07 December 2005

The Indian batting tortoises

What would you expect from a cricket team playing in a truncated cricket match which will surely end in a draw even if the two teams playing in the game are two local clubs?

I for one, would expect the teams to provide lots of entertainment to the spectators coming to the stadium and watching the match on the tele across the world.

I do hope, most of you will share the same opinion.

I am talking about the recently rained off Chennai Test Match between India and Sri Lanka.

The Indian team which boasts of world class players and budding world class talent had a great chance of giving good entertainment to the crowd as the match had in any case died in all other respects having lost nearly four days of cricket due to the torrential rains.

For some strange reasons the top players, sans V. Sehwag, scratched around giving maiden after maiden to the Sri Lankan bowlers. The wicket was definitely not a minefield or an unplayable surface.

The Indians batted as though their future career was depended on the number of deliveries they faced and the number of singles they scored.

They keep talking about Sachin Tendulkar being a batting great. But, he seemed to be content on working towards his 35th Test Hundred (a personal landmark) than taking control of the situation and providing entertainment to the crowd that came just to see him bat as there was no motivation for them in the dying game.

What Sachin Tendulkar gave to them? He scored 20 odd runs facing 120+ deliveries in this test match. He was watchful, careful, skillful and above all, awful. What was he trying to prove? Contrast his innings with those played by Jayawardane or Sehwag or M.S. Dhoni or even Rahul Dravid to a limited extent in this very same match.

Ultimately India got all out for 167. And conceded the psychological advantage to Sri Lanka who batted postively and took the lead over Indians losing fewer wickets.

I still wonder what made Indian team and especially Sachin Tendulkar bat like the way they did in this test match. Were the Indian batters trying to learn the "Occupying the crease" skill in this match?

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