Tuesday, Aug 20, 2002
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Cricket
By G. Viswanath
India's opening batsman Shiv Sunder Das honing his `ducking' skills at the hands of team coach John Wright during nets at Headingley cricket ground in Leeds on Monday. — Photo: N. Sridharan
Shiv Sundar Das is another example of a batsman who has faced ups and down in a career that began at the Bangabhandhu Stadium, Dhaka 22 months ago in what was an inaugural Test match for Bangladesh. His two opening innings in Test cricket were far short of the spectacular to make them memorable, but then Das inched his way up the ladder of international cricket, until the vicissitudes of the game caught up with him recently in the West Indies where he made 124 in eight innings from five Tests. Das' average, which was once an impressive 40+, dropped to under 35 after the Test series in the Caribbean and like all students of the game, who strive for immediate rectification of their shortcomings, Das got to the business of working overtime at his home town Bhubaneshwar and thereafter at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, before boarding a flight to join the Indian team for the Test series here. Three months away from turning 25, Das is attempting to correct a technical flaw, that was first pointed out to him by coach John Wright in the West Indies, at the net session at the Headingley Cricket Ground here on Monday. "My head was not still. It was falling sideways. This led to chasing balls outside the off stump. I have been bowled played-on many times. I could not get down to the business of correcting the mistake because the series was on. But I worked on it after returning home", said Das. Das was one of the three — the others being Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid — who took the optional nets offer and travelled 15 miles from the team hotel to the ground. Das is lucky to have a coach like Wright who feels that the dapper opener has the potential to go a long way. "Can anyone ignore him after that knock. He is in with a `big chance' for the Test match", said Wright, whose association with the Indian team has run parallel to the career of Das, who made a fine 250 against Essex last week. His patience did not wane as he moved from 50 to 100 and from thereon to reach his 250 before being dismissed. In fact Das saw nine partners leave the scene before he decided to throw his wicket away, three runs short of posting the highest individual score by an Indian batsman in England over a period of 70 years. Polly Umirgar had made 252 against Cambridge in 1952. "Well, I was not aware of that record. But I was keen on bettering my own unbeaten 253 that I made against Bengal last January. I was disappointed I did not go past it", said Das. Apart from showing his powers of concentration, Das was driven by a single-minded goal to succeed in the match. In the only match he had played before that, against West Indies `A' at Arundel, he made 29 and a duck. "I was looking forward to this match against Essex. I wanted to make a big score". Das said that he initially felt it difficult to get adjusted (keep his head straight and still) and play shots, "But I got over it. Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Dilip Vengsarkar helped me out during the ten days I spent at the NCA. I also spoke to Sunil Gavaskar in the West Indies". The Orissa captain has before the third Test against Australia at Chennai (in 12000) consulted Gavaskar, who had impressed upon Das the need to concentrate in the first hour so that things could become a little bit easier afterwards. "I think the 84 I scored in the first innings of that Test would be my best, when one takes into account the rival attack and the conditions". He is happy there is healthy competition for the opening slots, but feels that he has never felt pressure affecting him because of the competition. Das has opened with Sadagopan Ramesh, Deep Dasgupta, Wasim Jaffer, M.S.K. Prasad, V.V.S Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sanjay Bangar. Das, who has played 91 first class matches and scored over 6000 runs with 16 centuries and 31 half centuries, has two Test centuries (110 and 105) against Zimbabwe, but a quick reference to his record suggests that he has missed many. "That's what I have to improve upon. I have a lot more to do to prove myself. The first thing is to lift the average back to 40 plus. If I get an opportunity here I will work hard to do my best". Das has been dismissed in the 50s eight times and an equal number of times between the 30s and 40s. He averages 62.22 against Zimbabwe, thanks to 560 runs against them. His second best is against Sri Lanka and thereafter Australia. He had modest success in the home series against England — making 2, 41, 58 and 28. The team's necessity to find a slot for Virender Sehwag and retain Jaffer as the other opener, because he was regarded as better of the two openers in the West Indies, has put Das in a spot. But he has reminded the tour selectors that he is good enough to compete for a place with a elegant double century. In June 2001, he won his first Man of the Match award after making 30 and 82 not out against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo. Das is keen to take fresh guard after missing the Lords and Nottingham Tests. After Gavaskar told him to take a leg stump guard, instead of the middle stump, he scored runs until his poor form in the West Indies. It was because of Gavaskar's recommendation that Das was sent to the Australian Cricket Academy in June 2000. It is for Das to take advantage of all the encouragement he has received and become a `reliable opener' he offered as a first impression.
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