The Hindu : Sport : India starts as overwhelming favourite

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 18, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport

India starts as overwhelming favourite

Vijay Lokapally

KEY MAN: Anil Kumble's experience and guile will be a big plus for India, considering the pitch and weather conditions.

CHITTAGONG: Bangladesh has played 44 Tests and won just one. The dismal record looks all the more bleak when you take away the matches against Zimbabwe. The record then reads 35 losses in 36 Tests with one draw. The draw happened in the West Indies and that too when it rained.

Against this backdrop, the home team, for all its shining performance at the recent World Cup, would be hard pressed to stop a team that will come firing to salvage some honour in the two-match Test series that begins here on Friday.

The laidback port city of Chittagong does not boast of a great cricket culture. True, it has thrown up some internationals like former captain Akram Khan and future leader Tamim Iqbal; but there is nothing exciting about the venue or the quality of cricket one can expect over the next five days.

Rival teams' aims

The Indian team management aims to establish an early hold on the contest while Bangladesh would do its best to prolong the battle, for the emphasis clearly is on protecting its recently-acquired reputation of a team that can replace Zimbabwe on the international Test circuit.

Bangladesh had a wonderful Test debut against India at Dhaka in 2000 when it scored 400 in its first innings, with Aminul Islam scoring 145, and came close to enforcing the follow-on.

Frustrating moments

The survivors from that match, Habibul Bashar, Khaled Mashud and Mohammad Rafique, have developed into mentally stronger players. Bangladesh lost that match because it failed to sustain the show in the second innings. It is this failure to play the second innings consistently well that has hampered Bangladesh's progress.

Times, however, have changed, and Bangladesh, riding on the talent of youngsters like Mohammad Ashraful and Mashrafe bin Mortaza, backs itself as strongly against any opposition in the world.

Dav Whatmore, being projected in media circles as a possible replacement for Greg Chappell since Ravi Shastri's one-off stint as a coach ends with this series, has had many frustrating moments when Bangladesh failed to drive home the clinching nail.

"If only we could play the second innings as well as we do the first,'' has been his often-repeated complaint. It came to the fore twice when Bangladesh let slip the chance to win a Test — when Inzamam-ul-Haq slammed 138 not out at Multan four years ago and then Ricky Ponting hit 118 not out in a Test at Fatullah in April last year, both earning reprieves early in their innings.

India's problems

India has had various problems last season. The team did not have a settled combination and the players were stuck in the adjustment mode for long. Flexibility was the mantra that Chappell wanted to enforce but it was not received well. Confusion had set through the ranks and Shastri has been mainly involved now in getting the players to stick to their natural game without sacrificing the basics. The demands on the players may have increased but then that has been the need of modern cricket and skipper Rahul Dravid comprehends the reasons well.

The heat has been a worrying factor for the Indians and the preparation this morning was restrained. Injuries are being tended to and recoveries have been slow but none would like to miss the opportunity of having a go against Bangladesh, regardless of the state of the pitch and the fact that the opposition has a few decent bowlers in its ranks. Dravid did give an indication that someone would have to be unlucky to sit out.

The chairman of the selection committee, Dilip Vengsarkar, was persistent in his argument that Dinesh Karthik had to be groomed as a Test opener in the absence of Virender Sehwag. Wasim Jaffer, on his first visit to Bangladesh in ten years after making a trip with the India `À' squad, would love to grind the opposition.

Dravid also indicated a plan that included five bowlers, creating a severe fight in the middle order between strong claimants like V.V.S. Laxman and Yuvraj Singh.

Selection issues

Dravid may need to open in place of Karthik if he has to accommodate five bowlers in the playing eleven unless the team management takes the tough decision to keep Laxman and Yuvraj out.

That would be harsh on Laxman, who has also been unceremoniously removed as vice-captain of the team after being handed the responsibility on the tour to South Africa before the World Cup.

Five bowlers, however, could be a luxury that India can afford against a team like Bangladesh since the aim is to win at all costs. The Indian team management is keen to set new benchmarks ahead of the tour to England next month. Bangladesh's poor record in Tests raises hopes for the Indians!

The teams (from):

India: Rahul Dravid (capt.), Dinesh Karthik, Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M.S. Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Ramesh Powar, Rajesh Pawar, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, V.R.V. Singh and R.P. Singh.

Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (capt.), Mohammad Ashraful, Javed Omer, Shahriar Nafees Ahmed, Saqibul Hasan, Rajin Saleh Alam, Tushar Imran, Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Rafique, Enamul Haque, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shahadat Hossain Rajib, Syed Rasel and Mehrab Hossain (Jr).

Umpires: Daryl Harper and Billy Doctrove; Third umpire: Enamul Haque; Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama.

Hours of play (IST): 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.; 12.10 p.m. to 2.10 p.m.; 2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.

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