Sport

The action now shifts to Guwahati

— PHOTO: AFP

STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE: The way Doug Bollinger (above) and Clinton McKay have slipped into the shoes of Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson is a reflection of the bench strength that the Aussies possess.

Guwahati: Gifting hope is a tough task. However, Sachin Tendulkar has repeatedly done that over a two-decade career. Tendulkar’s 175 at Hyderabad on Thursday night fitted in snugly into his role of being a dispenser of smiles.

Sadly, in the true tradition of great love stories that have a strong under-current of tragedy, Tendulkar’s colossal effort that made Indians swoon was not enough as Australia took a 3-2 lead in the Hero Honda Cup One-Day International series.

There is only so much that Tendulkar can do. And once the fifth ODI of the seven-match series concluded at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, more questions remain about the Indian team’s ability to regain its composure against an Australian squad that has visibly tided over the absence of injured players.

It must be remembered that Ricky Ponting’s men arrived in India without three key players — Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken and Brad Haddin stayed back home with injuries. To make it worse, Brett Lee, Tim Paine, James Hopes, Peter Siddle and Moises Henriques advanced their return tickets after suffering niggles that did not heal.

Recently, at a press conference, Australian coach Tim Nielsen was asked if Australia had 11 fit players for the match. Nielsen replied: “Oh yeah, we do, I mean yes we have 11, no, wait a minute, 12, 13…yes…we do have 14 players.”

Contrast this with the Indian team that has missed just one key player in Zaheer Khan. Add to it the familiar environs of home and yet the results in the current series have proved contrary.

India found its brief momentum through the individual efforts of M.S. Dhoni’s 124 at Nagpur and Yuvraj Singh’s 78 at Delhi while Tendulkar’s 45th ODI hundred nearly pulled the rug from beneath Ponting’s feet. There is a lesson there as it’s collective effort that adds value to individual brilliance.

The bowling, meanwhile, has struggled for consistency and the fielding has had its moments — though, in crunch situations like at Hyderabad, errors crept in. The next two ODIs at Guwahati and Mumbai on Sunday and Wednesday offer a chance for redemption and a come-from-behind series victory against the top-ranked team will help the team gain confidence.

Ponting had earlier spoken about this series being part of his squad’s learning curve for the World Cup in India during 2011. The injuries to his players have, in a way, helped Ponting assess his bench strength and with Doug Bollinger and Clinton McKay slipping into the shoes of Lee and an out-of-form Mitchell Johnson, the skipper and the selectors have a wider pool of players to monitor.

Many years ago, at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, wicketkeeping legend Rodney Marsh was asked about the perception of the Australian cricketer who plays tough and suffers the nickname ‘Ugly Aussie’. Marsh retorted: “Sticks and stones hurt, names don’t.”

Marsh had then emphasised that the competitive nature of the Australian first-class structure breeds a tough-as-nails cricketer who is always ready for the higher level.

In the 1986-87 season Allan Border’s team toured India and unearthed strong players like David Boon, Geoff Marsh, Dean Jones and Craig McDermott, and subsequently returned to win the Reliance World Cup. Ponting will be hoping that his current team emulates that.

The Indians, meanwhile, have the ability though consistency has remained elusive. Dhoni has often stressed on the need for patience while dealing with his relatively young team but, in the run-up to the 2011 World Cup, his men have to fuse into a wholesome performing unit and, hopefully, Tendulkar will accede to the requests of greats like Sunil Gavaskar to keep on playing.

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