Indians look to wicket, Srinath for help

A glimpse in the rear mirror of time shows embarrassment and Indian cricket team as travelling accomplices. The obnoxious oblivion touched in Australia, followed by the obsequies — with the South Africans pulling that tried-and-tested designer rug from under their feet in Tests — sketches their recent travelogue. Such happenings had the media breaking into a hideous chuckle of national self-loathing; and the fans having a go at their stars.

Then came the Big Bang at Kochi, silencing the two tribes. But the obit writers count themselves back in contention now and a couple of slip-ups at this stage and, Bingo, they are back in business.

Skipper Ganguly will thus have `Operation Wrap-Up’ writ large all over his face. The advent of Javagal Srinath will strengthen the bowling, littered as it is with ad hoc all-rounders. While the genuine bat-bowl man, Robin Singh, has bowled just one over in the series so far, part-timers Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar have played their bit parts with elan.

Behind the wicket, change — the skipper’s statemate Saba Karim coming in for former skipper’s statemate Sameer Dighe — has made many read between the lines. And a few more simply stumped. Local ‘keeper Nayan Mongia’s “I am fit” statement seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Replacing the uncapped Amit Bhandari for S Sriram is also puzzling. The only conceivable reason for Bhandari’s ouster could be the wise men did not like the way he carried the drinks — the only piece of action he was involved in.

The replacements have not arrived yet. By late evening, as the teams hit the nets, the three new faces were still awaited.

But Vadodara fans with wait with bated breath for the two great entertainers — Tendulkar and Lance Klusener — to exhale. Though Tendulkar has managed to keep the fans contended thus far, thanks to his exploits with the ball, the same cannot be said about Klusener. The cruise missile shotmaker, `Zulu’, has failed to free his arms. Having been shown the pavillion-way by batting stalwarts Tendulkar (twice) and Dravid (once), he won’t find too many shoulders to cry on.

With the fitness of Nantie Hayward and Henry Williams still in doubt, South African bowling will once again depend on Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis and Steve Elworthy. Except for the second game at Jamshedpur, South African batting has shown a few chinks too many.

When the visiting skipper Hansie Cronje said they have got the momentum back after the victory in Faridabad and talks about the growing confidence before Friday’s game, the general feeling is South Africa is not giving up meekly.

The season has showcased two brands of surfaces at the IPCL ground. The two matches of the premier One-Day national tournament — Deodhar Trophy — played here had contrasting colour code on the track and equally contrasting scoresheets. The green rectangle saw a net run aggregate of the match in the 300-range while the brown saw a similar NRA in each innings. But keeping in mind the green-phobia and the sight of the groundstaff cutting the grass with razor blades, it seems brown shade — euphemism for a belter — has been picked for the match. Organisers say run-rain won’t show the intensity of Kochi but will be in the range of 275 or thereabouts.

After that long, arduous Himalayan climb in the opener, Jamshedpur was an easy ride downhill for the Indians. The new captain’s talk about team spirit and positive attitude no longer seemed obvious or abstract. “Pinch me, are they really the same guys who toured Australia³?” asked an Indian fan. He surely got pinched in Faridabad. The 20,000 full house at Vadodara on Friday hopes for a better deal.

Teams

India: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Rahul Dravid (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Robin Singh, Sunil Joshi, Nikhil Chopra, Javagal Srinath, Saba Karim (wk), Ajit Agarkar, Mohammad Kaif, Anil Kumble and S Sriram.

South Africa: Hansie Cronje (capt), Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Derek Crookes, Pieter Strydom, Steve Elworthy, Dale Benkenstein, Henry Williams, Nantie Hayward.

Umpires: I Sivaram (Hyderabad) and K Hariharan (Delhi). Third umpire: AM Saheba (Gujarat). Hours of play: 9 am to 12.30 pm and 1.15 to 4.45 pm