India down, and almost out, of Titan Cup

Prem Panicker

As India went down to yet another defeat in the Titan Cup, what the observer felt was the sheer senselessness of it all.

Increasingly, there is a sense of tragedy associated with reporting on a tournament wherein India has slid from defeat to disaster - and that sense of doom has nothing to do with the fact that this reporter is an Indian. For any lover of sport, there is nothing so tragic as seeing talent very deliberately placed in the toilet bowl and flushed away with an uncaring flick of the wrist, and that is what is happening here - ergo the sense of tragedy, of almost Grecian proportions.

If one were to sum up India's defeat at the Municipal Ground in Rajkot, one would do so in just two, three terse sentences. 1) Srinath was the best Indian batsman on view - not the highest scorer, mind, but the best batsman! 2) India failed, by 11 balls, to bat out its full quota of overs - and South Africa underlined the folly of this when it hit the winning run with just 8 balls to spare. And 3) When, finally, India had an opportunity to attack with the ball, when the wicket was turning and everything was going for the home side, the most aggressive captain seen in recent times went, for some strange reason, on the defensive...

Oh well, like they say, these things never come singly...

The wicket, at the Municipal Ground in Rajkot, was dry and hard. With some cracks, which meant that the ball would turn for spinners who knew their trade and could hit the deck and get the ball to 'bite'.

On the whole, this was a wicket that cried out for a team to bat first, and put up a total of around 230, 240 before letting its spinners lose.

For once, South Africa went into a game with three changes - but the point here is that unlike India, the Proteas' change of personnel were dictated by illness and indisposition, and not carried out with the casual, uncaring indifference of a bad gambler shuffling his cards.

Andrew Hudson has been feeling a shade under the weather, and was rested with the young and talented Herschelle Gibbs replacing him at the top of the order. Brian McMilllan was out with a flu, yielding place to the all rounder Lance Kluesner, and Nicky Boje replaced the off form Derryck Crookes.

India, meanwhile, did the expected, bringing on Navjot Singh Sidhu at the top of the order. The excuse given here was the injury to Saurav Ganguly - sustained while fielding in the nets.

But anyways, the selectors had made up their minds they would play Sidhu. No thought about how a batsman who hasn't played international cricket in five months now is supposed to adapt to the intense pressure of a competition in its crunch phase. No thought about current form. Just another shuffle of the cards.

Dharmani, meanwhile, was dropped for Aashish Kapoor. The move, like so much of selectorial thinking in recent times, being half good, half bad - having five bowlers in the side is something we have all been clamouring for, and Kapoor has long since got over his initial nerves and settled into a steady, attacking bowler as witness first Toronto, then the Delhi Test. But the ideal ploy would have been to rest the jaded Mongia, and use Dharmani as a batsman-'keeper.

Anyway, those were the teams, and for once Sachin Tendulkar got it all right, winning the toss and electing to bat on a pitch that was likely to aid spin in the second innings.

Navjot Sidhu is a slow, tentative starter at the best of times. Coming back into the team after a long spell in the wilderness, with the knowledge of all the confusion attendant on his abrupt departure from England and subsequent suspension preying on his mind, it was perhaps inevitable that he would be even more hesitant. And so it proved as, at the very top of the order, the lanky batsman kept feeling for deliveries outside his off stump, his feet rooted in place and bat well away from the body. In the end, the old Sidhu fallibility reared its head again - whenever he gets tied down or finds himself tentative at the crease, he attempts suicidal runs to try and get to the non-striker's end. This time, it was the push straight to Cronje at mid off, Sidhu putting his head down and racing with the stroke without even looking to see where it was going, and in the end he was run out by about five feet. India 7/1, and what was important about Sidhu's 16 ball effort of two runs was that he had kept Sachin Tendulkar off the strike for the most part.

In came Srinath as a pinch hitter - only, the tall paceman had his own ideas of what he should be doing. Bat straight, feet well in place, Srinath kept working the ball around for the singles, and Tendulkar promptly took over, hitting Kluesner off length and line with three lovely fours - one through cover, one straight, the third through square leg. And then - the real indication that he was back at his best form - he leaned well forward to a Fanie De Villiers slower one, patted it past midwicket, sauntered the single and said something with a smile to the bowler. We confirmed with Fanie after the game, and the bowler said, "I had been fooling Sachin with the slower one, and today he picked it well, and just told me, 'Not today, Fanie'..."

