A classic batting display by Rahul Dravid powered India B to a 63-run victory over India Seniors in the second match of the TVS Salve Challenger Cup here on Thursday. With their second consecutive defeat, the Seniors are out of contention for a place in the final. Chasing 339 to win, Seniors never quite managed to cope with the ever-climbing asking rate to finish at 275/7 in 50 overs. Dravid today seldom played a wrong shot on his way to a sparkling 107 scored from 97 balls as India ‘B’ amassed 338 Long before Dravid took the Seniors to task, they had trouble for company. Zaheer Khan withdrew from attack after suffering an unspecified injury while Harbhajan Singh sat out due to the injury to his bowling finger. Giving ample support to Dravid was Ajit Agarkar who was promoted up the order. Agarkar and Dravid added 136 runs for the third wicket from 125 deliveries. Agarkar’s knock saw him hoisting Ganguly for a six over mid-on before he fell to Murali Kartik. After Dravid’s departure, Yuvraj Singh and Vijay Bharadwaj played fine cameos to take India ‘B’ past 300. The chase was always going to be tough and opener Ambati Rayudu’s early departure didn’t help the cause. The other opener Parthiv Patel played a few brave shots in his innings of 30 but certainly didn’t fit his new role. Reetinder Singh Sodhi, who came at No 3 slot, managed to score 51. But his slow pace hampered his team’s progress. The depature of these young turks was followed by the failure of old hands. Skipper Saurav Ganguly and VVS Laxman failed to get going and the writing was on the wall. BRIEF SCORES India B: 338 for 5 (SS Das 33, Agarkar 57, Dravid 107, Yuvraj 30, V Bharadwaj 41no; Zaheer 1/26, L Balaji 2/76, M Kartik 1/47, Rayudu 1/27).India Seniors:275 for 7 (Parthiv 30, Sodhi 51, Ganguly 25, Badani 61no, Bangar 63; Agarkar 1/34, Bhandari 1/55, JP Yadav 1/47, Sarandeep 1/46, Bahutule 1/50, Mongia 2/33) The Pros & Cons Has anyone seen an all-rounder?: With the Aussie series just months away, Agarkar shows no signs of his traumatic batting form of ’99. Playing one-drop he scores 57. Bangar gets his second straight half-century, Reetinder Sodhi hits 51 while Vijay Bharadwaj enjoys a whirlwind 41 from 29 balls. But none quite impressed with the ball. The selectors are still waiting. Dravid dilemma: The reluctant keeper shows what he can do by just sticking to batting: 107 in 97 balls. But many believe he can do better: keep the wickets too. Parthiv (0 and 30) too hasn’t helped the cause. Dravid in double role seems a permanent fixture. The 7th batsman battle: The new season hasn’t brought any luck for the World Cup failure Dinesh Mongia. Every time Hemang Badani takes crease these days, Mongia’s chances of retaining his place becomes tougher. Badani scored a ton in the Ranji finals and has hit two half-centuries here. Badani: Hot. Mongia: Cold. Spin contest: Murali Karthik, Sarandeep Singh, Sairaj Bahutule and Amit Mishra. One of them may eventually replace Anil Kumble. Today’s stocks: Murali the biggest gainer with a spell of 10-0-47-1 Wake-up call for skipper: Ganguly starts the season with two losses and a couple of failures with the bat. So shall we get the acid pens out or wait for Australia?
