The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : India Seniors in a spot of bother

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 30, 2004

Sport

Sport - Cricket

India Seniors in a spot of bother

By K.C. Vijaya Kumar

CAPTAIN'S KNOCK: Skipper Sourav Ganguly, who top-scored for India Seniors, pulls S.S. Paul. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

BANGALORE, SEPT. 29. A batting order that spelt "Nation's pride, rivals' envy" in the not-so-distant past is now a mere memory. India Seniors' search for runs continued and only skipper Sourav Ganguly's 65 along with a 68-run last-wicket partnership between Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, helped the team score 213 in reply to India `A's 302 in a practice match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday. At close, India `A' was 47 for one in its second innings.

India Seniors' batting woes refused to go away, as Virender Sehwag fell to medium-pacer Amit Bhandari, after having survived a dropped chance in the slips. Bhandari also scalped Aakash Chopra and Indian cricket's revered batting-alliance of Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman failed to revive the innings. Dravid, after a few smashing drives, flashed hard at Joginder Sharma, while Laxman's snick nestled in M.S. Dhoni's gloves.

Surprise substitution

Joginder Sharma, who was originally not part of the playing eleven, was drafted into the team after Ashish Nehra had to rest with a swollen ankle. The rival captains and the umpires agreed to this surprise `substitution'. Sharma, however excelled with a disciplined line and his three victims — Dravid, Laxman and Yuvraj — not only hinted at his wicket-taking skills but also at the recent low-returns of India's blue-chip batting order.

It was left to Ganguly (65, 104b, 9x4) to salvage pride and some runs and he did it with poise. And when left-arm spinner Murali Kartik ambled in, backed by a packed on-side with a long-on in place for a miscued heave, the skipper refused to take the bait. Ganguly, however, dented Kartik's figures with his drives and punches square of the wicket and the tweaker had only himself to blame for an errant line.

Kartik eventually had his revenge as Ganguly top-edged a sweep and the last-wicket pair of Kumble and Harbhajan guided the score past 200. India `A' gained an 89-run lead and though Zaheer dismissed Gautam Gambhir for a blob in its second innings, Mongia's men extended their overall lead to 136. For India Seniors, Siddharth Trivedi came in for Yuvraj Singh in the second innings.

Earlier, the India `A' first innings closed at 302 for nine after Sriram was eventually dismissed for 125 (185b, 13x4), while an injured Nehra did not resume his overnight knock.

Meanwhile, Ganguly expressed anxiety over his team's recent run-drought. "Yes, our batting form is a matter of concern," conceded Ganguly in a chat with the media. "I am not happy with our batting performance today. We are the Senior side and I expected a better show," Ganguly said.

The skipper however refused to reveal his plans for the opening combination for the first Test against the Aussies, commencing here on October 6.

Ganguly had a word of praise for both Zaheer Khan and S. Sriram. "Zaheer is bowling at his best and it is a good sign and Sriram played a good knock," Ganguly said. On his batting form, he said, "I am happy with the way I am playing and I am middling the ball well."

The scores:

India `A' — 1st innings: D. Jadhav b Zaheer 8, G. Gambhir c sub (Rayudu) b Pathan 45, D. Mongia b Harbhajan17, M. Kaif lbw b Pathan 31, S. Sriram c Harbhajan b Kumble 125, Venugopala Rao c Sehwag b Zaheer 36, M.S. Dhoni c Patel b Zaheer 0, M. Kartik c Dravid b Kumble 20, A. Nehra (retired hurt) 3, A. Bhandari (run out) 4, S.S. Paul (not out) 1. Extras: (b-1, lb-9, nb-2) 12. Total: 302 for nine.

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-52, 3-106, 4-106, 5-197, 6-197, 7-255, 8-288, 9-302.

India Seniors bowling: Pathan 18-4-61-2, Zaheer 19-8-38-3, Ganguly 4-1-13-0, Harbhajan 24-5-88-1, Kumble 27.3-2-83-2 (nb-2), Sehwag 2-0-9-0.

India Seniors — 1st innings: A. Chopra c Dhoni b Bhandari 18, V. Sehwag c Kaif b Bhandari 6, R. Dravid c Jadhav b Joginder 22, V.V.S. Laxman c Dhoni b Joginder 14, S. Ganguly c Sriram b Kartik 65, Yuvraj Singh c Dhoni b Joginder 14, P. Patel c Dhoni b Paul 4, I. Pathan c Bhandari b Kartik 2, Zaheer Khan b Bhandari 2, A. Kumble (not out) 20, Harbhajan Singh b Kartik 35. Extras: (b-1, lb-1, nb-9) 11. Total: 213.

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-35, 3-60, 4-68, 5-99, 6-129, 7-136, 8-155, 9-155.

India `A' bowling: Bhandari 15-4-56-3 (nb-4), Paul 13-4-34-1 (nb-1), Joginder 13-1-42-3, Kartik 24-8-73-3 (nb-3), Mongia 1-0-6-0 (nb-1).

India `A' — 2nd innings: D. Jadhav (batting) 27, G. Gambhir c Ganguly b Zaheer 0, Dinesh Mongia (batting) 19. Extras: (nb-1) 1. Total: 47 (for one).

Fall of wicket: 1-6.

India Seniors bowling: Irfan 4-0-22-0, Zaheer 5-2-9-1 (nb-1), Trivedi 2-0-6-0, Harbhajan 2-1-6-0, Kumble 2-0-4-0.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport