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InDepth headlines national business sports cricket regional entertainment technology world travel autos health | in-depth coverage > India England Cricket Series > Series that exploded the myth of Indian invincibility on home turf 18.25 IST 07th Feb 2002 By Raghunath Rau One of the more memorable vignettes of the last India-England limited overs match at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on television was the sight of Indian captain Sourav Ganguly aiming a vicious kick at nobody or nothing particular when the last Indian wicket fell six runs short of victory. That show of anger and frustration was, of course, reserved for an unguarded moment, barring the unexpected television eye, and Ganguly had to be more guarded in his public comments later. But it encapsulated the feelings of the entire cricketing community in India. For the second time in succession in the series, India had faltered at the doorstep of victory. Just a few days earlier, at Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla, the margin of defeat had been just two runs. With a comprehensive defeat by 16 runs in the second match at Cuttack, that meant that the six-match series was leveled at 3-3. All that was difficult to digest for a cricket-crazy country, which had confidently believed before the start of the series that the inexperienced England side led by India-born Nasser Hussain would be easy pushovers. That was a feeling which Hussain himself had helped generate through his pre-tour statements that his squad was on a learning mission, and that they themselves rated India as the clear favourites. That Hussain proved himself wrong was as much a tribute to his own shrewdness in the art of captaincy as to the indifferent showing of the home team. That ineptness manifested itself from the top. For, unlike Hussain, who for all practical purposes rehabilitated himself with his own cricket establishment and public with his performances both as captain and batsman, Sourav Ganguly’s future in both roles was put in severe doubt by this series. That is why Ganguly’s wild kick in the air after the match had much more symbolism than being a very human, instant reaction. Right through the series Ganguly had realized that he was walking on a thin razor’s edge personally. A victory at Mumbai would have sealed the series 4-2 in India’s favor, and perhaps reinstated him in the favors of the powers-that-be, especially since he himself had a good performance. Now, Ganguly will have to wait on tenterhooks along, of course, with the rest of the country before the selection committee decides on the captain and squad for the forthcoming series against Zimbabwe. Thereafter lies a long season ahead, with tours to the West Indies and England, another series at home against the West Indies, all that culminating with the World Cup next year in South Africa. No wonder Ganguly’s frustration was so palpable. For England, on the other hand, the position was exactly the opposite. They now go to New Zealand full of confidence. And to think they had "terrorized" themselves with all sorts of fears and misgivings before they started the winter with the India tour! Some England players had dropped out of the Test series because of fears for their lives with the looming threat of a war against Pakistan and the general Afghanistan scenario. The players realized very soon how far sensational media reports back home were from the truth. Their supporters had gone to the ridiculous extent of not bringing the Union Jack with them, thinking that would inflame crowds in India. The welcome they got was an eye-opener for them. The one-dayers started after a short Christmas break when the players were reunited with their families. Some changes were inevitably made keeping in view the specialized requirements of the limited overs game. But there was no talk this time of fears for their lives and what not. But that does not mean that fear, resentment and kindred feelings were not there this time also. But they were of a different nature. For one, the team was unhappy that their Board had bowed to India and agreed to play a sixth match, instead of the five originally agreed to. On hindsight, though, Nasser Hussain must have been happy at the sixth match, for it enabled his side to draw the series. Then there was a lot of cribbing and complaints —"whingeing", as Indians caustically put it — about the practice facilities before the first match at Kolkata. The talk in India inevitably was that the Englishmen were once again showing their white superiority complex. Actually, though, the complaining had more to do with genuine cricketing fears about their opponents than about any complex. But even that turned out to be misplaced with the very first match itself, even though the result was a 22-run defeat at the Eden Gardens. For, many impartial Indian commentators also agreed that it was actually a moral victory for England, considering the way some controversial umpiring decisions tilted the scales heavily against England. Now, commenting on umpiring decisions rightly regarded as a "no-go" proposition generally, and is always a tricky affair. But when a batsman is given out LBW to a delivery pitched about a foot outside the leg stump, then that enters the realm of grossly incompetent supervision, and England had every right to be peeved. That happened to Marcus Trescothick when he was going great guns after crossing his century, with England well set on the chase of India’s total of 281. There were some other acts of omission and commission by the same official, and the fact that he may be barred from supervising international matches again for two years showed that the English feelings of being cheated were not wide of the mark. That is what led to a feeling at the end that a 4-2 verdict in favor of England would not have been off the mark. Be that as it may, such a feeling in itself was a reflection of India’s parlous position on the field itself while confronting the Englishmen. Such a feeling was reinforced with the second match at Cuttack. England scored 250, by no means a formidable score in the limited overs game these days. But India’s response was pathetic as they were dismissed for 234 with 1.2 overs to spare. The proverbial house of cards syndrome took over after Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Mongia were both run out in their 40s. Pride was then restored to Indian hearts with victories at Chennai and Kanpur, by four and eight wickets, respectively. England were dismissed cheaply on both occasions, for 217 at Chennai and for 218 at Kanpur. The rest was easy, with Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag both going great guns. In fact, these two matches helped build up the image of Sehwag as some of a cricketing clone of Tendulkar. Both are of the same build and general appearance, and Sehwag seems to be consciously modeling himself on Tendulkar’s style of stroke-making. But wild talk of a second Tendulkar is still way off the mark, as Sehwag himself acknowledges. Still, it gives one a good feeling that India has thrown up another player who can make his mark on the international scene. In any case, one swallow does not make a summer. That was emphatically proved with the last two matches, at Delhi and Mumbai. At Delhi, England’s score of 271 for five was challenging without being over-stiff. But once Tendulkar failed to get going the middle order was simply unable to carry the fight all the way, even though Ganguly redeemed himself with a fine knock of 74. Still, India had two wickets left when the chase ended at 269 —just three tantalizing runs from victory. That was why the reverse all the more galling for home fans. Then on to Mumbai for the final battle. If anything, that was even more frustrating. England’s total of 255 was just about par for the course, and one, which should not have posed too many difficulties for the home team. Instead, the middle order collapse syndrome was at work again, especially following another relative failure from Tendulkar. Ganguly certainly did his cause and image a lot of good with a gritty knock of 80. But Kaif and Ratra were simply incapable of either giving a stand or propping up a the middle order on their own. Ganguly’s flying kick in the air was certainly justified. What to make of the whole thing. One immediate answer is provided with the fact that India had a list of 25 players doing duty at various times in the last 25 one-day matches the team have played. That is simply too large a number for any type of stability to establish itself. Certainly, the general feeling that regional pulls and pressures have a lot to do with team selection especially in limited overs matches has quite an element of truth to it. It is easy enough to criticize the middle order of the batting, but the middle order itself has not been very stable in its composition. As for England, they had started as no-hopers, but finished with the tag of moral victors. That is no mean achievement on alien soil. Most of the England were simply unused to playing before such huge crowds. At the end, Hussain went out of his way to praise the crowds themselves. As for the captain himself, he had been talking earlier last summer of early retirement, what with injury problems and poor form. But India seems to have rejuvenated Nasser Hussain. At least, we are always there to do a good turn for someone! Like with the Test matches earlier, it was a well-fought series. For the time being, that should keep Boards happy. -PIB Features in-depth coverage > India England Cricket Series > |
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