A one-dayer to treasure

For sheer emotion, it was a one-day international to savour for the ages. The sensational throwing off and crushing of the monkey on the back in the form of the 0-for-9 finals record, captain Sourav Ganguly’s pricelessly emotional celebrations, inscrutable youngster Mohammad Kaif’s nerveless temperament and the records shattered, all made it a triumph for India to treasure. As a spectacle, it was surely one of the greatest ODIs ever. But it was the depth of feeling displayed by the Indian team that will linger in the memory most.

They were seemingly finished, rallied, finished off again and then revived by two young batsmen who knew no fear, the meaning of defeat nor the odds stacked against them.

At 146/5, chasing a distant 326, it should realistically have been all over. Ganguly and Sehwag tried, but after the characterless effort with the ball, loss of wickets chasing a total of that magnitude was inevitable. A flying start was necessary, but partnership building was always required that would see the run-rate deflate, with the batsmen still having to keep it high enough to be within range with wickets in hand towards the end. The pressure of that tightrope proved intolerable; the mistakes seemingly fatal.

But the confidence of youth meant Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif did not know when they were beaten. They refused to submit and did not lose sight of the objective, managing the difficult juxtaposition of sustaining a partnership while keeping a healthy enough run rate to stay just within theoretical range. Never mind that half the side was out with only the tail to come.

Until the Yuvraj-Kaif partnership, just about everything had been against India. The pattern was to some degree set when England scored more runs than the quality of Khan and Nehra’s bowling should have allowed in the initial overs. Three half-chances were not taken, Hussain batted streakily, and still England’s progress was threatening.

The key moment appeared to arrive when Trescothick swept Harbhajan for four and six in consecutive balls. Harbhajan was beginning to rein in England’s momentum, and with persistence the state of the game could have been rectified. But when Hussain also signalled he was prepared to take risks to get his innings going and survived, India’s outlook gradually changed for the worse.

It was at this point that character was needed; something had to be manufactured to break the batsmen’s rhythm. The way Trescothick, and to a greater extent Hussain, played the spinners, sweeping and reverse sweeping almost compulsively, indicated it was the right move to pick both Harbhajan and Kumble. But they needed to *bowl* like spinners, with flight and belief, and they didn’t. They were too passive, Harbhajan reduced to firing the ball through and Kumble serving up inconsistency.

Destiny was seemingly conspiring against India, but it was fully abetted by the indifferent bowling. It was uninspired stuff, particularly given that one of the batsmen, Hussain, hardly hit a ball in the middle of the bat. After 30 overs, the range of the total was effectively determined, and the rest was a case of going through the motions and limiting the damage.

Averaging 14 in the preliminaries, the enormity of the task facing India appeared to inspire some fully committed risk-taking by Ganguly. Lacerating the off-side boundary, Ganguly eclipsed his more explosive partner and showed why it was still the right move to keep Tendulkar in reserve.

The spectacular start was what was required, but the difficult part was always ahead. With the field back, the run rate required had to increase, yet the batsmen could not be overly concerned with it, needing to keep wickets in hand for the natural surge at the end. It would have been suicidal to attempt to maintain seven per over.

Still, Ganguly erred in hitting across the line; Mongia and Dravid were essentially strangled out by Irani, and when Tendulkar was somewhat fatalistically bowled, stepping away slashing at Giles (the experience of the veteran seemed to tell him the cause was hopeless, and to play accordingly), 0-for-10 seemed a certainty.

That only appeared to change sometime between overs 35-40, when the belief started to come back. As well as the familiar power of Yuvraj’s strokes, it was hard not to be struck by the confidence and technique of Kaif. Whatever else, he looked a mature Test batsman, and the character so sorely missing in the bowling was finally displayed by the pair.

Remarkably, about fifty runs out, for the first time one would have said that victory was India’s for the taking. It was evident that Yuvraj could feel it, which made his dismissal against Collingwood all the more excruciating. If India had lost, one suspects he would still be shaking his head and feeling responsible.

Responsibility was exactly what Harbhajan and Kumble dreadfully failed to show in support of Kaif. With the impassive Kaif only needing the strike, Harbhajan’s and Kumble’s recklessness in facing Flintoff was inexcusable, even if the leg-spinner didn’t hit it. Fortunately, it did not undermine the hard work of Yuvraj and Kaif and prevent the sensational triumph. Protect Kaif from the hype, and get this man a Test career!

Finally, if you did not love the spontaneously emotional celebration of Sourav Ganguly then something must be wrong with the spirit in which cricket is watched. This is a captain who clearly loves his team and cares deeply about its performance. The shirt-waving, flag-waving and leaping embrace of Kaif had to be heartfelt and was wonderful to see. Ganguly may have taken a lot of criticism but for this he deserves only appreciative kudos.

More Columns

Mail Daniel Laidlaw