Avenues for experiment still open for India
Promoting Yuveraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif in the order, keeping alive the search for an all-rounder by giving Sehwag more bowling, the captain also keeping the options open for turninghis arm over more than he is doing these days - all these are
Partab Ramchand
08-Nov-2002
Is India a better one-day side or a Test side? Going by the
latest ICC tables, one can hardly get a conclusive reply to that
query. The Test rankings have India sixth in the table, while the
ODI ratings have India in fifth place.
Promoting Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif in the order, keeping alive the search for an all-rounder by giving Sehwag more bowling, the captain also keeping the options open for turning his arm over more than he is doing these days - all these are possible experiments. |
The debate about whether India is a better one-day or Test side
may continue, but there is little doubt that with the World Cup a
little over three months away, the emphasis these days is, not
unexpectedly, more on the team's performance in the limited-overs
version. Seven one-day internationals against the West Indies
followed by another similar round in New Zealand is perhaps the
best way to prepare for the big event. The Indians have just two
more Test matches against New Zealand to be played before the
World Cup, and the focus will increasingly be on the one-day
team.
Perhaps then the time is ripe to try out a few experiments
without damaging the basic team structure, and it was good to see
some steps being taken towards this direction in the first match
against the West Indies at Jamshedpur, in the absence of Zaheer
Khan and Sachin Tendulkar. The promotion of Ajit Agarkar to
number three and the inclusion of Jai P Yadav in place of Dinesh
Mongia are to be welcomed. The search for a genuine all-rounder
continues, and if the selectors, backed by the team management,
succeed in finding one before the World Cup, such experiments
have to be carried out. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, goes
the saying, and bold and adventurous steps need to be taken. Such
an approach is bound to pay off in the long term.
At the moment, the best man to fill the all-rounder slot would
seem to be Virender Sehwag. The manner in which he bowled in the
vital tension-packed overs towards the end of the Champions
Trophy semifinal against South Africa marked him out as one to
back for that role. His off-spinners, low in trajectory and slow
through the air, are difficult to hit, much as batsmen found it
hard to play slog-shots against Kris Srikkanth's slow spinners
some 15 years ago. The immense value of Sehwag's bowling was
again proved against the West Indies at Jamshedpur on Wednesday,
and it was only when he erred in giving the ball air that he was
hit.
I still remember the venturesome West Indian batsmen, eager to
get on with their strokes, getting impatient with Bishen Bedi's
ultra-slow spinners at Chepauk in January 1967. There are times
when slow bowling can prove to be a tricky proposition, even one
fraught with danger, especially in limited-overs cricket. Can one
forget Tendulkar, with his deadly spin cocktail, restricting the
South Africans to just three runs in the last over of the Hero
Cup semifinal at Calcutta in 1993, with the visitors requiring
just six to win? Under the circumstances, then, Sehwag should be
encouraged to bowl more than just a few overs, and it was good to
see him get a full quota on Wednesday the only Indian bowler to
send down 10 overs, and deservedly so, one might add.
With the selectors having decided that Rahul Dravid will keep
wickets in the mega-event, the nucleus of the World Cup side is
already in place, and it only remains to try out various
combinations and permutations from among the players already in
the fray. Promoting Yuveraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif in the order,
keeping alive the search for an all-rounder by giving Sehwag more
bowling, the captain also keeping the options open for turning
his arm over more than he is doing these days - all these are
possible experiments.
The issue of Tendulkar coming back to the opening slot may not be
a closed chapter, and this is one more idea that could be given
serious thought, if the team management is so inclined. Also, on
South African pitches, the accent will have to be on pace
bowling, and a decision has to be taken as to whether there will
be place for only one specialist spinner in the final 11. A
decision will also have to be taken about Javagal Srinath, and
whether he will continue to be useful to the squad in South
Africa. It is interesting to note that even with Zaheer absent,
Srinath was not played at Jamshedpur on Wednesday.
Brijesh Patel and his co-selectors, as well as John Wright and
Sourav Ganguly, will have a lot of analysing to do over the next
couple of months. Fortunately, they have enough opportunities to
collect relevant data and reach a consensus on what would be best
for an Indian team that is making a serious challenge to regain
the trophy after 20 years.