ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, 17 May — The New Zealand cricket team must be wondering just what is it about them that attracts terrorist suicide-bombers and that too just close to the hotel they are staying in. A few years back in Colombo, a suicide-bomber on a motorbike blew up himself as well as an important minister in the Sri Lankan government just outside the hotel they were staying in, and the resultant explosion sent charred flesh inside the hotel with splintered glass as well.
That time there was a vote taken among the team members whether to stay on or to leave for home and there were some who opted out, but the tour carried on. This time, with what had happened only a few months earlier and its background, there was no way the team was going to stay on.
In fact, having been routed in the ODIs and the solitary Test in what must surely be some of the hottest weather to play cricket in, the Kiwis would have been looking for any excuse to fly home. As it is, when they come down to our part of the world, they do it with great reservation and give the impression that they are doing a big favor and start counting the days to go home from the day they arrive.
The Australians too would now look twice before agreeing to go to Pakistan though their tour is still a few months away. The Australians are better travelers and especially since Border became the captain, they have made a special effort to mix with the locals and try and understand the culture and lifestyle of the subcontinent. That is why they have not only been popular visitors but have also been able to beat the hosts who have otherwise been pretty invincible on their own turf.
Countries like Australia and New Zealand are fortunate that they do not have the kind of terrorist problems that the subcontinent and England have. So it is quite understandable that they get nervous and jittery about staying on, especially after a bomb goes off close to their hotel, though of course those from the subcontinent would say that they should also use the same yardstick to gauge whether they should stay or return home if something similar happens in England.
That of course is an unrealistic expectation, for don’t forget the Queen is still the head in Australia and New Zealand, so to return home would be to say that they don’t have faith in their own security apparatus.
In the West Indies too there are no real security threats, though of course there is far greater vigilance and definitely more security personnel with the team than in the past. Still it would be a lot more relaxing for the Indian players than the security that they have to undergo at home. More than the security, what would be of concern to the team would be how to bounce back after the defeat in Barbados.
During the Test, there were some references to the inability of Harbhajan Singh to take wickets and comparisons were made with Anil Kumble, who had been omitted for two Tests, who also does not have as impressive a record overseas as he has at home. One is not sure how realistic such figures and statistics are, for the fact is that given the conditions and the pitches overseas, there is more use of bowlers who can use the new ball rather than the spinners and with the spinners getting fewer overs to bowl, it is not fair, at least entirely, to put the blame on them for the team’s inability to take 20 opposition wickets.
While the stats for the spinners are doled out to show their lack of penetration and effectiveness, it would only be fair to show similar stats for the batsmen to see how many matches the batsmen have won or saved for India outside the subcontinent.
Try and recall the last time an Indian batsman has batted for a day or more to save a Test match overseas. You will probably have to go back more than a decade to do so, for though batsmen have scored centuries, their efforts have not led to a win nor helped save a game till the second Test at Queen’s Park Oval where India won.
And if comparisons have to be made, compare it with the centuries scored by GR Vishwanath, where India either went on to win the game or the match ended in a draw. Each time GRV scored a century India was sure that it was a match they wouldn’t lose. Which other batsman, not just in Indian cricket, but in world cricket can boast of such a proud record?
It is bowlers who win matches for their teams, for they have to take the twenty wickets unless of course there is a declaration made and a target set at which point the batsmen have to either score the runs and achieve the target or bat long enough to ensure that the game is not lost. At the Test level, a match saved is like a match won, for it not only demoralizes the opposition that they couldn’t bowl out the wickets, but also gives the team that earned the draw the chance to come back and win the next one.
Today of course, but for weather interference, there aren’t too many drawn Tests and that is in main due to the influence of one-day matches where batsmen learn to take risks and sometimes the habit is carried into the Tests as well. In Tests the bowlers try to take wickets much more than in the one-dayers and the fielders are in catching positions more than in run-saving positions, and many a shot that would go safely in limited-overs cricket ends up with the batsman losing his wickets in the Tests.
India has its best chance of winning a series overseas since 1986 and by that one means outside the subcontinent, but to do that their batsmen need to bat for at least four sessions and about 125 overs in the first innings. They may well score only 300 runs in those overs but it gives them a chance to stay in the game even if the opposition goes on to overtake the score, for the opposition will also have to bat for five sessions at least to do so.
That leaves another six sessions of the Test and it is far easier to survive five out of that than the nine that India had to in Barbados. Therefore if India is to win a series overseas, it is the batsmen who have to do their job and outbat the West Indies. After all, it is the Indian batting that is reckoned to be world class, not the bowling, so it is about time they lived up to their reputation and the expectations of the Indian cricket supporters, and believe me, their best chance is against this West Indian attack. (Professional Management Group)