Indications were that Tendulkar, on the day, would be hell on wheels - when Fate stepped in to play dirty. For some strange reason, the BCCI had decided that it was going to give its umpires a chance - irrespective of fitness for overseeing a game at the top level. Nowhere in the world, till date, have we seen 20 umpires nominated for 10 matches but that is what is happening here - two different umpires for each match, and the guys doing duty on the day (sorry, so much of nonentities are they that it is impossible to even recall their names) appear to be the worst of a very bad bunch. Donald from wide of the crease bowled the yorker, it hit Sachin's front foot, on the boot, as the batsman played forward, the drift was clearly well past the leg stump and even the keeper was going down to leg to gather it. The only player to appeal was Donald himself - and yet the umpire deemed it out, LBW. Tendulkar removed, off a dodgy decision, just when he was looking good, and India 48/2.

Then followed the best part of the match. Srinath kept his head, batting more like an orthodox number three than a pinch hitter and, with classic cricketing strokes - a straight six off Pat Symcox, the ball taken early and hit hard, high and long, was exquisite - took the score along to 86 after 20 overs, and to 104 at the end of 25. All this while, Rahul Dravid worked the singles with his customary elan, realising that Srinath was batting well and letting him get on with it.

Srinath finally fell trying to cut the top spinner from Symcox, but by then he had done more than was expected of him, getting to his highest ODI score in the process and underlining the fact that with a bit of application, he could be the all rounder India has been looking for. 53 off 69 balls with one six and four fours was success beyond anything Sachin could have asked for, and the full house at Rajkot gave him a standing ovation.

They were not going to get too many chances to cheer, after that. Dravid, who had been batting in exemplary style, made the mistake of backing too far up to Jonty Rhodes at midwicket, and was run out by miles after an impeccable pick up and throw. Azhar played forward to Nicky Boje, the ball spun past the bat, a good four inches from the edge, Richardson collected and half-heartedly appealed after whipping off the bails. Imagine everyone's surprise, then, when the umpire gave him out caught behind - a decision neither the keeper nor the bowler had even asked for!

Mongia, who has been playing far too much cricket of late and has looked badly in need of rest, came and went without troubling the scorers much, Joshi played well for 20 off 28 and then succumbed to his impetuosity, Aashish Kapoor was LBW first ball, Jadeja found himself running out of partners and ended up playing a drive at a classic Allan Donald yorker to be bowled off and middle...

Same old story. But even wih Kumble and Prasad at the wicket, it was not all lost. India needed, as first priority, to bat out the full fifty overs. For two reasons - one, because at some stage, the run rate could enter into calculations on who gets into the final and being bowled out brings that rate down; and two, because simply by batting out the full quota of overs you can get another ten or more runs to your total - something you cannot do if you have lost your wicket and are back cooling your heels in the pavilion.

Kumble, I thought, would have learnt that lesson in Sri Lanka, when his needless hoik off the last ball saw India getting all out and ultimately losing the game. But no, for some reason he stepped away to try and, of all things, cut a Donald yorker and the SA quick is too experienced to do that too - he bowls a very straight line in the end overs; Kumble missed, Donald hit, and India were all out for 185 in 48.1 overs.

Remember that this total was achieved after being 104 for two at the halfway stage, and the true story of the debacle becomes clear.

India had only one hope left in the match - knowing the Proteas' susceptibility to spin, the home side could attack with three spinners on a turning track, keeping a close field and forcing the batsmen to play with extreme care.

In the event, Srinath as always bowled a brilliant first spell to have both Kirsten and Gibbs in all kinds of trouble, Prasad as usual was incisive but wicketless, but though South Africa never got off to its usual trademark flier, the runs kept coming in nudged singles and edged twos and fours, and the fifty came up with the opening pair unseperated.

Prasad finally held the slower one back to induce the mistimed drive from Gibbs and Tendulkar took the catch after a bit of a fumble at mid on.

And then came the best part of the match - and perhaps the most inexplicable. Kirsten and Cronje versus Joshi and Kapoor - a masterly exhibition of spin bowling as the two spinners, bowling brilliantly in tandem, choked the batsmen after Joshi had, earlier, got rid of Cullinan to a mistimed drive against the spin, Kumble taking the catch at point where Cullinan was looking to go over midwicket.

Both Joshi and Kapoor bowled a brilliant line and length - and Tendulkar for reasons best known to him refused, throughout this period, to set an attacking field. Normally an aggressive skipper, this time Sachin for some reason elected to defend, placing his fielders on the circle while edge after edge ballooned up and dropped in the areas that, on this track with this bowling, would have been peopled by a slip, a silly point, a forward short leg or a short square leg.

The best spin bowler in the world cannot take wickets regularly if the nearest fielder is square leg, standing to the left of the umpire - and that is what both Joshi and Kapoor had, for a long spell of 16 overs in course of which they permitted the SA batsmen only two, 2.5 runs per over.

In the end, the free-stroking Kirsten succumbed to the pressure and, after taking all of 68 balls for his 38 runs and managing just one four - where normally he has six, seven boundary hits in the first fifteen overs alone - he played the desperate heave, only to sky the ball to Jadeja at point. SA 88/3, and with Rhodes in, India could have come back into the game if an attacking field had been set at least then.

