The Hindu : Sport : Dinesh Mongia stakes claim

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Tuesday, Nov 16, 2004

Sport

Sport

Dinesh Mongia stakes claim

By Vijay Lokapally

It was Dinish Mongia's day out at Jaipur when he came up with an unbeaten century to pile on the agony on the South African bowlers like Andrew Hall. - Photo: Rajeev Bhatt.

JAIPUR, NOV. 15. Dinesh Mongia did enough for the National selectors to take note of his form and potential. Under scrutiny here for a possible slot in the impending Test series against South Africa, the Punjab left-hander hit a century to make an impression on Yashpal Sharma and Gopal Sharma, the two selectors present at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here. The selectors will now apprise their colleagues on Mongia's chances of making it in place of Sourav Ganguly, suspended for two Test matches.

Resuming at three for no loss, the Board President's XI finished the second day of this three-day match at 320 for five, a lead of 94 runs.

Mongia's century was well-timed, literally, and well-constructed, given the pressure he encountered. Failures in the Irani Cup and the Ranji Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh had caused immense concern for this gifted batsman, who revels when confronted with a situation. "Those failures were at the back of my mind but I was inspired by the selectors here. I will value this innings because I had to grab the opportunity," said Mongia.

Pollock warming up

The South Africans experimented with their attack, trying to discover the material to see them through the series, and the Board President's XI batsmen thrived on the inconsistent bowlers. Shaun Pollock bowled two spells of quality medium-pace, without at any point, stretching himself. He was clearly warming up for the Kanpur Test.

There was no venom in the attack when Makhaya Ntini and Pollock were not in action. Ntini gave himself four spells to test the rhythm and he looked tuned to make a mark. His angled deliveries caused ample discomfort to the batsmen and he deserved more than the one wicket that came his way. The rest of the South African attack lacked the thrust to push the batsmen, especially Mongia, who was a picture of a serene artist at work this afternoon.

The selectors ought to attach value to Mongia's performance because it came when the rest failed. Even conceding that the pitch was placid and the attack mediocre, Mongia's century lifted the game a few notches. His batting had a purpose and credit to the young man for sticking to his natural style.

Strong point

Mongia's flair to play his shots was his strong point today and he did well to concentrate on making a big score to cement his claims. The county stint with Lancashire helped Mongia improve certain aspects of his game, his professionalism in particular, and the ease with which he accomplished his goal spoke for his excellent form.

"The county experience taught me the importance of putting value to one's wicket. Being professional helped me improve my cricket overall and I'm happy I could use some of that education here. I learnt to overcome disappointments and it came in handy here," said a beaming Mongia at the end of a fruitful day for him.

Mongia's intensity was unmatched by his mates. Gautam Gambhir was the first to fall when he fended a ball that stood up on him. The Delhi opener played a few rousing strokes but failed to temper his aggression since leaving the ball could have been a better option.

South Africa started off well by claiming a few quick wickets but failed to maintain the momentum. Dheeraj Jadhav's unconvincing stay ended from a pronounced shuffle while S. Ramesh played the price for playing across the line. Confidence was Y. Venugopala Rao's forte and he looked good until he failed to keep his flick down. The youngsters had wasted the chance to force their way into national reckoning.

Best phase

The best phase of the day was Mongia's 91-run association with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who played an attractive innings. Some robust shots dominated Dhoni's knock but his strokeplay became impetuous too, costing him his wicket off an innocuous ball. Dhoni could have put the ball anywhere he wanted on the on-side but an unwise reverse sweep saw the ball falling nicely in an arc for wicketkeeper Thami Tsolikile to pouch the offering comfortably. Dhoni, the most talented among the fringe candidates, could have done without this indiscretion. His 62-ball knock contained six fours and a long-on six off Graeme Smith.

Towards the end, Hemang Badani, recovering from a hip injury, produced some vintage shots, mostly from stance position as he plundered runs in the company of Mongia, who returned unconquered. "He played a great knock and took the game away from us," confessed Boeta Dippenaar, speaking on behalf of the South African camp.

The scores:

South Africa — 1st innings: 226 for five decl.

BP XI — 1st innings: D. Jadhav lbw b Ntini 12, G. Gambhir c Tsolikile b Pollock 26, S. Ramesh lbw b Hall 9, D. Mongia (batting) 135, Y. Venugopala Rao c Hall b de Bruyn 29, M.S. Dhoni c Tsolikile b Ontong 39, H. Badani (batting) 49; Extras (b-2, lb - 16, nb-3) 21; Total (for five wkts): 320.

Fall of wickets: 1-42, 2-55, 3-61, 4-117, 5-208.

South African bowling: Pollock 11-6-12-1, Ntini 15-3-48-1, Hall 17-4-54-1, Kallis 3-1-6-0, Ontong 19-1-100-1, de Bruyn 11-6-10-1, Smith 6-0-31-0, Amla 11-1-41-0.

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