A view from the Gully (17 May 1999)

17 May 1999

A view from the Gully

Tawfiq Aziz Khan

A disenchanted Indian supporter sneaked on to the ground at Hove and approached skipper Azharuddin and Dravid threateningly after India's defeat against South Africa. This is highly condemnable and one wonders how could the ruffian get past the policemen on duty.

But much as I protest this incident, I seriously think of the future of this Indian team when they return home at the end of the tournament. The hype and the euphoria that have been created by multi-nationals and big businesses across India, which is being displayed on the television round-the-clock give a definite feeling that the Cup belongs to India and the rest are there to provide company.

Well, every participating nation has a right to boost interest of the people in the competition in their own way. But the participation of the players in the commercials has rocketed their images in the public minds as demi gods that can not fail. In such a situation the players are captive in their own cage and have to perform under tremendous pressure unlike their opponents. They have not only modelled for products but have acted also in an attempt to boost the sales as well as lift their own images.

Azharuddin should have realised that India were facing an opponent who had very few to boast about but everybody to be confident of. The South Africans, billed as the favourites for winning the trophy outwitted their opponents right from the start. The turning point came early in the innings when Pollock passed through the defences of the master batsman Tendulker. He shut himself up immediately and went about his business slowly. Ganguly, who normally takes time to score, was also slow. Between these too they accounted for a lot of dot balls. Azhar should have showed some imagination when Dravid got out. Instead of coming on himself Jadeja or Robin Singh should have been preferred. The Indian total was the result of South Africa's strategy of containment when they found that wickets were hard to get.

The early successes of Srinath and Kumble kindled hopes in the Indian hearts and though wickets fell at regular intervals the Proteas were always ahead of the Indian score and the required run rate never went out of their grip. There were too many experiments with bowling as Srinath lost his way after only four overs. Rhodes and Klusner were no rabbits and relished the long hops of Agarkar. To ask him to bowl at that stage of the game was to invite him to commit suicide. While India could manage only 63 runs from their last ten overs the South Africans hammered 26 runs from only nine deliveries. The fine efforts of Ganguly and Kallis ended sadly as both tried for the runs which were not there; but they had enough deliveries left to get those seven runs between them.

Hansie Cronje may not be as experienced as his counterpart, but he is more composed and intelligent and leads a team that has more players than 'stars'.

Source :: The Daily Star