Beyond the boundary - Wheels within Wheels (30 May 1999)

30 May 1999

Beyond the boundary - Wheels within Wheels

Shakil Kasem

Much before the rains came India had shot itself in the foot, by getting only a measly 232 on the boards. Even Zimbabwe, raised eyebrows and all that, got 233 against South Africa and looked more than good enough to make a fight of it till the bitter end.

Having been put in by England, India had a fairly decent start, although Ramesh could have been out many times over, before Mullally put him out of misery. By then however, India did manage to put up almost 50 for the opening stand. More importantly, they saw off the new ball operators as well. Dravid and Ganguly carried on from where they had left off, putting on a rollicking 44 run stand, before Ganguly got out to the only way England could have got him out. Ganguly had looked like he was in his elements all along. The stage then should have been set for Sachin Tendulkar to set the fireworks off.

The world was not ready for the anti-climax, but whether anybody liked it or not, that was what everybody got. Dravid went into his shell, perhaps pining from the pangs of separation, but Tendulkar never looked like he was ever going to leave an impact on this match. Much could be said of the dogged English bowling, but it is hard to comprehend why average trundlers like Ealham, Hollioake and Flintoff were able to put the brakes on two of the most free-stroking batsmen in the world today. Quite surely, the dressing room must have been as mystified as the rest of the world-wide audience. The upshot of it all was that India did not get the runs they had wanted, and were left with the unenviable task of defending 232 runs, if they were to contemplate any further vertical mobility at all.

Mohanty brought India back into the match with two quick telling blows. With Stewart and Hick neutralised, India stood to have a chance. Nasser Hussain struggled and toiled to delay the inevitable, but predictably fell to Ganguly. After that, as they say, was la deluge. Both teams had to go off, only to learn that at Chelmsford all hell had broken loose.

One is hard pressed to find one single rational reason why South Africa were playing the way they were. The fact that Zimbabwe did not get 270 plus was a surprise, because that seemed to be the script for the day. South Africa then losing six wickets within the first sixteen overs did, I admit, set my overheated imagination into overdrive. Was it another of Bob Woolmer's innovative ploys of thinking ahead for the Super Six? Was it because of specific instructions received from Nelson Mandela himself? Was it just South Africa purging its collective guilt of the dark and nefarious times? It did not really matter what I thought. There were two more worried men back at Edgbaston, who were left contemplating the rain, not knowing which way the wind was going to blow their World Cup dreams.

Call it Hand of God or uncertainties(?) of cricket, but Azharuddin and Stewart would spend the night thinking whether they might live to tell the tale. Wonder what the reaction might have been had Pakistan or India played the way South Africa did. Just idle curiosity.

Source :: The Daily Star