BOMBAY, 2 April 2004 — Whatever the outcome of the first Test between India and Pakistan, the biggest debating point continues to be the first innings declaration by acting captain Rahul Dravid at a time when Sachin Tendulkar was just six runs short of his fourth double century in Test matches.
The usual high-falutin expression that no individual is bigger than the team may be used as a defense, but what happened at Multan, makes nonsense of several such beliefs because it is the timely contributions by individuals that ultimately make the team total. What was the position when Dravid decided to apply the closure? India were in with a total of 675 for 5, with an hour and a half to go before the close of second day’s play. If the Indian team’s plans were to put a tired Pakistani team in for at least an hour, then, after making allowance for ten minutes for the change over, there were at least 20 minutes that India could have allowed itself to bat on. But as soon as Yuvraj was out, the innings was declared.
A shocked Tendulkar, not usually given to publicly display his woes, fear or anger, was forced to speak his mind out at a press conference where he and Sehwag were being interviewed by the media for their record-breaking partnership He clearly said that there was a communication gap and he was not aware that the declaration was coming so soon. Many in India felt that it was unfair to Tendulkar not to allow him at least one or two overs. After all it was a landmark that was so close and could probably have been achieved with one hit. The people who watched on television a bout of instructions being passed on by Saurav Ganguly to skipper Dravid, believe that it was the former’s decision. This raises questions whether a captain who is not playing can be allowed to be so pro-active in the team’s on-the-spot decision making ?
One could have understood the urgency of making a declaration, if it was in the second innings and the team was desperate to buy as much time as possible to force a decision. Here the Indian team was well ahead in its scoring rate, as rates in Test match cricket go these days. An average of over 350 a day is what the Indian team had struck. Another couple of overs would not have mattered at all. Most newspapers in India and Pakistan have criticized the captain for such needless hurry when the leading batsman in the world was just six runs away from another milestone. It was a question of waiting for just minutes not hours. One of the writers asked Dravid a straight question: “Mr. Dravid, would you have declared the innings if suppose Sehwag was a few runs away from the world record of 380 ?”
Newspapers in Pakistan quoted their captain Inzamam ul-Haq as saying “If he was in that position, I would have allowed the batsman to complete his double-century. After all, how much time was needed.”
Such arguments over individual achievements and team interests will go on unabated. A line must be drawn somewhere. There is a difference between players playing just for their individual targets at the expense of the team’s interest. But in this case, both Segwag had launched such a fast scoring rate that even a few dull passages did not affect the over all state of the scoring rate. So, what great time was Dravid (or is it Ganguly) saving by denying Tendulkar a few minutes ?
Tendulkar may have missed just one more double century and the magnificent record he already has, that may not be much to lament about.. But the biggest loser is Team India. Those close to the Indian team say that this declaration had immediate effect on the team members. The usual delight of having a big total turned somber. The usual loud voices in the dressing room appeared considerably scaled down. Tendulkar did not take the field for the last hour of play. The others did not have the usual spring in their feet, as they went out.
Sehwag, who was one the players appearing disappointed despite his own stupendous feat of being the first Indian to cross the 300-mark, was in a trance for more than one reason. He was aware that Tendulkar had given him such wonderful support and, at times, even sacrificed his own strike to give more of it to the youngster. It was not surprising that he did not have either his eyes or his mind on the ball when a catch came to him in the slips off the bat Imran Farhat. He floored that simple chance. A split in loyalties or any kind of factionalism are the last things that this team wants. One hopes this incident will soon be forgotten.
