The Hindu : Sport : Future Cup bristles with possibilities

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Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007
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Sport

Future Cup bristles with possibilities

S. Dinakar

Psychologically, India broke through a barrier at Chandigarh
Having a strong inner ring could tempt the Aussies to clear the infield

— PHOTO: PTI

GROWING IN STATURE: Robin Uthappa has been impressive with his positive batting and tidy fielding.

Chandigarh: The Future Cup series bristles with possibilities. It could either develop into a classic or fizzle out into yet another comprehensive Aussie conquest.

Ricky Ponting and his men will come back hard in Vadodara on Thursday. At the Sector-16 ground here, India hustled its formidable adversary. Dhoni’s men need to keep attacking.

Monday’s victory was of much significance to India; it showed how effectively the seniors and the less experienced cricketers could combine in a more complete form of limited overs cricket. The Aussie juggernaut was finally halted.

It is also no coincidence that when India focussed on aggressive cricket and not aggressive posturing, the side got its act together. There is a lesson to be learnt here.

Breaking through

Psychologically, India broke through a barrier. Its previous ODI victory over Australia had been achieved in the early part of 2004. It has been a long time coming.

Truth to tell, it was a combination of elementary Aussie mistakes and some inspired cricket from India that fetched the host a famous win. However, this was a game when India kept coming back, kept the opposition sweating.

And stress can do funny things...even to the World champion.

To sustain the momentum, India will have to plot. Playing two spinners was the right idea — pressure from both ends creates opportunities — in the sub-continental conditions. However, the host will have to think on its feet to keep the World champion guessing.

Since Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik are bound to figure in the rest of the series, India could take at least a batch of the Power Plays after the 25th over; there is an additional fielder allowed now outside the circle in the second and third sets.

Not an easy task

Having a strong inner ring could tempt the Aussies to clear the infield. It is not the easiest of tasks to pierce the circle with ground strokes when the ball becomes softer.

Singles are denied and there are chances too that the extra man in the outfield could gobble up a mishit.

Sri Lanka’s canny Mahela Jayawardene employed this tactic on similar pitches in the Caribbean during the World Cup.

It is a strategy that worked since the batsmen are forced to make a choice between a scrambled run and a possible boundary hit.

Spinners do get worried when they are driven between the long-on and the long-off. Andrew Symonds, who has grown in maturity, did frustrate Harbhajan and Kartik by largely milking the bowling until he, fatally, opened the face of the blade against left-arm paceman Rudra Pratap Singh.

Subsequently, India, rightly, placed its fielders in singles denying positions. And the Aussies could not generate enough pace on the ball. Kartik’s remarkable 48th over is a pointer.

New trends

The traditional field positions too are being shifted. For instance, with plenty of batsmen preferring to hit down the ground, the long-on and the long-off have become a lot straighter and the mid-off and the mid-on wider.

The dab shot and the steer are again great favourites with the present-day batsmen.

The third man is finer and the backward point a lot more behind the bat. The deep square-leg is in fashion, the fielder covering much ground when the ball travels past the short fine leg. The conventional fine-leg is becoming a rarity in ODI cricket.

The dynamics of the game are changing.

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