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Friday, Aug 05, 2005

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The weak link in Indian attack

Sanjay Rajan

COLOMBO: The lack of a fifth regular bowler has stood out like a sore thumb in India's campaign in the IndianOil Cup tri-series so far. For the second time in the competition, host Sri Lanka took advantage of this weak link in the Indian attack on Wednesday, when Mahela Jayawardene waited for the opportune moment to strike.

There was little that skipper Rahul Dravid could do when Jayawardene (94) turned on the heat in the company of Upul Chandana during their match-winning seventh-wicket stand of 126 in 133 deliveries.

As Jayawardene put it, "We knew India had to introduce the half-bowlers — Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly — at some point. They had to fill in 10 overs, and we made sure that we got five runs an over off them. In fact, we managed more than that, and got a few runs off the strike bowlers as well."

The Ganguly-Sehwag combine conceded 55 runs from nine overs. This saw India lose its grip on the contest after having had the host pinned down at 95 for six while chasing 221 for victory.

In stark contrast was the manner in which off-spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan donned the role of the fifth bowler for Sri Lanka in the absence of Muttiah Muralitharan.

Not only did he contain the flow of runs, he even set off a middle-order collapse returning figures of four for 29 off 10 overs.

Jaywardene described Dilshan's effort as the turning point. "He managed to build a lot of pressure, varying his pace and landing the ball in the right areas."

India suffered due to the fifth bowler syndrome in the opening game against the host when Sehwag went for 45 off eight overs, while Suresh Raina bowled only two balls and conceded four runs.

It was the same story in the second league match against the West Indies, when Sehwag and Raina together conceded 62 off 10 overs for three wickets. These can amount to an awful lot of runs, especially in low-scoring matches.

Dravid agreed that the fifth bowler slot was an area of concern. "But then, we haven't been scoring enough runs, which makes it imperative for us to play the extra batsman. I sure hope our part-time bowlers operate better. Sehwag and Ganguly are capable of bowling better," said the skipper.

"Sri Lanka's half-bowler (Dilshan) got four wickets, so where does that leave us? Maybe we need to look at other options in this department. Raina is one," Dravid said.

That brings us to the other problem area of this Indian team — inconsistency in batting. It was only in Wednesday's match that India got a decent start, with openers Sehwag and Ganguly putting on 67 and V.V.S. Laxman and Ganguly taking the score to 117 for the next wicket.

But as Dravid pointed out, "We didn't convert it. Those who had settled in failed to carry on, which was why we fell a few runs short. It was due to Irfan Pathan's gutsy knock that we got to 220."

"In both the matches against Sri Lanka our regular batsmen did not bat till the end overs, and that cost us dearly. If Jayawardene made a difference yesterday it was because he batted till the end. We have talked about it, but we've got to work at it," the captain said.

India had suffered a top-order collapse in the opening match. Dravid steadied the boat with a 58-run stand with debutant Venugopala Rao. But his dismissal in the 33rd over proved crucial. India reached 205 thanks to a rearguard action by the tail. But as the skipper pointed out earlier, one from the top-order needs to carry out right through for the side to achieve a winning score.

India was without Laxman (injury) and Ganguly (banned) in the second game against the West Indies as well. Flexibility in approach paid dividends, as Mohd. Kaif, who accepted the challenge of opening the innings, and Raina, who batted at the crucial No. 3, batted with purpose.

Dravid said, "Each player has an individual responsibility to stand up and be counted when they get the chance."

Team India needs to reinvent itself. Dravid has to show the way.

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