Many an error hits Indian performance

Ashish Nehra helped India recover some lost ground on the opening day of the second Test in Harare, but before the left-arm seamer's inspired burst, Sourav Ganguly's men did not really cover themselves with glory.

The mistake keeps getting repeated and it's causing immense harm to Indian cricket. Making middle-order batsmen open the innings is a negative, thoughtless move and is going to fail more often than not.

And in this case, the error was compounded because Hemang Badani was a young batsman making his Test debut. This is a specialist job, where someone cannot be expected to come straightaway and deliver.

The effect failures can have on a budding international batsman psychologically can be immense. One would stick to the view, even in the case of Badani coming good in the second innings. The long-term benefits are more important than short-term gains.

Even if it was an emergency situation caused by Sadagopan Ramesh's fitness problem, a utility batsman like Sameer Dighe could have been pushed right up the order. Badani's presence lower down would have certainly strengthened the line- up.

Likewise, the selection of Ajit Agarkar over Zaheer Khan defied logic. Here was a youngster who bowled manfully in the first Test, playing his part in India's rare away win and look what he got in reward.

Zaheer is a promising bowler who has a lot more to offer and let's hope such shabby treatment does not dent his confidence. The selection of the eleven should never be influenced by factors other than pure merit, certainly not by individual considerations.

Overall it was a disappointing performance by India in conditions where there was bounce and seam movement for the pacemen. Also on view was a visible lack of application.

One would not have to look beyond V.V.S. Laxman's dismissal - his lazy drive only ended in the hands of the third slip - to emphasise the point.

The Hyderabad batsman made a big name for himself against Australia, but this is a stage, when he has to be more consistent, to progress to the next `rarefied' level.

In other words, he has to consolidate on his starts. In Harare, he played a few spanking shots before throwing it all away yet again. The expectations from this talented cricketer are high, and the onus is on Laxman to live up to them.

Skipper Sourav Ganguly stumbled once more, and one is beginning to wonder if his repeated failures with the bat might affect his captaincy at some stage, against a stronger opponent.

Ganguly will be well advised to go after the bowling, try to hit his way out of trouble, especially since as captain, his place is not under a threat.

On the positive side, opener Shiv Sundar Das' technique was exemplary and he does have a bright future. Vice- captain Rahul Dravid, who was refreshingly positive in his approach, showed why he has such a fine record overseas - he is correct in his methods, and his temperament is unflappable. And once again a fighting Harbhajan Singh contributed down the order.

The Zimbabweans fought well on the field, and the setback at Bulawayo did not seem to have affected their morale. Skipper and strike bowler Heath Streak regaining fitness was obviously a factor.

The pacemen operated to an off-stump line, the Indian batsmen fell for the bait, and the Zimbabwean catching, like on most occasions, backed the bowling. As simple as that.

Yet, the Zimbabwean pacemen seem to have some serious fitness problems. In the first Test, we saw Olonga and Streak out of action in the Indian second innings because of injury and here the young Watambwa was unable to continue soon after consuming Badani early on. Coach Carl Rackemann, himself a respected fast bowler, has his job cut out really.

Finally to Nehra's attitude. The youngster was barred from bowling late in the Zimbabwean second innings at Bulawayo for running on to the danger area, and the Delhi cricketer has come back roaring after that setback. This positive approach is exactly what we expect from the `Young Guns.'

K. SRIKKANTH

www.krishsrikkanth.com

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