A day at the circus

Harish Chandramouli

After the pulsating effects of the recently concluded Test series, I swore to myself I would have absolutely nothing to do with the one-dayers that were to follow. I reasoned that to sit and watch limited-overs cricket after such an outstanding exhibition of the longer form of the game, would be akin to mocking all that the game really stood for.

However, in the end, the bait was just too much to miss out on. When a friend spoke to me on Saturday and suggested that I come over not only for the Bangalore tie, but that I also come early so that I could first wade through recordings of both the final day of the third Indo-Aus Test and the second WI-SA Test first, I was taken in hook, line and sinker.

After spending all night watching the rejuvenated Carl Hooper bat quite brilliantly on that last day against the Proteas (sadly, unable to lead his team to victory in the end), it was finally show time at the Chinnaswamy stadium for the real fun and games.

I don't know what I had expected, or what my mind had readied itself for, but at the very sight of the two teams adorned in those ridiculous coloured flannels striding out onto the ground, the absurdity of the whole event was reinforced like never before. One-day cricket was just not serious cricket. Test cricket was where it was at, and where it would always be.

The first few overs that went by seemed to only further underline that the players too exactly thought this. Both sides almost seemed to be making an effort to try and prove that they cared 'less' about this contest than the other. But in the end, this was one area where Australia did score a brief victory over India. After some gentle pushing and prodding around, the fall of the first Indian wicket seemed to set off an alarm in Tendulkar's head, and all of a sudden he became a possessed man.

This was the Sachin we had all been dying to see for so long - the one who batted virtually without a care on his shoulders, and one who just went out there and gave it a thump without any inhibition at all - and boy was it fun while it lasted. Unfortunately, though, just when he was beginning to blossom and really take the opposition to the cleaners, a cruel twist of fate denied him and us the opportunity of really seeing a protracted effort.

Poor Laxman seemed an absolutely shattered soul after the event -- the enormity of the transgression he had helped commit, as well as the sight of a furious Tendulkar storming back into the pavilion without even bothering to heed his half-hearted attempt at an apology was enough to wipe out the smile on his face for the rest of his innings -- and almost as if in a bid to match the man who was on his way back stroke for stroke, he set about blazing away at one end till he ultimately perished, trying for far too much.

Even though it is very hard to take these one-day games seriously, they do serve a purpose in the talent they unearth. Having read the day before that either Dinesh Mongia or Virender Sehwag might be playing in place of Robin Singh, I was naturally pleased to find that the second of the two had indeed been pencilled in for the tie.

I was pleased not just because I had followed his exploits on the Ranji scene in recent times (in particular, his ability to score extremely quickly, even when under pressure) but because as someone who had been suggesting ever since the advent of the Stone Age that India needed at least SIX top order batsmen if they were to become competitive against the top teams, the exclusion of a bits and pieces cricketer like Robin Singh was indeed a sign that things were moving along in the right direction.

And today, Sehwag showed exactly why India had erred all these years, in not giving their young batsmen with talent a go in the middle-order: coming in at 122/4, rather than prod and defend his way to an innings that would have resulted in India still losing handily in the end, he came out and played with the sort of aggression, vigour and panache that made it seem as if India had never lost all those wickets to begin with. The Indian innings, which was starting to look in tatters, was resurrected beautifully and with minimal fuss.

But if Sehwag impressed me to a certain extent, then Dahiya took it to an altogether new level. Call it a fluke, call his innings today a never to be repeated effort, or one that only came about because of the easy nature of the track -- but it is still hard to remember when *any* Indian wicket-keeper made a 38-ball fifty, or played as unselfishly and for the team as Vijay did.

Those to me were the brief highlights when India batted. And when Australia took to the crease later on, I really couldn't care less. I had seen what I had come to see -- some classy Indian batting, the positive strokeplayer of a fresh face, and above all, some enterprise and style from even those faces that were slightly more familiar.

The Indian bowling, as always, was a grim reminder as to just how little talent we have in a department that is arguably the most important at all. Apart from the ever improving and pugnacious Zaheer Khan, the rest were most ordinary. Ajit Agarkar in particular standing out for an extremely horrifying spell where he couldn't seem to get a thing right.

Meanwhile, the game continued on. Poor Steve Waugh got sawed off by a poor decision at a critical time, and from there on it was always clear that the Australians would extend their losing streak to the OD format too.

Not that any of it really mattered, however. The Tests 'were' over and done with, and both teams knew which side had prevailed in the contest that actually stood for something.

The final decision of the day said all there was to be said about the tamasha on the field. The umpire, after looking like he was going to call a leg bye to one that was clearly missing legstump, deciding in the end that what the heck, he had had enough of it all, and ending up raising his finger instead.

The message was clear. Circus time was over. It was time for the participants to head home.

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