India look to seal the series

‘‘See what happened at Ahmedabad (last one-dayer). Our bowlers started well and I thought we could get the Indians under the 250-mark. Maximum, 275. In the end, 306 was too big a total for our batsmen to chase. We can’t win matches if we continue to bowl like that, totally indisciplined,’’ the Zimbabwe skipper, who himself came in for some thrashing in the slog overs, said this afternoon.

Don’t be surprised if the Zimbabweans wake up on Friday morning with letters ‘‘DISCIPLINE’’ pasted on their room doors. On a wicket like the one at India’s newest International venue, Barkatullah Stadium, the margin of error for the bowlers would be almost negligible. An inch of free space here or there and you know what the Indian scoreboard can look like.

Friday is the day, the Zimbabweans sink or stay afloat. They are down by two matches and another defeat would mean the Indians can afford to ‘‘rest’’ some of their big names for the remaining two games. India will wrap up the series 3-0 if they win here.

India will not take any chances. ‘‘We can’t relax now after doing all the hard work. We have done well to win at Cuttack and Ahmedabad with batsmen using the opportunity to pick up big scores. This match is important for us,’’ Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly said. ‘‘Very, very important,’’ interrupted coach John Wright.Results apart, the two Indian victories had different scripts, different heroes. Who would have thought the frail-looking Tamil Nadu batsman Hemang Badani would remain cool, not letting the dressing room pressure or the Cuttack heat get to him? Just like his teammate Yuvraj Singh in Nairobi recently, Badani showed you can’t really boss around with the Indian Generation X.

It’s another matter, these youngsters need to be more consistent. Otherwise, someone like Yuvraj will soon be rediculed for the manner of his dismissals! Ahmedabad was another story. You had Ganguly and Rahul Dravid coming up with another of their slow-wicket batting heroics. It’s amazing how the Indians feast themselves on ordinary attacks in conditions which can never be a test of any of the batting skills.

Not that the Indians have played invincible cricket. Fielding, more specifically catching, has been so ordinary, it would shock even an eighth-grade school team. Even the bunch of “cricketers†who get together on weekends, playing banks cricket catch better. “I agree it was horrible at Cuttack but we showed improvement in Ahmedabad. I know we have to do something with our fielding, otherwise international teams will not let us off lightly,†Ganguly conceded.

There was a minor scare regarding Ganguly’s ‘‘strained back’’ but the skipper dispelled all doubts. ‘‘I am feeling fine and will play tomorrow,’’ he said. Ajit Agarkar is also back and, at least, ‘‘available for selection.’’

With Orissa-opener Shiv Sundar Das and off-spinner Nikhil Chopra yes, he is still with the team though Board president AC Muthiah feels his selection was an ‘‘error’’ sitting out for tomorrow’s match, someone will have to make way for Agarkar in the playing XI tomorrow. The skipper hinted it would be eitehr S Sriram or Reetinder Sodhi.

Teams (from): India: Saurav Ganguly (Captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Hemang Badani, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Vijay Dahiya, Sunil Joshi, Ajit Agarkar, S Sriram, Venkatesh Prasad and Zaheer Khan. 13th and 14th: Shiv Sundar Das and Nikhil Chopra.

Zimbabwe: Heath Streak (Captain), Guy Whittal, Andy Flower, Stuart Carlisle, Alistair Campbell, Grant Flower, Brian Murphy, Trevis Friend, Dirk Viljoen, Gavin Rennie, Douglas Marillier, Mluleki Nkala, Trevor Madondo and Bryan Strang.Umpires: S K Bansal and C R Mohite; Third Umpire: S Bannerjee.

Hours of play: 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m and 1.10 p.m onwards.

Jodhpur braces up for first treat
Jodhpur hasn’t really come to a standstill. Yet the enthusiasm of the locals for the first-ever international cricket match here is quite a revelation. Only, the people are over-enthusiastic. Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly was apprehensive of all this. ‘‘Okay, this is the first match here but this is international cricket. Teams need to practice. If you are signing autographs every second minute, and if you need police protection all the time, one can’t concentrate on the job at hand,’’ Ganguly complained.

The moment the two teams descended on the Barkatullah Stadium in the morning, all the gates were closed and a mass police cover took over the stadium. Even scribes were refused permission into the stadium but the organisers and some police officials saw to it that their wards could go in and swarm the practice area.

‘‘There are stands. So people who wish to see the teams practice can go and sit there. What business do they have standing besides the nets? What if they are hit by a cricket ball,’’ a peeved Ganguly said.

Some of the senior Board members were at hand to see whether Ganguly made sense. Wonder what notes officials like Jayawant Lele, Kamal Morarka, PM Rungta and Kishore Rungta scribbled down in their diaries!