Two wins in row and India become favourites

Two wins in row and India become favourites
Vikrant Gupta

Faridabad, March 14: Indian coach Kapil Dev told skipper Saurav Ganguly this morning: ``You are having an extended holiday.'' A relaxed Ganguly -- who chose to stay back and join in the victory celebrations in his hometown Calcutta rather than land in Delhi with teammates Monday night -- merely smiled, picked up his stuff and got to knocking the ball around.

Later, a few Indian players teased Ganguly when he left the nets at Delhi's Harbaksh Stadium midway to undertake an hour's drive, with Kapil in tow, to the Nahar Singh Stadium here for a glimpse of the pitch for Wednesday's third One-Dayer of the series against South Africa.

It's amazing how the morale of the team, as well as that of the millions of supporters, has changed. First, prince-in-waiting Ajay Jadeja (at Kochi) and then, sworn-in-prince Ganguly (at Jamshedpur) waved their magic wands and a bunch of no-hopers have suddenly become upmarket again. Hansie Cronje's men are trailing by two games and the Indian tails are up.

Indian cricket and amnesia go hand in hand. Two good days and everyone forgets the bad ones. We forget how our batsmen turn their backs on genuine pace, their flattering records notwithstanding; how our bowlers are imcomplete without tailor-made wickets or how our fielders get completely lost on a cricket field. Now that they are playing in their backyard, and winning too, let's look ahead, without taking stock of our past, and savour the moment.

Simple, isn't it? More so, when it would be quite sometime before the Indians will be engaged in a tough, demanding tour.

In the Tests, the Indians were hit by the low-confidence syndrome. Their performance too was not in keeping with their actual potential and the One-day victories should act as the tonic they so need. If they wrap up the series, it will be an auspicous start to Ganguly's reign. He has already voiced his views on Indian cricket, especially the pitiable standard of domestic cricket. Knowing the powers-that-be, Ganguly might be heard only as long as his team keeps on winning.

Same goes for Kapil. He has been under pressure and with Sachin Tendulkar deciding to abdicate his throne before the ODIs, there were voices within the Board wanting Kapil to follow suit. He hasn't done so, hence he is willing to carry on the fight.

Kapil returns to the ground where he, incidentally, limped off the last time he played for the country. Years later, he got into trouble with his parent association for his refusal to clear Faridabad -- in his capacity as the chairman of BCCI's Pitches Committee -- as a venue for the India-Australia match in '98.

The South Africans will be seeking revenge but the problem with them is that they seem to wilt when things don't go according to their plans. They lost the '96-97 Titan Cup to India unable to keep their cool in the finals, and at the moment, they are already a depleted side. Fast bowlers Nantie Haywards and Henry Williams have been ruled out for Wednesday's game, leaving Cronje with only 13 to choose from.

Cronje would also be aware that without Allan Donald, who returned home after the Test series, Indians know how to handle the others. There was a smile on his face when he saw green patches on the wicket. ``Interesting,'' he was to say but he may have also heard Ganguly telling the mediamen, ``I have no problems playing on green wickets as long as the grass is even. Patches like these will kill cricket, so I just hope the groundsmen will heed to our request (of shaving the grass overnight).''

Teams (from)

India: Saurav Ganguly (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Robin Singh, Sameer Dighe, Sunil Joshi, Anil Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, T Kumaran, Mohammed Kaif, Nikhil Chopra, Amit Bhandari.

South Africa: Hansie Cronje (captain), Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener, Nicky Boje, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Derek Crookes, Pieter Strydom, Steve Elworthy, Dale Benkenstein, Henry Williams.

Umpires: TR Kashyapan and Vijay Chopra. Third umpire: SC Gupta.

Hours of play: 9 am to 12.30 pm and 1.15 to 4.45 pm.