Chandigarh, Tuesday, November 17, 1998
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Chandigarh, Tuesday, November 17, 1998 |
Gentleman-cricketer Srinath joins 200-wicket
club Aiming for medals in
Bangkok Asian Games
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Indian cricket
lacks bench strength SOUTH Africa look sure to be on the right track as far as their build-up for the World Cup in England is concerned. The team won the inaugural Commonwealth Games title and then subdued a buoyant West Indies in the Dhaka Mini World Cup final. In the Dhaka tournament South Africa were without the services of key new ball bowlers Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, allrounders Lance Klusener and Brian McMillan besides opening batsman Gary Kirsten, while in the Commonwealth Games Pollock led the new-look team in the absence of skipper Hansie Cronje. The twin triumphs reveal in no uncertain terms that South Africa’s coffers of reserve strength are full. Players like Steve Elworthy, Alan Dawson, Nicky Boje, Derek Crooks and Mike Rindel made it evident that they had it in them to further the cause of their team in more or less the same manner as their senior counterparts can do as and when they get the opportunity to play. It is, in fact, the reserve strength which makes the teams like South Africa and Australia look so formidable in the arena of international cricket. Australia has separate teams as well as captains for Tests and one-day matches and given the big pool of talent the country has the performance of the team never really dips on account to injuries to some of the key players. Pakistan have always amazed the way it produces fast bowlers. So strong is the team in this respect that the bowling attack never really looks depleted even in the absence of regular bowlers. Mohammed Zahid and Shoaib Akhtar, who recently got the opportunity to play against the visiting Australian side in the absence of the dreaded pace bowling duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, impressed everybody with their skill, especially the pace they generated, showing that with a little bid more exposure they can be as good in the business as any. Besides, Pakistan have other good fast bowlers like Aquib Javed, who has tormented India several times with his nagging accuracy, Mohammad Akram, who has played for the country as also county cricket in England, and Azhar Mahmood, who is a very useful batsman also who can fill the berths in case of an emergency. Sri Lanka, basically a team which relies more on its batsmen for victories, has seen the emergence of good pace bowlers. Experienced pacers like Pramodya Wickramasinghe and young Suresh Pereira bowled impressively in the absence of first choice left-arm quickies Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa during their tour to England in which off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan with a match haul of 16 wickets scripted a historic Test victory over England. In addition to these, the island nation has medium fast bowlers like Ravindra Pushpakumara, Duleep Liyange and Jayanth De Silva who have performed reasonably well at the international level. Young Zimbabwe fast bowler Henry Olonga had the cream of Indian batting sliced off with the blistering pace which fashioned victory for Zimbabwe in the inconsequential league match at Sharjah. Olonga and budding Mpumelelo Mbangwa played the match as the team management decided to rest their frontline pace bowlers Heath Streak and Eddo Brandes. Apart from these, Zimbabwe have Neil Johnson, who has already cemented his place in the side and 17-year-old Meleleki Nkala, deemed to have a bright future. Nkala has the proud distinction of scalping Tendulkar off his second delivery in international career when he had the best batsman in the world caught by Wishart in the second one-day match in Zimbabwe during India’s recent tour to that country. Besides lethal Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, the West Indies are again in the process of strengthening their pace bowling attack which has terrorised batsmen. Fast bowlers like Marvyn Dillon, Franklyn Rose, Reon King and Nixon McLean have done well in whatever little opportunities they have got so far. India are perhaps the only country whose bench strength is thinnest. With barely six months to go for the World Cup nothing concerted is being done to shore up the reservoir of talent. In the bowling department fast medium bowler Javagal Srinath and leg-spinner Anil Kumble are the only established bowlers in the side. A charged-up Srinath has the wherewithal to soften up the best of the batsmen and is an asset to the team. Young quickie Ajit Agarkar has shown the glimpses of being a useful bowler and a handy batsman. With this meagre bowling strength one really shudders to think of the team’s prospects if India have to field a team in a key tournament in the absence of Srinath and Kumble due to injury or whatever reasons. The amount of cricket the team is playing the threat of injury, particularly to fast bowlers, looms