The Hindu : Yuvraj and Dravid prop up India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 27, 2003

Sport

Sport - World Cup

Yuvraj and Dravid prop up India

By Vijay Lokapally

GOTCHA! : An animated Andrew Flintoff of England signals the end of India's master batsman Sachin Tendulkar, after the latter had scored an aggressive half-century, in their crucial Group A encounter at Durban on Wednesday. — Photo: V.V. Krishnan

DURBAN FEB 26. India's batting display, regardless of the recovery mounted by the lower half, was a testimony to the fact that the learning process is not yet over. Gifting wickets away, scampering for ones and twos after having set a furious pace, and messing up a brilliant start was in keeping with India's character to invite trouble.

With the exception of Sachin Tendulkar, of course, and to some extent Rahul Dravid, the two batsmen to record half centuries for India.

The Indians, in making a competitive 250 for nine, just refused to shed their generosity of allowing the opposition to come back into the game. It was so very apparent that all the prolonged meetings they have been having to set up batting targets have failed to make much difference.

It was so unprofessional today as India wasted a racy start, followed a pedestrian fashion, and then rose to wind up in a brilliant finish with Dravid showing his temperament and aggressive instincts at the opportune stage.

There were two aspects to the Indian innings. A poetry by Tendulkar which was left unfinished and then an insipid phase which saw the skipper, Sourav Ganguly play an appalling shot, before Dravid and Yuvraj Singh batted sensibly to arrest the English intrusion. There was an effort by Dinesh Mongia too but it was out of place.

He looked unfit to take charge and it was only the innovative batting by Yuvraj and the determination of Dravid that gave India a decent chance of stifling the English ambitions. An imperious Sachin Tendulkar propelled India's hopes of qualifying for the Super Six with a vintage innings.

It was an innings which set the Tricolour fluttering at the Kingsmead, silencing the Barmy Army that descended in hundreds to support the English.

The Indian fans outnumbered them and thanks to Tendulkar's sensational strokeplay, were treated to some quality batting before the English hit back in a typical manner. The innings ended in a heap as India lost four wickets in the final over of the innings, none, of course, to any merit in the bowling.

Electing to bat was the best way to approach the task of dominating an opposition which backed itself primarily because of the nature of the pitch and the conditions. With the ball coming on nicely, it was natural for Tendulkar to launch a strike which clearly demonstrated that he was enjoying every bit of his batting.

The fact that Tendulkar gave himself the freedom to indulge in some strokeplay spoke for the man's desire to produce a significant innings in keeping with his own expectations. Tendulkar had set himself a target, to put Andrew Caddick in his place, and he did it in style, playing some grand shots. t was a relief to watch Tendulkar in such an aggressive mood. He had taken too much of a burden on his shoulders by agreeing to all kinds of innovations in the batting order but he was now comfortable, coming in at a slot which was his domain. And he did not lose time in making a point or two.

Tendulkar stuck initially to clipping the ball and nudging it behind square. It was an early sign that he was mentally gearing up. A thunderous act, pulling Caddick out of the park, was a stroke that took the breath away.

He was so impeccably into the position to smack the ball hard and high. Tendulkar's footwork was the hallmark of his batsmanship this day as he once stepped out to Caddick, controlled his shot and still sent it searing to the fence. This was the Tendulkar one had craved for and here was the master in one of his most punishing moods.

Caddick and Jimmy Anderson were clobbered by the Indian openers after a cautious start. It was a plan well executed with Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag biding time, judging the pace of the pitch and then wading into the attack to leave it in tatters. The English bowling, in any case, was over-rated even conceding the pitch was expected to help their style.

A few edges in the beginning may have raised the English hopes of an early breakthrough but Sehwag was quick to adapt. He had vowed not to play bad shots and he learnt from watching the master at the other end. Tendulkar was playing the waiting game to perfection, digging himself in and not allowing a few loose deliveries to sway him into making a false move.

Sehwag took a while to open out and came up with three gloriously-struck boundaries before indiscretion got the better of him. He can get impulsive in choosing the shots to play and here too he failed to temper his desire to get into the act of savaging the bowler. Having showed Jimmy Anderson the fury of his bat he tried taking on Andrew Flintoff quite early and only ended up tamely knocking the ball back.It was just the way you would expect Sehwag to get out.

Caddick was on target, bowling with the wind and seaming the ball early enough to create apprehensions in the mind of the batsmen. Was it the right pitch to play shots on? It took the class of Tendulkar to put India on course with one of its best starts in recent times in the first 15 overs. And then it all disintegrated in a manner so familiar to the Indian team.

After Sehwag gifted his wicket to a loose ball, Tendulkar too failed to keep his shot down and presented the fielder at point with a prize offering. The drinks break had lasted a trifle long to break his concentration. It was obviously a big blow to the Indian plans but then Tendulkar had done a wonderful job as long as he lasted in the middle.

It was in team's interest that Ganguly guided the middle order but he chose to leave the stage to the others. Mongia just about cemented his place for the next match with a patchy effort while Dravid, often picking the fielders, hung on to prevent a collapse. By his standards, Dravid too was inconvincing, unable to force the pace when it mattered but he did extremely well, making amends in the final stages of the innings, picking invaluable runs.

His was an innings which ultimately counted a lot in terms of motivating the side to take the opposition on. But for Dravid's knock, India may have found itself in an embarrassing situation, especially shoddy after the kind of start that Tendulkar and Sehwag provided.

The dashing Yuvraj produced the ideal innings, throwing his bat at everything, connecting a few and missing many, but runs came. It did not matter of Yuvraj looked ungainly as he flat-batted a few good deliveries, much to the frustration of Nasser Hussain who could not set a field to check the mishits. Yuvraj may have given enough hints in this innings to suggest a promotion ahead of even Mongia in the batting order. His was a selfless performance, aimed at plundering runs through all possible ways.

Dravid warmed up late in the innings. An on-driven six off Anderson was a stroke, which ought to have emanated earlier from him, but a few boundaries pushed the score and gave the Indians a psychological edge. Having set a target of 250-plus was an encouraging start for the bowlers to hunt for a victory.

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