Thursday, Oct 10, 2002
Thursday, Oct 10, 2002 |
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Cricket
By G. Viswanath
Virender Sehwag drives Mervyn Dillon to the fence during his century knock at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday. — Photo: Vivek Bendre
Given the opportunity to open the innings in the traditional format of the game on the tour of England, the dashing batsman has been impatient and on the first day of the Test here made every effort to be his own man. He is one of those rare breed of cricketers who has shown the willingness to adapt and meet the needs of the team. At the sticky cauldron of the Wankhede stadium on Wednesday, Sehwag marked his first appearance against the West Indies in a Test with a typically aggressive effort, exploding into his usual shots in front of the wicket presenting an exciting contrast to the dour methods of his partner Sanjay Bangar. It was his individual brilliance that resulted in a few landmarks being reached on the first day of the three-Test series. Sehwag's style of batting and Bangar's stoical display showed up the West Indies bowling capability. By making his third century, which was also his best in 10 Tests so far, Sewhag has probably done enough to vindicate coach John Wright and captain Sourav Ganguly's determination to pick him as an opener. The two realised that Sehwag was too precious a talent to be languishing in the dressing room and found a way out for him to be fielded in the Test series against England. Sehwag's sparkling knock was instrumental in taking India's first innings to a highly satisfying 278 for two at stumps on the first day and when he actually left the scene, caught superbly down the leg side by Ridley Jacobs off the persevering Mervyn Dillon, he must have been an extremely pleased man having given India a sound start on the first day of the series which began after the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) and the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) presented mementos to West Indies skipper Carl Hooper (for playing his 100th Test) and Sachin Tendulkar (101st Test). A section of the North stand was also named after Tendulkar, diagonally opposite to the East stand, which is named after Sunil Gavaskar. The BCCI President, Jagmohan Dalmiya, and MCA President, Sharad Pawar, made the presentations. Sehwag's 147 was in excess of 50 per cent of India's total, and, more importantly, conveyed the fact that he was willing to apply his mind to a job he was new to. The pitch might have fallen short of international quality, but it was only after gauging the bounce, which progressively kept low after the first hour, that Sehwag began to unleash shots, as he did against seamers Cameroon Cuffy and Pedro Collins and leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo. Tendulkar, who might have been clearly lucky to survive the day, and Rahul Dravid will strive to take India's total to a formidable one and attempt to bat West Indies India out of this Test match. Sewhag gives the impression of being likely to score heavily every time he steps out, and if he is still not there in the middle, the weather must take the blame. Fatigue would have caught up with anyone who had batted for the duration he and Bangar did. He shaped for a glance when Hooper called upon Dillon for his third spell of the day — Dillon had figures of 10-0-18-0 after his first two spells of six and four overs. The resultant deflection was held one-handed by Jacobs diving to his left. This was the second wicket for Dillon and West Indies. Earlier, India's first wicket had fallen at 201 when Bangar flicked straight into the hands of Ramnaresh Narwan at square-leg. Bangar's half century included a stunning straight driven six off left-arm spinner Ryan Hinds. Ganguly must have been happy with the performance of his top four batsmen, especially Sehwag, whom he admires most among the new crop. Sehwag may be a rookie in Test cricket, this being only his 10th Test, but his remarkable centuries at Blomfonetin on debut against South Africa, followed by the one at Nottingham and the latest against the West Indies, all coming within a 12-month period, has proved that he has truly arrived. Earlier, Ganguly won the toss and decided to bat. Rarely have captains chosen to field first at the Wankhede, but Ganguly needed his openers to deliver. And happily for Ganguly, Sehwag batted with flair. Bangar defended stoutly never drifting decisively into the attacking mode. Bangar understood his limitations and the team's needs to forge a big partnership that turned into a record one at the Wankhede. Obviously coach Wright has been working on Sehwag's technique. He looked in brilliant touch when playing his shots. But, he is learning to defend, too. The West Indies bowlers, who were rotated after short spells because of the torrid weather, realised that they were up against a talented batsman. The opportunity at the top has only increased his hunger for runs. The meagre West Indies attack, that will come under further examination from the Indian middle order on Thursday, failed to make any impression on Sehwag and thereafter Dravid and Tendulkar, who when on 18 saw Jacobs struggling to control the ball. Then in the only over bowled by Ramnaresh Sarwan, Tendulkar hit dangerously through the slips. But then he hit some glorious shots, too. So did Dravid. The West Indies bowling attack was so ineffective, barring a fine show by Dillon. Their fielding too was not very sharp, with Cuffy putting down a catch and run-out being missed. The visitors will need a lot of luck to rein in the Indian batsmen in the remaining part of the series.
SCOREBOARD
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