Opening day's play called off

By G. Viswanath

DURBAN, OCT. 29. The Indians' determination to make an earnest preparation for the Test series commencing next Saturday at Bloemfontein went a bit awry on the first day of the week because of a wet outfield at the Chatsworth Oval. The first day of their match against the SA President's XI was called off after the inspection at noon by the umpires.

In fact the Indians did not have to take a bus ride to the Indian community township to play their first first class match of the tour. The first doubts of an unlikely start to the three-day match was followed by the sound of rain drops on the tent at a party hosted by the India's Counsel General at his residence on Sunday evening.

The team made up for the seven-hour loss of play - they had committed to play 104 overs - by visiting the Kingsmead for some work out specially designed to keep the body warm, and batting and bowling sessions. According to the team manager Dr. Mahendra Bhargava, who along with coach John Wright travelled to Chatsworth to make an on the spot examination of the conditions, returned with a news that was far from encouraging. He also passed on the tour committee's request to shift the remaining two days' play to Kingsmead.

``The pitch has been protected. But the outfield is very soggy. The facilities there are not good enough. They don't have enough manpower to remove water and expedite the drying process,'' said Dr. Bhargava. The team management has been assured by the Natal Cricket officials and the Chatsworth authorities that the ground would be in good condition for play to start on Tuesday. ``It has not rained today and the good thing is that there has been some sun shine, too. So let's hope we have a match from Tuesday,'' said Dr. Bhargava.

Important match for visitors

The three-day match was important for the Indians in many ways, especially for the four players who joined the team late last week. The two left-arm seamers Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra have not been involved in a match of competitive nature for a month and more. So they would have been looking forward to form their own opinion on the nature of the pitch and also test their skills, bowling at some good batsmen like Adam Bacher, Jacques Rudolph and Loots Bosman.

The tour selectors would also have been happy to see openers Shiv Sundar Das and Connor Williams get used to each and other settle down quickly. Apparently Wright, who had a first look at left- hander Williams on Sunday at the Kingsmead nets, seems to be pleased with Williams' ability to judge the length and get behind the ball. This is a big tour for Williams who has been selected for the tour as a replacement for the back afflicted Sadagopan Ramesh. Williams earned a place because of his experience in first class cricket in India and also because of his fine batting display in the Irani Cup match in Nagpur.

Even the Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly realised that the first three-day match was significant from the point of view of preparing for the first Test. Late on Sunday night he decided to play the three-day match, a decision that evoked an immediate regret from John Wright at the Indian diplomat's reception to the Indian team.

Wright was the one who announced the playing eleven to the media on Sunday morning at the Kingsmead. The team manager, Dr. Bhargava, too confirmed that Anil Kumble would lead the team. But the man who was named as captain by Wright was not even in the know of the developments. ``I will be playing. I might not play the four-day game at East London (between the first and second Tests),'' said Ganguly who will come in for Deep Dasgupta in the eleven.

Indians shown in poor light

The `faux pas' like happening has put another aspect of Indian cricket in poor light. This is with regard to the selection of the team for the Test series. The Indian captain has given sufficient hints of what he thinks of Dasgupta, whose selection for the tri-series itself caused a surprise. How the selectors and the captain work at cross purposes revealed itself when the five selectors retained him for the Test series two days before the final and on the day when Rahul Dravid kept wicket for India in the last league match against Kenya. Coach Wright has said several times that those connected directly to Indian cricket must work in one direction. That's simply not happening. Dasgupta is bound to be a passenger now for the remaining part of the tour, unless Sameer Dighe's showing falls short of the mark and expectations.

The next one month in which three Tests and a four-day game will be played against the South Africa `A' team at East London will determine the fate of quite a handful of experienced players. Reputation have taken a hard knock after India's failure to win the final against South Africa last Friday, but there are many who feel that the process of building a team will necessarily find obstacles on its way.

Coach Wright thinks it will be good should India wins the first Test. He may not see much the loss of the first seven hours of play in the three-day match as a setback. He has reiterated a point that the Indian batsmen would have got used to the conditions having spent over 40 days before the first Test.

It will not be long before the Indian think tank starts applying its mind on the composition of the team for the first Test. The fact that there are seven specialist bowlers in the side - Srinath, Prasad, Agarkar, Khan and Nehra and Kumble and Harbhajan - will make it a real task for Ganguly and Wright. Should they opt for five bowlers with two spinners, then they will have to once again knock at the door of the team's vice- captain Rahul Dravid and ask him to open the innings.

The news in the grapevine is that even Allan Donald believes that nothing can change the character of the Goodyear Park pitch in Bloemfontein. According to experts it has been slow, which obviously should encourage the Indians to play both Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in the first Test.

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