The Hindu : Indians have to bowl bouncers effectively

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 16, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Indians have to bowl bouncers effectively

By Anil Kumble

The Samsung Cup got off to a dream start with Pakistan coming within a stroke of creating history. After watching the last match one wonders what the ideal score would be in a one-day international on a flat deck. Are 350 runs enough? Well, going by the recent matches, anything below 280 will be a stroll for the chasing team.

It is important that our bowlers come hard at the Pakistani batsmen early on as it will set the tone for the rest of their innings. Some subtle changes in bowling by varying the pace and using different bowlers in the middle overs will probably help our cause.

I thought our bowlers bowled in the right areas, especially at the start of the Pakistan innings. Understandably, Zaheer bowled within himself but I am confident that after this work-out he will have the confidence to go all out in the remaining matches.

One aspect Sourav would be stressing to the fast bowlers when they sit down to plan their strategy is to bowl the bouncers effectively while the rival skipper would advise his bowlers to restrain from using the short ball.

The other area of concern is in the middle overs. The twin blows delivered by Kartik proved crucial and I hope he rides on this confidence. The Pakistan batsmen use their feet well against the spinners.

As the margin of error on these flat decks is minimal, the challenge would be to keep these batsmen glued to their crease as long as possible.

For the first time, I was witness to empty roads during an India-Pakistan match and the celebrations that followed the Indian victory. The media reports and the attention the Indian team receives during a tour are enormous.

And the main thing John Wright kept reiterating on our tour of Australia was to keep these two factors out of mind and focus on the task at hand. This, in fact, would be his advice when the team gets together for the next game.

In a high-voltage series such as this, the onus will be on the players to recover quickly, both physically and mentally, after a gruelling game.

Credit should go to the Indian physio, Andrew Leipus, and trainer, Greg King, as ice baths are mandatory between innings and at the end of the match. It is with huge reluctance that the players approach the tub filled with ice, but at the end of two minutes they feel refreshed.

The Pakistan batsmen must be complimented for the way they controlled the run chase; their skipper Inzamam played one of the best one-day knocks I have witnessed. The partnerships Inzy had with Youhana and Younis Khan kept the Pakistan team in the hunt.

They were probably the favourites to win before Mohammad Kaif brought off a great catch to dismiss Shoaib Malik. Ashish Nehra then held his nerves in the final over.

Though India has the psychological advantage, the one-day series could go right down to the wire.

Pakistan will rue the early chances given to Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar as well as the number of extras given through no-balls and wides.

The good start by Sehwag and Tendulkar was crucial; Sehwag is a rare talent and his approach to the game is simple: He can only see a boundary written all over when the ball leaves a bowler's hand. He is definitely not the kind I would like to bowl to even in the nets while trying to find my rhythm before a game.

The momentum was never lost after the splendid start. It was disappointing, though, to see Rahul Dravid miss a deserving century by a whisker.

The ability of our batsmen to hit boundaries at will is something unmatched by other teams, but what was more pleasing was the way we ran between the wickets. The partnerships helped India post an impressive 349 but one feels we could have scored a few more given the kind of start we had.

Pat for Warne

In another contest in the sub-continent, two spinners are vying to occupy the No. 1 slot in Test cricket. My hearty congratulations to a fellow leggie, Shane Warne, on reaching the magical 500-wicket mark in a fashion befitting a champion. What a statement he made in his comeback game! — PTI

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