da esoccer bet： For a nation that heaps expectations on its cricketers, India’sdominance over England at Colombo was hugely satisfying, tosay the least
Erapalli Prasanna23-Sep-2002For a nation that heaps expectations on its cricketers, India’sdominance over England at Colombo was hugely satisfying, tosay the least. Coming after the equally exciting win at Lord’s inthe final of the NatWest Trophy, this game just goes to provethat India are now a daunting one-day outfit, and if anything willinstill fear into the hearts of their opponents, it is the battingthat Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag showed off on Sundayevening.
© ReutersGanguly, in my opinion, has started enjoying his cricket more oflate, but Sunday must have provided more than the usual shareof enjoyment and entertainment as he sat gleefully at the otherend while Sehwag went berserk. A smiling, encouraging captainis always a big asset, especially to the younger players, for hetakes the pressure off by a few opportune words.Once Ganguly and Sehwag had added 192 runs for the firstwicket in double-quick time, the match was virtually in the bag.Sehwag was the first to be dismissed, but not before he hadsealed a knock that is best described as inspirational. Hisdaredevil style of hitting through the line and on the rise -andhis astounding talent at succeeding – is quite, quite remarkable.England’s bowlers, especially Andy Caddick, were perhaps guiltyof trying to bowl too fast at Sehwag, for the increased paceonly made the youngster’s job easier, enabling him to use thepace to his own advantage. On a belter of a track like thePremadasa, there is little point in just trundling up and down,and more variations must be tried to throttle the batsmen.Sehwag in particular has a tendency to play a few loose shotsearly in his innings, and England’s bowlers failed woefully tocapitalise on that. With the line and length they were bowling,they only had a chance to get Sehwag if they obtained somemovement off the track. But as I said, given the pitchconditions, that was not likely to happen.Nasser Hussain could really not have anticipated such anonslaught, and in fact he would have been quite happy once hisbatsmen had put 269 on the board. Given India’s earlybreakthroughs, it was quite a feat by England to reach thatcompetitive total. Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan bowled brilliantfirst spells, and the early exit of Marcus Trescothick – always apivotal man for England – must have given the Indians a hugeboost.Hussain got out to a really atrocious stroke, and his battingmade the Indian quicks look twice as fast as they really were.That shot was not at all warranted in the situation, and if this ishow England is going to play in Australia, I am not sure they willbe able to make too many dents on the opposition. But I did likethe attitude and approach of young Ian Blackwell, refreshinglydifferent and positive as compared to his experiencedcolleagues.I must say, though, that India’s main spinners were a hugedisappointment. Both Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh areexperienced enough at the international level, and there is littleexcuse for not being on top of their game, especially on subcontinental tracks that always hold promise for spinners. I havealways emphasised the importance of turning and flighting theball, and neither Kumble nor Harbhajan managed to do enough ofthat on the day.On current form, the South Africans will surely find the Indianbatting too hot to handle. With Sehwag and Ganguly striking topform, there isn’t much any bowling attack can do, and the onlything India must guard against is complacency – a quality thatseems to creep in often, especially after a hugely one-sidedgame.