India to play the spin card once again

So, in an age when nothing is transparent in Indian cricket, he at least dropped a hint. India, going by his supposed predicament, was pondering over a two-pacer, three-spinner formula for the Test which begins at the Kotla against Zimbabwe tomorrow. But, ask Ganguly to consult his cricketing sense. Does he really think others take Indian bowling as seriously as the skipper grades them? More so, when the `Fantastic Five’ allow babes Bangladesh to get to the 400-run mark in their very first Test innings!

Thank God for small mercies, Mr Ganguly, and don’t put your foot in the mouth. The Indian bowlers had two good sessions at Dhaka otherwise the world would have been laughing at you. And, if you think beating Bangladesh in that Test will get the Indians a medal, certainly the home work is incomplete.

The last time a ball was bowled in a Test at Kotla, the gigantic pavilion structure would have come down on that chilly and windy February evening when Anil Kumble thought he needed the next morning’s newspaper to make him believe what he had done. No, let’s call it an achievement for Jim Laker is not the only other bowler, who has claimed all the ten wickets in a Test innings, just like our Kumble?

Pity, Kumble won’t be there this time. His shoulder is in such a mess, he would only bowl when the Australians come calling in February. In his absence, left-armer Sunil Joshi, who played a Test after a gap of three years and played it so well that he was the man of the game, is India’s best bet here. But, honestly, despite the wickets he picked up in Dhaka the ball has lost some of the bite, turn and bounce he had a couple of years back.

Murali Kartik bowls the same way as Joshi does. So there’s not much variety there but it’s the Amritsar-lad Sarandeep Singh’s selection which has turned quite a few heads. Many think Harbhajan Singh should have been here for Ganguly’s India needed an off-spinner of class. Though he got himself embroiled in all sorts of controversies, Harbhajan still is the best in the land. Sarandeep, who is sure to play tomorrow, has to live up to the expectations his zonal selector conveyed to others who mattered.

Zimbabwe are aware they can lose the Test only if the Indians can pick up 20 wickets inside five days. Seaming-skipper Heath Streak, who played in neither of the two warm-up games preceding the Test, thinks “it looks like a good batting track.” Only, his batsmen have to apply themselves to the task.

Zimbabwe’s bowling has always been dodgy for the Indians. There have been some one-day wins for the visitors over their fancied rivals so cricket will afterall be played. India may have a solid middle-order, and that’s right on the mark with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Ganguly batting at Nos. three, four and five. But they have not decided yet on who opens with whom on a permanent basis. You had Devang Gandhi walking out with Sadagopan Ramesh against New Zealand and Australia last year and Laxman was chipping in too. Yet all of a sudden Wasim Jaffer and Rahul Dravid were drafted in for the series against South Africa and now Ramesh is back. And he has the Orissa lad Shib Sundar Das for company. Pray, they get the time they need to establish themselves rather then meeting the same fate as others.

Probably, that’s one thing the new coach John Wright, himself no mean opener for New Zealand for a long time, has already noted down. He will have to now work a permanent way out of the Indian opening blues. Is he carrying the magic wand we Indians always look up from the coaches?

Now, now. Of course, we can’t talk about Indian cricket, even cricket worldwide, without that cardinal sin called match-fixing. Rather, it’s post-match-fixing these days. No Azhar, Jaddu or Mongia in the team and let them face it nobody is missing them.

But, why delve further into the topic when we are here for cricket, the game which will be played on the field, not off it.

Teams (from):
INDIA: Saurav Ganguly (Captain), Shib Sundar Das, Sadagopan Ramesh, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vijay Dahiya (wicket-keeper), Sunil Joshi, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Karthik, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Sarandeep Singh and V V S Laxman. 14th: Yuvraj Singh. Coach: John Wright

ZIMBABWE: Heath Streak (captain), Douglas Marillier, Gavin Rennie, Grant Flower, Stuart Carlisle, Alistair Campbell, Andy Flower (wicket-keeper), Trevor Madondo, Guy Whittall, Mluleki Nkala, Paul Strang, Brian Murphy, Henry Olonga and Travis Friend. Coach: Carl Rackeman
Umpires: John Hampshire (England) and Srinivas Venkatraghavan (India).
Match Referee: Barry Jarman (Australia).