Prima donnas are no good
The Englishmen are already here, awaiting the arrival ofthe hosts, and the sore memories will probably be forgotten in a week'stime
Woorkheri Raman
29-Nov-2001
The Indians were thoroughly outplayed in the series against
South Africa, and the defeat at the Centurion further emphasized
the listless attitude of the visitors. Agreed that a tour to
South Africa is not an easy one by any standards, but if at all
there was any chance of subduing the South Africans, this was
the occasion. The Indians were sent early enough to acclimatize
themselves to the conditions in South Africa. They also had the
opportunity of playing a good number of matches in the
triangular series. Another factor in their favour was the lack
of support for Shaun Pollock in South Africa's fast bowling
department. Yet the Indians came a cropper and were in fact
beaten with consummate ease.
The Englishmen are already here, awaiting the arrival of the hosts, and the sore memories will probably be forgotten in a week's time. The crowded itinerary provides a buffer for the Indians, as they are bound to do well on home soil. It is a pity that the established players can get away without performing when required, while the fringe ones are meted out prompt punishment. |
The International Cricket Council has made it very clear that
the Centurion game is unofficial, and thus the home team was a
worthy winner of the series by a 1-0 margin. Although the margin
appears slender, this was a tour the Indians would want to
forget in a hurry. It was ironic that the focus of the entire
cricketing fraternity was on an unofficial Test. The Indians
kicked up a lot of dirt, and that should have been enough reason
for them to have done better. The tug of war between the Board
of Control for Cricket in India and the ICC still continues, and
it is incredible that some newspapers had the audacity to
suggest the expulsion of India from the ICC, proof that Indians
in general are guilty of giving too much of importance to alien
reports and views. It is about time that the Indian scribes
wrote their own views rather than pick up anything and
everything from abroad.
Getting back to the Indian team, it was evident that there were
very few gains from this tour. It was heartening to see Virender
Sehwag, Deep Dasgupta and Shiv Sunder Das do well, although the
little fellow Das has to convert good starts into big scores.
Dasgupta has impressed everyone with his determination with the
bat and has shown improvement over the last few weeks behind the
stumps. Sehwag has had a mixed bag, and it would be
disappointing for him to miss out on a Test match when he is
brimming with confidence.
The Englishmen are already here, awaiting the arrival of the
hosts, and the sore memories will probably be forgotten in a
week's time. The crowded itinerary provides a buffer for the
Indians, as they are bound to do well on home soil. It is a pity
that the established players can get away without performing
when required, while the fringe ones are meted out prompt
punishment. It is now back to the same two-card trick of playing
on rank turners and notching up victories against visiting
sides. There is nothing wrong with that, but nothing good comes
of remaining in the same pond all the time.
I might sound idealistic, and a few lips may curl, but the fact
remains that highly rated world-class performers must lead the
way in making this team a better unit. Considering that the
Indians are playing away for most of the first half of 2002, it
would be a good preparation to play on firm pitches in order to
ensure that they are not embarrassed abroad. Have we not read
and heard the same lines before? Yes, several times, and that is
why one gets the feeling that nothing much will ever change in
the Indian cricketing scenario.