Another absorbing contest on the cards

The Indians will have shed any sense of complacency that lurked within them as the scene adjourns to the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Motera for the second of the five match one-day series against Zimbabwe on Tuesday. In spite of some appalling fielding and the top order falling over themselves in an unseemly hurry to get back into the confines of the dressing room, the hosts managed to overcome their opponents in Cuttack. If the Indians do raise the level of their game in the rest of the series, it could only mean that the outlook remains bleak for Zimbabwe.

Hemang Badani of course was the toast of the side and Sourav Ganguly today spoke glowingly of the young man's contribution. "He's scored runs in all the one-dayers he's played and the important thing is that he didn't get ruffled at any stage. He took the responsibility of winning it for us after being involved in that run out with Dravid."

In keeping with tradition - and that dates back to the first ever encounter between the two teams in 1983 at Tunbridge Wells - the Zimbabweans failed to close out a game they should have won. They are getting fed up with it and Heath Streak was not very convincing as he sought today to explain away the phenomenon. "It was unfortunate we let it slip. There is a little bit of inexperience but hopefully the guys will learn from it. If we get another opportunity, we'll take advantage of it." Well, the Indians can be hospitable but it would be asking a lot to expect them to hand out another gilt-edged opportunity.

Both sides had a good look at the wicket which does not seek to offer much by the way of solace to the bowlers. Streak adjudged it as a good batting strip. "The groundsman said the wicket will play the same throughout but it looks like the pitch may get slower as the match progresses. We haven't selected the side. We've just seen the wicket and will decide in the evening."

The Indians, for their part, have gone ahead and announced their twelve, Nikhil Chopra and Shiv Sunder Das being the ones sitting out. Ganguly said that the only point of contention was between Reetinder Sodhi and Sridharan Sriram and hinted that the Tamil Nadu lefthander might sneak into the side ahead of Sodhi. "The wicket looks like taking spin but we'll have another look in the morning after it dries out before taking a final decision", said Ganguly. Sriram has been cleared after suffering a painful blow below his left eye during practice when a wayward Nikhil Chopra throw struck him on the full as he was sprinting between the wickets.

Chopra incidentally must be pretty confused after the Board President AC Muthiah made it clear that he was an undesirable presence in the team until the Board officially exonerated him. Surely the Indian team can ill afford the luxury of carrying a player who is unavailable for selection. The chairman of selectors Chandu Borde however said that he had not received any directive so far from the Board to leave out Chopra. As for Ganguly, he declared that Chopra was very much part of the 14 and the team was happy to have him. The Indian skipper emphasised that the off spinner had been left out of the first two games only because the team composition did not permit him to be fitted in.

Ganguly sported a wry smile when asked about the innumerable fumbles and misses in the field on Thursday. "I'm surprised how we can drop so many and still win. It's a shame the way we fielded in Cuttack but I don't think that's going to happen again." Heath Streak however warned that Zimbabwe was spoiling for a fight after the disappointment in Cuttack. "We're looking to come back hard in this game. It's a lot easier to do it now then later in the tour. You don't want to get too far behind and lose confidence", he said. With the battle lines clearly drawn and the stakes heavy, it should make for another absorbing contest.