large. Unfortunately, Venkatesh Prasad, the only medium fast bowler in the country to take 100 100 or more wickets in one-day matches after Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar and Srinath and the winner of the Ceat International Cricketer of the Year Award continues to be treated shabbily. Prasad, who can bowl vicious leg cutters and about whom Geoff Boycott, one of the best opening batsmen the game has seen, thinks he should be encouraged, finds himself in the squad for some odd game only to be dumped out again in the next. Nothing has been done to boost the morale of Orissa swing bowler Debashish Mohanty, expected to be very effective in England during the World Cup. And these are the only pace bowlers who figure in the scheme of things at present. And this in a country which has suffered from the perennial shortage of quality fast bowlers! One of the most disturbing aspect of the Indian bowling is lack of sting during the slog overs. Srinath, who has bowled so many sizzling spells with the new ball looks a different bowler towards the end of the innings Agarkar still lacks experience and has proved far too expensive. The absolute truth about the Indian bowling becomes all too apparent when wonderkid Sachin Tendulkar is sommoned to bowl in such tight situations. The little champion who has the knack of doing the needful has bailed the team out more often than not. The Indian middle order still looks bereft of solid strokes-makers. Navjot Sidhu having an impressive one-day record, continues to be on the sidelines, while Rahul Dravid with all the talent and sound technique he has has come a cropper in the shorter version of the game. Nayan Mongia looks ill-equipped for the job of a pinch-hitter and unpredictable fielding is the other grey area. The unprecedented success that the team has achieved since Mohammad Azharuddin took over the mantle of leadership has much to do with the way Tendulkar has batted. Tendulkar, who has been in awesome form this year, has wielded his willow like a bludgeon. The little champion who has completed 21 centuries (nine in the current year) overtaking Desmond Haynes’ record of 17 one-day centuries has displayed remarkable ability to come good at crucial moments and carved out victories for the team singlehandedly. Announcing
the 14-member squads for the Commonwealth Games and the
Sahara Cup, Kishen Rungta, the then chairman of the
selection committee, had proclaimed: “We are lucky
enough to pick up two strong teams. The teams are well
balanced and capable of winning both tournaments.”
Lack of his understanding about the strength available
and how much the claims were close to reality became
evident soon when the Jadeja-led team was beaten hollow
at Kuala Lumpur and the Azhar-led squad got its worst
drubbing from the belligerent Pakistan team at Toronto.
Enough reminders, perhaps, about the bench strength the
country has of quality cricketers! |
Gentleman-cricketer GHULAM AHMED was genuinely a gentleman-cricketer. Two other Indians who belong to his class are Vijay Hazare and Gundappa Vishwanath. Most of the remaining stars, who have donned India’s colours, I reckon, may be called more cricket players than cricketers. Tall and loosely-limbed Ghulam Ahmed was essentially a man of few words. He spoke softly; he shunned controversies and self-publicity. But he was a shrewd observer of events and a good judge of men, particularly those who were cricket reporters or writers. I remember an instance when I was his guest for the Moin-ud-Dowla Tournament at Fateh Maidans (Hyderabad) in 1965. Indian Starlets, managed by Amarnath and financed by Hari Shastri, were participants. One of the team’s youngsters performed superbly but a national daily’s senior correspondent buried it down in the copy while highlighting insignificant performances of some non-entities. Ghulam Ahmed felt anguished at the partial reporting but kept away from the controversy. Ghulam Ahmed was a symbol of fairplay, justice and etiquette. A seasoned bureaucrat in the Andhra Pradesh Government, he did not misuse his authority when he was the Board secretary or Chairman of the Selection Committee. When pointed out that the UP all-rounder, a consistent batsman and right-hand leg-break googly bowler was not being given a proper look-in, he immediately summoned him for selection trials. The player in question was provided an extended exposure but sadly he could not make the grade though his deeds in the Ranji Trophy were commendable. Ghulam Ahmed’s peak period as an off-spinner was in the mid 1940s. He should have been an automatic choice for the teams to tour England in 1946 and Australia in 1947. But he was ignored as he was branded as a matting wicket bowler. Many knowledgeable critics were upset at the shabby treatment meted out to the Hyderabadi spinner. C.P. Johnson, himself a player of repute, went on saying that it was a sheer nonsense that Ghulam Ahmed’s claim should have been ignored by the “wise” men of the selection committee. Upset Ghulam Ahmed was but not disappointed. He continued to impress