wicket where the ball did not come on to the bat.

It was Tendulkar's partnership with Laxman, that took the game away from the Aussies, and there was a lot of planning in their approach. They were circumspect against paceman Damien Fleming, the best of the Aussie bowlers, treated McGrath with a certain amount of respect, but really went after the non-regular bowlers.

Martyn, Symonds and Bevan went for more than 90 runs in 10 overs and it is here that the Aussies lost the initiative. Of course, Shane Warne has always been easy meat for the Indians.

A target of 300 was always going to be difficult for the Aussies on a pitch where stroke-making was never easy. They cracked under pressure.

Coming to the Aussie strategy or the lack of it, it was hard to understand this `Rotation Policy.' One personally thinks this is a `load of rubbish.' Key players can be left out against weak opposition when a series has been won or a place in the final booked - like against Windies and Zimbabwe in the Carlton & United Series - but not when the score-line is 1-1 in a five- match contest.

Leaving out the prolific Matthew Hayden was ridiculous, especially when batsmen like Ponting and Martyn are woefully out of form - the in-form Mark Waugh too missed the match with an injury.

Planning for the 2003 World Cup may not be a bad idea, but certainly not at the cost of an important ongoing series. The present has to be good for the future to be bright. The Aussie think-tank has been caught napping, and the hollowness of the `Rotation' concept exposed. Actually, the visitors must be quite rattled now, after the meek surrender in Indore.

Coming back to Indian batting, asking Rahul Dravid to open the innings was baffling, even if the idea was to enable the out-of- touch Ganguly to rediscover form.

Dravid has been making runs at the No 4. slot, and it certainly was not a bright idea to send him at the top of the order. If Ganguly was so particular in dropping himself down the order, someone like Vijay Dahiya could have opened.

However, one feels Ganguly must hit his way back to form; Adam Gilchrist did this with some success in Indore. That would be a brave way to come out of trouble times.

Finally to off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. He put behind the disappointment of Pune to operate superbly in Indore - there was flight, turn, and loop in his bowling. He also mixed them up and the Aussies struggled against the delivery that drifted away from them.

In fact, they had no clue. That Harbhajan reduced them to such a state is creditable indeed. www.krishsrikkanth.com

K. SRIKKANTH

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