The bowling will be Ganguly's concern
The Indians after a brief sojourn home are in Sharjah to play in the Coca-Cola Trophy
Woorkheri Raman
19-Oct-2000
The Indians after a brief sojourn home are in Sharjah to play in the
Coca-Cola Trophy. While it was a case of "so near yet so far" at
Nairobi recently when the Kiwis snatched away the ICC Trophy, the
Indians would hope to win the championship at Sharjah. This may well
turn out to be the last one-day tournament for Anshuman Gaekwad as the
coach of the Indian team since the BCCI has decided to appoint a
foreign coach in the near future. As such Gaekwad would want bow out
of the scene on a successful note. Who knows, he may still have the
chance to be with the team in the capacity of an assistant coach.
Sourav Ganguly has had a great time with the bat at Nairobi and for
the sake of the team he has to carry on in the same vein. His partner
Sachin Tendulkar is short of runs by his standards and Sharjah has
seen him play some outstanding knocks. These two have a big impact on
the team not only for their batting but also for their strategic
inputs. Dravid is yet to peak and this will be as good a time as any
for him to play at his best.
It is the bowling department, which will be of concern for Ganguly, as
the bowlers have not performed well enough at crucial times. It is
about time that he showed some confidence in Robin Singh as a bowler.
Any bowler needs to know that he has the confidence of his captain for
him to perform. Robin can bring his experience into play, as he is a
seasoned campaigner. One should remember that Robin is the only allrounder in the side and reducing him to a batsman may prove to be
dicey for him in the long run.
The extra flavour may be lacking in this particular episode at Sharjah
since Pakistan is not participating but Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are
capable of providing some exciting stuff. Sri Lanka, after their
defeat against Pakistan at Nairobi, would be even more determined to
make amends and they have the potential to win the trophy. If current
form is any indication, there is every possibility of Sri Lanka
playing India in the final. Zimbabwe, the other country in the
tournament, is in the re-building process and it is a depleted side
with their star performers having quit the stage. They have to play
out of their skins if they have to qualify for the final. Carl
Rackemann, the former Australian speedster is the coach for Zimbabwe
and it remains to be seen if he can do what Whatmore did for Sri
Lanka.
All the three teams rely on their batting since their attack cannot be
compared to that of either the Australians or South Africans. The
pitch at Sharjah is bound to be batsmen friendly and it may get slower
as the tournament goes into its final stages. Such being the
conditions, one can expect the matches to be tall scoring. There are
some very entertaining batsmen in all the sides with Ganguly,
Tendulkar, Jayasuriya, Gunawardena, and Alistair Campbell along with
Andy Flower making up the top drawer. They have to fire on all
cylinders as they carry the fortunes of their sides on their
shoulders. The bowlers' union would obviously expect that this does
not happen and understandably so.
Coming to the bowlers, Vaas, Zoysa, Zaheer Khan and Heath Streak would
be expected to effect early breakthroughs for their respective sides.
Zaheer Kahan, the MRF Pace Foundation product, should be looking to
learn the ropes rather than try and blast the batsmen with pace. The
first three bowlers mentioned are all left arm seamers, which makes
them awkward customers. Olonga, the unpredictable Zimbabwean medium
pacer, will be interesting to watch as he has bowled some incisive
spells in the past. Like Agarkar, there is no middle path with Olonga
as he either concedes runs or gets quick wickets. Muthiah Muralitharan
and Anil Kumble, the two leading spinners will hog the limelight, as
they are the most successful bowlers playing in this tournament.
Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe have always been known for their high standard
fielding over the years. India, on the other hand has excelled in this
department to everyone's surprise at Nairobi. To sum it up, it will be
an entertaining tournament for the followers of the game and it would
be only fair to expect India to win the tournament if they play in the
same manner as they did in Nairobi. In case they triumph the most
delighted person would be their coach, Anshuman Gaekwad. It is sad in
a way that Gaekwad is in a very strange situation for he took up the
job in not so pleasant circumstances.