The Hindu : Athleticism holds sway

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 01, 2002

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Athleticism holds sway

By Our Special Correspondent

London June 30. A genuine and pure batsman's quality in association with an all-rounder's dare and dash proved its worth and had a big say in the NatWest Trophy III series first match at Lord's that was robustly fought till the very end between England and India, leaving seven balls rendered useless in the end.

There were 22 men, not the flannelled fools of the George Bernard Shaw variety, who showed the responsibilities of playing for their nation in colourful outfits of blue hues. Many among the 22 can be called athletes, that's the newest term doing the rounds in the cricketing circuit.

England's captain Naasser Hussain and Kumara Sangakkara appeared very much like a gymnast and an athlete at Trent Bridge on Thursday. They held great catches. That's the way the NatWest Best Catches catalogue got off to a wonderful start. Graham Thrope and Ronnie Irani also got into the picture.

On the first big Saturday at Lord's it was the turn of Marcus Trescothik and James Kirtley to come into the lime light. With their out of this world catches taken to remove from the scene the Indian opening pair in Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly, it can be said that competition in more than one area of the game, which is a part of the sum, has earnestly begun.

Sehwag could not beat Trescothick in sweeper position on the on side; Ganguly's powerful hit to the on side boundary was converted into a catch by Kirtley, that Thesaurus might not have an apt word for to describe it. Surely, Kirtley, back into the England, after remodelling his action, contributed his bit to the showpiece event at Lord's.

But is not cricket a batsman's game? It was proved once again with Rahul Dravid's classic batting and Yuveraj Singh's equally magnificent effort. The young Punjabi deserved the `Man of the Match award, for his three wickets and unbeaten 64 made in one and a half hours and three minutes and 65 balls. Yuveraj came into bat after Kirtley ran a good length from a position at mid-on deep to his left and extended his left hand as far as possible with the hope that white ball will drop into his palm. It did.

Nearly two years ago Yuveraj had exploded into action against Steve Waughs Australians and made 84. That innings made Ganguly say that after the advent of Sachin Tendulkar, the best thing to have happened to Indian cricket was Yuveraj Singh. Nearly two years later, Yuveraj showed to the world that he has a mature head on young shoulders. The selectors dropped him because he was being very casual.

That was a message enough for him to do it all over again and impress the selectors. Guwahati (against Zimbabwe) saw his recall. Thereafter he went to South Africa with the `A' team. On Saturday, he was in the thick of action for the national team. He can only improve from here on.

The other man who battled it for India was Dravid. After he had gauged the behaviour of the pitch and as he grew in confidence, he was picking gaps, flicking to to the open space at mid-wicket and the two legs at square and long. When the last five began, the senior batsman in Dravid took charge. He had batted for seven minutes short of two gripping hours. The reward was a solid 73 off 86 balls with seven fours. If he did not get the `Man of the Match award, it was because Yuveraj was a bowler who took three important wickets and also because he played very intelligently.

Full marks to both Dravid and Yuveraj. Their crack at England gave India its second win at Lord's in three matches. The previous one took place 19 summers ago in the World Cup final. Then India beat the West Indies.

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