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Journalism of Courage
Every five years, he said, the members of the New Zealand team8212;which he was a member of8212;who beat England in England for the first time in 1983 meet to celebrate that success. No Kiwi team had managed to beat the Englishmen on their soil since 1931.
Looking his boys in the eye, he asked, 8216;8216;Don8217;t you want to be remembered as the first team ever to win a Test in Pakistan? Don8217;t you want to be sitting in that room with your team mates celebrating what no other Indian side before you managed to achieve?8217;8217;
No one answered him. But a fortnight later, India had won the series8212;their first ever in Pakistan8212;2-1 and chants of Saare jahan se accha, Hindustan hamara filled the vacant stands in the Rawalpindi stadium.
And now the same team has a chance of taking that performance to the next level, says Wright, by winning back-to-back Test series against Pakistan.
A win in the forthcoming series would paper over the cracks of a poor season for the team, where they lost every one-day tournament and also allowed Australia to conquer the final frontier of their campaign.
The stage looks set for a riveting series between a wounded Pakistani side returning from a drubbing in Australia and an Indian team looking to reinstate its indomitable record at home. Let8217;s accept it: The current South African and Bangladesh teams are no match for India at home.
But much has happened since that historic series 11 months ago. And the stakes have never been higher for the teams, captain Sourav Ganguly and coach Wright.
FOUR years ago, when the Indian team was struggling after the defeat in Australia and the home series defeat in South Africa, newly appointed coach Wright told the boys that it didn8217;t matter where they were, the most important thing was to know where they were headed.
The team finds itself in a similar situation right now. If their one-day form is abysmal, their Test performance has belied their achievements on the Australian and Pakistan tours see graphic, left.
But it was that kind of a season, when VVS Laxman averaged better than Virender Sehwag in the one-dayers but found himself out of the squad for Bangladesh and Tendulkar proved to be the second highest wicket-taker in the one-dayers.
8216;8216;The Pakistan series will be very tough, but we just need to keep it simple,8217;8217; Wright told The Sunday Express. His optimism is based on the simple fact that the Indian team has all its bowlers available for selection. 8216;8216;We8217;ve got Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble for the series, unlike the last time,8217;8217; says Wright. If the prospect is mouthwatering for him, it should be enough to dry the throats of opponents.
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228Sehwag8217;s runs on the first day of the Multan Test, the most scored by an Indian in a single day8217;s play in Test cricket |
As for pace8212;which former great Imran Khan and Salim Malik believe will decide the course of the series8212;Wright is super confident.
8216;8216;They want pace, we8217;ve got pace. I am very happy with the pace bowlers at this stage. L Balaji is back; Ashish Nehra was outstanding in the game at Lucknow against West Zone in the Duleep Trophy and bowled the quickest I have seen him bowl since the World Cup game against England. Zaheer Khan is looking in great shape and as for Irfan Pathan, he8217;s fit to start off. So we are a lot stronger than we were when we went to Pakistan,8217;8217; he says.
Nehra believes that the domestic matches before the series have helped him and the other bowlers find their rhythm and clean up their skills. 8216;8216;But don8217;t we all know that on Indian surfaces, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh script the victories, not us fast bowlers,8217;8217; he adds.
A bowling coach would probably be a welcome addition for India but Wright believes that is something the Indian board needs to discuss and decide.
As for Pakistan, the debate centres around whether fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar8217;s absence and placid tracks will soften the edges of their heated pace department.
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BREAKING NEWS
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Sourav Ganguly is the most successful captain of the Indian team. Is he also the most injury-prone? |
LINE AND LENGTH
THOUGH the opening issue dominated much of the Test series in Pakistan, the matter, for now, seems settled in favour of Gautam Gambhir, who will partner Virender Sehwag.
Coach Wright believes Gambhir8217;s stats are proof of his ability. Whether he has the mettle to take on the opponents will be tested during the Pakistan series.
Gambhir, who replaces his Delhi teammate Akash Chopra, has not wasted the opportunities that have come his way and, with his preference for the pull and the cut, could well be the answer to India8217;s opening woes.
