Sunday, Oct 13, 2002
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By G. Viswanath
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: The Indian team returns to the pavilion after inflicting a humiliating defeat on the West Indies on the fourth day of the first Test at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. — Photo: Vivek Bendre
It can be said that India dominated the opening Test right through. There was a sense of pleasure and achievement at the way the turn of events took place on the fourth day. With the surface playing at its worst the possibility of India forcing an innings wins for the first time against a side it has been playing for more than 50 years took shape. This is the third time Harbhajan has bowled India to victory with a seven-wicket haul, the previous occasions being the famous back to back wins against Australia at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata and at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Victory was never in doubt the moment Ramnaresh Sarwan was beleaguered by pressure and Carl Hooper decided to give up using the pad as the first line of defence. Crushing the West Indies by a big margin on a pitch that both captains initially conceded as flat and then slowly deteriorated was a big achievement. The combination of Sourav Ganguly and coach John Wright has given India 12 wins, starting with the victory against Bangladesh in Dhaka. India has advanced from no-hopers to playing as a cohesive group. Ganguly was very astute in quickly switching over to a double spin attack immediately after left arm seamer Zaheer Khan was taken for nine runs by Chris Gayle in the second over on Saturday. Ganguly's tactical move yielded quick and great returns. There was a clear hint of the how the pitch was going to behave in the first over bowled by Kumble. It was a fourth day pitch all right, but the West Indies would not have envisaged the surface to become brutal and totally in favour of the fielding side. There was bounce and turn and the way wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel reacted to some of the balls that climbed above shoulder height was a clear pointer that the pitch would demand to the hilt the technical proficiency of the West Indies batsmen. Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul, with a short back lift, could ward off danger. He used the front pad extensively but at no point of time was he able to take charge. He either smothered the spin or went right back to defend. At no point during his two hours and 19 minute stay in the middle did he attempt to meet the ball half way, which was responsible for the dismissal of Sarwan. The right-hander stretched his front foot down the pitch, but the ball was short for he to drive firmly and wide of the cover fielder. It was due to the pressure brought upon by Kumble and he offered a simple catch to Sachin Tendulkar at cover. Earlier Chris Gayle playing a loose shot against the spin provided the first breakthrough. Sanjay Bangar almost collided with Ganguly when the latter was in the process of catching Gayle's skier at midoff. Ganguly took some fine catches. Hooper concentrated for 13 minutes, seemed determined and was willing to play the ball late. But he decided to take on Harbhajan. Though he appeared to be over the ball the turn beat him and there was sufficient wood on the shot to send the ball back to Harbhajan. Kumble dropped a catch after running into Bangar, who was coming in from midoff, to take the catch of Mahendra Nagamootoo off Harbhajan. This was perhaps the only fielding blemish on a day when the West Indies batsmen did not show character to fight back. Hooper did not blame the pitch for his team's defeat. "I think we played poor cricket. We came back to win after we lost the Test at Port of Spain against India. Cricket is a funny game. Anything can happen. We have to organise ourselves in the next three days and try and improve our cricket.'' India's captain praised `Man of the Match' Virender Sehwag for his fine century and also Zaheer Khan's spell on Friday. "His burst on a flat wicket on Friday was the key to our success. His four-wicket spell set it up for us. We have been playing good cricket for the last 10 months. We have to be very consistent. That's very important.''
SCOREBOARD
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