Sport - Cricket

Yohannan grabs the chance

Tinu Yohannan's display was the most heartening aspect of India's win in Bridgetown. For someone playing in his first ODI, he operated in a mature fashion, concentrating on length and direction, and testing the batsmen around the off-stump.

Watching him bowl, it was difficult to believe that Tinu had actually played so little cricket in the Caribbean over the last two months. Far from appearing rusty, Tinu looked full of verve.

The young paceman deserves all credit for it is so easy to get demoralised if one is among the reserves for the major part of a campaign. When the opportunity came, Tinu grabbed it. The lad seems to possess good temperament.

I felt Tinu deserved the Man of the Match award, which eventually went to Dinesh Mongia. It was the bowlers who set up the Indian win, and Tinu was the pick.

Still on Indian bowling, I was impressed with the manner Harbhajan Singh took the challenge to Brian Lara. The Indians were a transformed lot on the field, and the entry of Yuveraj Singh and Kaif certainly raised the level of fielding. This is important, for, the bowlers have to be backed on the field.

And the presence of Virender Sehwag, who can be an useful off-spinner in the ODIs, provided the team with one more option. Rahul Dravid keeping wickets gave the side more depth in batting, but this should, at best, be a short-term move.

The Indians were hardly bothered during the chase and Mongia did strike the ball well, maintaining his good form in the ODIs. Like Tinu, he hadn't played much cricket on the tour, yet found his timing quickly.

However, I would have preferred Sachin Tendulkar to have walked out with Sourav Ganguly, rather than Sehwag. www.krishsrikkanth.com

By K.SRIKKANTH

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