Unlike earlier tours, where the two teams would try to break each other down with enzyme action, the last series has shown that faster scoring rates 8212;influenced by the one-day game8212;will make this a more gripping series, with stroke-makers like Gambhir, Sehwag and Butt opening the batting.
With wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni sure to make the one-day squad, the series looks set for a blitzkrieg. According to Wright, Dhoni will bat in the top three in the one-dayers, leaving Rahul Dravid free to play pure batsman. For the Tests, keeper Dinesh Kartik is safe as of now for not having done much wrong.
Apart from the opener and wicket-keeper issues, another key subject is the batting line-up8212;and Laxman8217;s place in it.
With his form failing him in the early part of the home series against Australia, a promotion to number three in the Mumbai Test was just the fillip he needed.
8216;8216;The Australians were happy bowling maidens and allowing the batsmen to let the ball sail past them. Laxman8217;s promotion in the Mumbai Test changed all that, he went about playing his strokes and gained confidence. The Australians had to then face Dravid walking out at number five,8217;8217; says a team member.
A close look at Laxman8217;s batting position in the one-day reveals that he works well when playing at number three, a position preferred by the Indian skipper Ganguly. Over the last one year, he has averaged 45 with four centuries, as against Sehwag scoring none and averaging a mere 25.
Wright is also pleased with the progress Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh have made; both are now vying for place in the Test side. 8216;8216;Players like Kaif and Yuvraj keep pressure on the incumbents and that augurs well for the team,8217;8217; says Wright.
First innings runs, the coach believes, will put pressure on the Pakistanis, just like last time. 8216;8216;We won8217;t need hundreds, we will need double hundreds. That8217;s where the problems occurred against Australia at home. No one got the big hundreds,8217;8217; he says. 8216;8216;Fielding and catching, especially close to the wicket, will be very important. Akash Chopra was invaluable in that slot, especially on the leg side. We need to groom someone for it. Specialised fielding positions are a must.8217;8217;
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN!
AND even while skipper Ganguly ruminates over the upcoming series, the one thought uppermost in his head will be the captaincy crown that sits uneasily on it. India8217;s most successful captain now needs to justify that title.
The defeats in the one-day tournaments forced him to say that he would have to look within for answers. The Nagpur Test debacle is also not forgotten and questions are still asked about his decision to miss the Test where India gave away its 35-year-old prized record at home.
Now is the time for Ganguly to stand up and take charge of a side he built and guided along with coach Wright. Besides being the seaming all-rounder in the one-dayers, Ganguly will have to prove he still is the man to lead India and still has a lot to offer Indian cricket.
But can he keep his pack together?
As for coach Wright, even if he quits after the series8212;irrespective of the outcome8212;he will have done his job for Team India. His belief in the team helped mould a bunch of talented yet inconsistent players perform as a unit.
The destination has yet to be reached but the journey has well and truly begun. As was evident during the Mumbai Test. On day one, reveals a team member, when the team was bowled out for 104, Wright took the team aside and told them to bowl the Aussies out for under 200 runs, and then set them a 150-run target to win the Test.
It sounded like a truckload of trash, given the form of the team, but when the Aussies were eventually bowled out for 93 and they crashed to a 13-run defeat, the team discovered their misplaced steel, the steel to fight back from a hopeless situation.
They have not lost a Test since then and would hope to win every silverware on offer this time around with that same steel.
DUELS IN THE SUN
The one-to-one contests that will sell tickets
Inzamam Ul Haq vs Anil Kumble
Not overtly aggressive, yet extremely competitive, these two veterans will slug it out in the Tests. Half of Pakistan8217;s fortunes rest on Haq and his battle with the leg-spinner could well dictate the course of the Test series. Kumble has claimed Haq8217;s wicket on four occasions, while the Pakistan skipper has used his feet brilliantly against the spinner to score a hundred that sealed the Lahore Test for Pakistan last year. He also played a crucial knock in the Chennai Test, which Pakistan won in 1999. Things came to a head last year during the Lahore Test when the two were engaged in a verbal duel. Their last showdown in the Test series could be another potboiler but, at the end of it all, they will walk off with arms around each other. Just as in Lahore.
