da pinup bet： There will be a tendency to dismiss as inconsequential India’s2-0 Test series victory over Zimbabwe
Partab Ramchand05-Mar-2002There will be a tendency to dismiss as inconsequential India’s2-0 Test series victory over Zimbabwe. After all, it was a winachieved against the ninth-ranked Test nation – out of 10, it maybe added. Also, as I stated in an earlier column, it does notmatter that India is rated number seven or eight in the currentTest rankings. In home conditions, the Indian team makes forrather formidable opposition, borne out by the fact that only oneteam has won a Test series here in the last 15 years. Even topranked Australia came a cropper in their bid to cross the “finalfrontier” a year ago.That said, it must not be forgotten that India won both thematches in the series, something they were unable to achieveagainst the same team in their last series played here some 15months ago. Andy Flower thwarted India from registering a secondvictory on that occasion, and the left-hander’s failure this timewas certainly one reason why India made a sweep of the seriesfairly comfortably, the rather unconvincing achievement of theNew Delhi win notwithstanding. With all the huffing and puffingat the Feroz Shah Kotla, one must remember that the victorymargin in the first Test was an innings and 101 runs.
© CricInfoIn the ultimate analysis, the series victory, besides underliningthe fact that India continues to be awe-inspiring opposition athome, also served to confirm the strengths and weaknesses of thehosts. Touching upon the former, one must first mention theHarbhajan Singh – Anil Kumble duo. The two look well on coursefor taking their place in the honoured list of the great Indianspinning pairs of the past Subhash Gupte and Vinoo Mankad, BSChandrasekhar and Bishan Singh Bedi, and Erapalli Prasanna andBedi. The two complement each other perfectly, and notunexpectedly, they have showered praise on one another.In his 32nd year, Kumble, with over 300 wickets in the bag, is atthe peak of his powers, while his partner, 10 years younger,obviously has his better days ahead of him. Indian cricket’sstrongest point, for some years now, has been its middle-orderbatting, but the time is not far off, I venture to guess, whenthis accolade passes on to the spin duo, who shared 28 wickets inthe two Tests.Speaking of the middle-order batting, the series against Zimbabwesaw this mighty aspect lose nothing of the aura surrounding itfor some time now. Sachin Tendulkar made his customary hundred,while Rahul Dravid used the opportunity to get into his groovefollowing treatment to a shoulder injury. If there is a suddenquestion mark over VVS Laxman, who only a year ago had scaled newpeaks and was hailed as a Messiah, it is heartening to know thatVirender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar are around to fill that vitalnumber six slot in the middle order.But what was most encouraging was Sourav Ganguly finally strikingform. The Indian captain has always been a classy player, but hisextended bad run saw some critics baying for his blood. I, forone, did not join the growing list of detractors. To me,Ganguly’s case will always be paralleled with that of GundappaViswanath who too, more than once during his 91-Test career, wentthrough a bad patch that led to the “experts” calling for hisremoval. The selectors, however, displayed more wisdom than thedetractors, and the Karnataka stylist repaid this confidencehandsomely. Similarly, I can only see Ganguly getting better andbetter from here on.Shiv Sunder Das, I have always believed, is on course toovertaking Navjot Singh Sidhu as the finest Indian openingbatsman in the post-Gavaskar period. The just-concluded seriesconfirmed this view. It can also be taken as confirmed that DeepDasgupta has played his last Test match. The doors are now wideopen for Ajay Ratra, who can grab this opportunity to cement hisplace in the side as a specialist wicket-keeper whose batting isa bonus. Bangar, who opens the batting for Railways, could be asuitable contender to become Das’ partner at the top of theorder.
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There was little wrong with the new ball attack, with JavagalSrinath and Zaheer Khan capable of making the earlybreakthroughs. The latter was particularly impressive, his speed,swing, line and length all having the Zimbabwe batsmen hopping.As far as home conditions go, I emphasise, there seems to be noproblem with the Indian attack, and it is to be hoped that Bangarwill work on his bowling skills to become the kind of all-rounderthat Indian cricket has needed for so long.A word about the visitors. In a nutshell, they proved to begallant losers. They were badly outplayed at Nagpur, but within afew days, they were able to raise the level of their game severalnotches to run India pretty close at the Kotla. Overall, however,their batsmen found Kumble and Harbhajan too hot to handle, whilethe bowlers were no match for the run-hungry Indian batsmen.But a bright future surely awaits Ray Price. The 25-year-oldleft-arm spinner displayed tenacity of purpose, a tantalisinglength and line, besides biting turn on a pitch that was onlyslightly helpful. Even the reputation of being the best playersof spin did not aid the Indian batsmen in overcoming the guilesof Price, and however long he plays the game, the fact that hedismissed Tendulkar three times running twice for scores lessthan 50 could remain his proudest achievement.