The Hindu : A missed opportunity for India

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 08, 2003

Sport

Sport - Cricket

A missed opportunity for India

By Srikkanth

It was an opportunity missed for India. The home side failed to take its chances in the TVS tri-series match in Cuttack on Thursday but full marks to Craig McMillan and Scott Styris for their efforts. It must, however, be said that the Indians failed to apply adequate pressure when they had New Zealand under considerable difficulty at 68 for four.

The Indians allowed the Kiwis to pick singles much too easily, and that really helped the visitors stay afloat. Though there were fielders within the circle at mid-on and mid-off, McMillan and Styris managed to take singles after pushing and driving to those areas.

The Indian bowlers also gave some width on both sides of the wicket and the two Kiwis were able to cut and sweep, when stump-to-stump bowling would have done the trick.

With Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar providing crucial breakthroughs in the beginning of the Kiwi innings, the Indians should have built up pressure. Instead, the New Zealanders progressed without taking undue risks.

The difference between a side like Australia and some of the other teams is that when the Aussies have a side on the mat, they would just pounce on the opponents. In Cuttack, the Indians did let the game drift away from them.

There was a talk about the evening dew making it harder for the bowlers to grip the ball. That should be no excuse since all the Indians needed to do was to stick to the basics.

Now, the Kiwis have given themselves a chance of progressing to the final, and they did show the resolve and the spirit needed to win on a pitch that was more suitable to the home side with the ball keeping low.

The Indians, I felt, did not accelerate enough in the first 30 overs during the afternoon. Mohammed Kaif did play the role of an anchor, but he should have continued till the end of the innings. When a batsman anchoring the innings gets out at the wrong time, it makes things difficult for the rest.

The dismissals of Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh in one over resulted in a period of crisis for the Indians. But, Hemang Badani played a sweet little innings. The left-hander batted with freedom making light of the fact that he was making a comeback.

The New Zealanders kept picking wickets at regular intervals, which meant they were preventing partnerships from developing. This was in sharp contrast to the events later in the day, when the Indians, after dismissing the first four batsmen, had to wait for a considerable period before Styris was dismissed. The contest had firmly swung in New Zealand's favour by then.

The Indians still have a good chance of entering the final, but to do that, they would need to stay positive.

www.kris-srikkanth.com

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