A triumph of strategy

Sometimes monkeys die." The likes of Ross Galler's devastated expression on hearing the supposed death of his monkey would never probably be seen on the cricket field. Probably, because my thoughts about Port of Spain have been largely derived from the television images and the commentary from Sobers, Harsha and others.

But the Indian team and its supporters (I am one too!) would definitely prepare for my lynching the moment they hear a similar comment from me on the happenings at Port of Spain. However, it is true.

Sometimes teams do win. So why are we making a hullabaloo over this. Because it comes 26 years after an epic victory and at the same place? Because it finally seems that the Indian pace attack has gotten over the hangovers from Kapil's 434? Or is it because of the relief after five days of "glorious uncertainties" (to use a clichéd expression that should have been interred with Heisenberg's remains in 1976). Or is it the fact that Deep Dasgupta has finally been confined to where he belongs -- the dressing room? None of these "reasons" even merit discussion. They were inevitable, except the first, which is best a coincidence.

Looking forward from here on, one can just hope that the Indian team improves more. This series has been so far a match-up between two inconsistent teams and it will be so, unless one of these two teams suddenly decides it has had enough tentative jabbing and launches a full-fledged barrage. And none would be happier than me if this happens to be the Indian team.

The team management's stand vis-à-vis Kumble has been vindicated, but the credit for that goes to Srinath and to a lesser extent, Nehra and Zaheer. Ganguly seemed to have learnt lessons from Guyana and attacked most of the time. In fact, Srinath's introduction into the attack the moment Lara came to the crease speaks volumes of the thinking that has gone into strategy. But definitely, his attitude towards his bowlers did not win him admirers. Bangar was confined to the outfield almost the whole of the Test and raises questions about his inclusion in the team for this Test.

Why do you need a bowling all-rounder to open the innings in place of the regular opener if you don't consider him a vital cog in your attack? But then, Indian cricket has been chock a block with so many similar incidents that this would probably be an issue ignored by all.

But as a senior bowler who has been the mainstay throughout this tour so far, regardless of inconsistencies, he surely deserved more than a verbal barrage when he was bowling at his best. Maybe this opinion of mine would not hold significance if India had lost, but even then, Srinath's efforts need to be lauded in the face of the thumping the other bowlers received at the hands of Hooper and Co., both in Guyana and to lesser extent in Port of Spain.

So this Test has been just a triumph of strategy, a battle of not the best, but just the better team. Superlatives have no place in this series, if the teams are the subjects. The same, however, cannot be said of two titans, one of whom has promised but not delivered and the other who is at this moment basking in the adulations of not just his teammates, but the whole of the world. This series has the potential to develop into an absorbing one. The battle has perhaps been won, but lest the victors rest, the war is still on. A series should ideally not be decided before the last day of the tour. For cricket's sake, let's hope this ideal is achieved.

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Mail Ananthanarayanan K Subramanian