Yousuf Youhana vs Irfan Pathan
Before Irfan landed in Pakistan, Pakistan coach Javed Miandad had said that there were 8216;8216;Irfans in every street of Pakistan8217;8217;. By the end of the series, Youhana was trying to find one to bowl to him in the nets. Reason: The Indian left-armer had harassed him far too much through the tour with the ball that came in. Youhana was the top run-getter in the Test series but failed to click in the one-dayers, managing to score just 109 runs in the five-match series. So, on this count, Irfan has his opponent8217;s number. Time for some fight back, Yousuf.
Danish Kaneria vs VVS Laxman
One is a confident Pakistani; the other is struggling to get back his confidence. Yet the contest between these two positive individuals can only set the stadiums alight. Laxman believes Kaneria8217;s accuracy will be a key factor in the series. Not quite a finished product, Kaneria8217;s consistency as a leg-spinner makes him a potent weapon, though he was misused in the last series. But the Australia tour has seen him mature as a bowler. There is a similarity here: Last time Laxman was being asked questions, he smashed Australian Shane Warne out of Eden Gardens. Kaneria could well be prepared for the contest of his life against the finest inside out drive on the circuit.
Virender Sehwag vs Md Sami
These are the younger heirs apparent, but both are woefully out of touch. One is the batsman who can club bowlers into numbness, the other a pace sensation. Capable of mayhem on his day, Sehwag has to be aware of Sami8217;s ability to pick up early wickets with sheer pace. The Pakistan8217;s second fastest bowler had an uncanny knack of wreaking havoc with the old and the new ball that the team has been missing lately. In fact, last year, Sehwag completely mastered him and punctured his confidence during the India tour. This is payback time.
FOUR MORE TO WATCH OUT FOR
SALMAN BUTT
IN November 2004, he provided a sneak preview of his talent. Three months on, the young left-hander feels many years wiser. Reason: The recent tour of Australia. He scored 225 runs in six Test innings there8212;not sensational, but the century-and-half of his debut is the hallmark of ability. 8216;8216;I am more than ready for the India tour. There couldn8217;t have been a better tour for me to launch my career,8217;8217; says Butt.
Marked as one of the players to watch out for this year, Butt impressed everyone Down Under. A big fan of former opening batsman Saeed Anwar, Butt wants to replicate what his hero managed to do against India consistently. His clash against Irfan Pathan and Zaheer Khan could well be one of the highlights of the tour.
MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI
A SMALL town boy, this 23-year-old is confidence personified. Dhoni lives his life much the way he bats8212;upfront and in your face. The purists may not approve his style of batting but, in the end, runs will tell. Ask Kevin Pieterson. A competent keeper, Dhoni has the ability to tear any attack to shreds, though his toughness is yet to be tested at the international level; he has only played Bangladesh so far. Coach John Wright has picked the keeper as one of the final pieces to complete the one-day jigsaw and he wants him to bat in the top three in the one-dayers.
GAUTAM GAMBHIR
THE Delhi opener is an introvert but with the bat in hand he is a party animal, dancing down the wicket to the spinners and pulling the fast bowlers with aplomb. With statistics running in his favour at the moment, Gambhir will have to grab every opportunity that comes his way and shut out all rivals. In the short season so far, there has been no reason to think why he will not make a good fist of it.
As aggressive as Sehwag8212;though occasionally prettier to watch8212;Gambhir will be tested in a high-pressure series. That, in the end, will be the big difference, for so far his first few steps in international cricket have been against relatively easy attacks like South Africa and Bangladesh on sub-continental wickets.
He averages 43 in his first five Tests, which is impressive, but he will have to watch out for the ball that comes in since he has been caught in front of the wicket 43 per cent of the times he has been dismissed.
KAMRAN AKMAL
WITH a selectorial axe hanging over his head, the 23-year-old Akmal should be under pressure but it doesn8217;t show. Challenged by veteran Moin Khan and the younger brigade, Kamran faces a tough battle in guarding his turf behind the wickets. What goes in his favour is the immense backing he receives from the team management. Captain Inzamam Ul Haq and coach Woolmer firmly believe Kamran is the future and this confidence shows in Kamran8217;s glove work and batting. He knows he has not lived up to the faith invested him and he is prepared to even spend time outside the team ,if it comes to that. He has a lone century against West Indies in Australia to show on his CV so far.