In the event, everyone - including the pundits in the ESPN commentary box - kept wondering why there was no short square leg. Rhodes, quite content with the situation, kept edging the ball into that area. And the umpire compounded the confusion when, off two successive deliveries, Kumble fooled Rhodes with the top spinner that straightened and hurried through to wrap the batsman on the pad on the back foot in the front of the stumps. Why either of those did not merit the LBW decision is something only the umpires will know - but in the event, Rhodes survived, hung in there with grim tenacity and though he watched Cronje, out of frustration, attempt the run that wasn't there to be brilliantly run out by Azhar, he managed to get to his 50 and to put SA within a strike or two of a win before finally holing out to Jadeja, again off Prasad's slower ball.

In the event, Richardson and Boje saw SA through to its fifth win in as many games, and India went down to a defeat that was, with all due respect to the Proteas', a result of its own ineptitude.

What does this result do to the league? For one thing, it now gives an Australian outfit that looks to be finding its feet at last a chance to make a late bid for a slot in the final.

Australia has two games left. Assume it beats South Africa, it will then take on India level on points, at Mohali on November 3, for the crucial day night encounter.

Assume SA continues its run and ends up unbeaten after the November 1 game against the Aussies. Even then, India go to Mohali forced to go flat out for a win to make the final. Because if Australia wins at Mohali, it will level points with India on three apiece, and the win and India's inept batting today will ensure that it goes through on better run rate. has to win the tie against Australia - no other way out.

Another thought. In game after game, India has been going in with four specialist bowlers. And well as Srinath, Kumble, Prasad and Joshi have bowled, the 'fifth bowler' - namely Tendulkar and Jadeja - have gone for over 60 runs in their ten overs and, in the process, eased the pressure on the rival batsmen.

Today, India went in with the fifth bowler - Kapoor. And the impact was obvious - South Africa, when it won, had a run rate of less than four an over, which is the first time in this tournament a winning side has scored at such a slow rate. And more to the point, no bowler among the five regulars gave away more than four an over - while Tendulkar, who bowled two, gave away runs at the rate of 6.5 per over.

Check out the bowling figures, you'll know what I mean.

But of course, given our selectorial thinking - or should I say lack of it - what's the betting India goes into its next game with just four bowlers?

Score board:

India innings                                                   R   B   4  6
SR Tendulkar          lbw                b Donald              28  38   5  0
NS Sidhu              run out (Cronje)                          2  16   0  0
J Srinath                                b Symcox              53  69   4  1
R Dravid              run out (Rhodes)                         21  40   0  0
MA Azharuddin         c Richardson       b Boje                 9  23   0  0
A Jadeja                                 b Donald              26  46   3  0
NR Mongia                            c & b Boje                 3   8   0  0
SB Joshi              c Cullinan         b Klusener            20  28   2  0
AR Kapoor             lbw                b Klusener             0   1   0  0
A Kumble                                 b Donald              12  18   0  0
BKV Prasad            not out                                   1   7   0  0
Extras                (lb 4, w 3, nb 3)                        10
Total                 (all out, 48.1 overs)                   185

Fall of Wicket: 1-7 (Sidhu), 2-48 (Tendulkar), 3-105 (Srinath),
     4-111 (Dravid), 5-122 (Azharuddin), 6-128 (Mongia),
     7-169 (Joshi), 8-170 (Kapoor), 9-172 (Jadeja),
     10-185 (Kumble).

Bowling                      O      M      R      W
de Villiers                  9      1     19      0 
Klusener                     9      0     54      2 
Donald                       9.1    1     31      3 
Symcox                      10      0     37      1
Boje                        10      0     38      2 
Cronje                       1      0      2      0

South Africa innings                                            R   B   4  6
G Kirsten             c Jadeja           b Joshi               38  68   1  0
HH Gibbs              c Tendulkar        b Prasad              35  49   5  0
DJ Cullinan           c Kumble           b Joshi                6  18   0  0
WJ Cronje             run out (Azharuddin)                     27  50   0  0
JN Rhodes             c Jadeja           b Prasad              54  81   4  1
N Boje                not out                                  13  23   0  0
DJ Richardson         not out                                   4   4   1  0
Extras                (lb 7, w 3, nb 1)                        11
Total                 (5 wickets, 48.4 overs)                 188


Fall of Wicket: 1-61 (Gibbs), 2-72 (Cullinan), 3-88 (Kirsten),
     4-151 (Cronje), 5-184 (Rhodes).

Bowling                      O      M      R      W
Srinath                      8      0     27      0
Prasad                       9      0     38      2 
Kumble                       9.4    1     39      0
Joshi                       10      0     32      2
Kapoor                      10      0     32      0 
Tendulkar                    2      0     13      0