with his bowling. He gained his place in the Indian team and rose to become the captain. Now he was a victim of another group which deliberately dropped catches off his bowling to get him out of the captaincy and the team. Ghulam Ahmed had a longish run-in. His action was smooth. His control over length and line was immaculate. His leg-cutter, often bowled from the edge of the return crease, gained speed and stood up. The ball moved away and often caught the batsman napping. It often brought him success. Had slip fielders been more alert, he would have got much more wickets than he secured. Ghulam Ahmed made his debut against the West Indies in 1948. He bagged four wickets for 94 from 35.2 overs at the Calcutta Test. In the second innings, he had two for 87. He continued to bowl superbly in the next two Tests at Madras and Bombay but did not get much success. Ignored against Commonwealth teams, Ghulam Ahmed was recalled against the England team in 1951-52 when he took six wickets for 80 in the Test. Leslie Smith, of England was all praise for Ghulam Ahmed’s performance. Ghulam Ahmed played an important role in India beating England (first win after 25 Tests) at Madras. The match, however, belonged to Vinoo Mankad. Ghulam Ahmed took four wickets for 77 in the second innings. On the tour to England in 1952, Ghulam Ahmed showed his prowess in ample measure. In the first Test at Leeds, he claimed the wickets of Compton, Graveney, Hutton, Simpson and Watkins for 100 runs in the first innings. He had two more wickets in the second innings. He had 15 wickets (average 24.73) in three Tests and 80 wickets (average 21.92) in all first class matches. There were English critics who went on record, comparing him with Jim Laker. This was saying a lot. Ghulam Ahmed was chosen for the tour to the West Indies in 1952-53. But he did not undertake the trip. He was back in the Indian team for the tour to Pakistan (1954-55) where he took nine wickets for 335 in four matches on docile wickets. His best was five for 109 in the first Test at Dhaka. Captain of the Indian team in 1956-57 against New Zealand, he resigned midway through as he found that he was not getting enough support from his colleagues. He was persuaded to return to the team. In the Calcutta Test against Australia in 1956-57, he took seven wickets for 49. Yet India lost the Test to Australia by 94 runs. Ghulam Ahmed was chosen captain of the Indian team against the West Indies in 1958-59. Amarnath’s casting vote did the trick for him. Two selectors, L.P. Jai and N. Ramaswami, were opposed to Ghulam Ahmed’s choice saying that he did not deserve his place in the team. Born at Hyderabad on July 4 1922, Ghulam Ahmed played for his state against Madras in Ranji Trophy in 1939-40. He was then 17. He took nine wickets in the match. He captured 179 wickets (average 18.18). In 1951-52, he was involved in a marathon bowling stint when he bowled 92.3 overs against Holkar. A
product of Madrasa-i-Aliya and Nizam College, Ghulam
Ahmed was not known for his batting. But once he hit 21
sixes in a local match. Five of them were hit
consecutively. |
Srinath joins
200-wicket club JAVAGAL Srinath became the third Indian bowler after Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble and eighth in the history of one-day internationals to complete 200 wickets. He achieved this feat when he had Sri Lankan skipper Arjuna Ranatunga in the fourth match of the Coca-Cola Trophy at Sharjah on November 9, 1998. It was his 147th one-day international match. By completing 200 wickets in his 147th match, the “Mysore Express” equalled Anil Kumble’s Indian record of fastest 200 wickets in terms of matches. The first bowler to take 200 wickets in one-day internationals was India’s Kapil Dev. Kapil reached this milestone when he dismissed West Indian Winston Benjamin in his 166th one-day international match on October 22, 1991 at Sharjah. Pakistan’s Wasim Akram who holds the record of taking the highest number of wickets, 362 in 251 matches, was the second bowler to take 200 wickets in one-day internationals. Akram achieved this feat by dismissing South African Brian McMillan in his 143rd one-day international at East London on February 15, 1993. The third bowler to join this elite club of 200 wickets was Australian Craig McDermott. McDermott reached this landmark in his 136th one-day international at Melbourne on January 18, 1996. Another Pakistani, speedster Waqar Younis, was the fourth bowler to take 200 wickets in one dayers. The speedster completed his 200 wickets when he had Ajay Jadeja on March 9, 1996, at Bangalore during the quarterfinal of the sixth World Cup. Waqar achieved this milestone in only his 118th match, the quickest in terms of matches. The fifth bowler to complete 200 wickets in instant cricket was West Indian Curtly Ambrose. Ambrose reached this milestone in his 146th one-day international at Port of Spain on June 6, 1997, by dismissing Sri Lankan middle order batsman Aravinda de Silva. West Indian Courtney Walsh was the sixth bowler to join this club in the shorter version of the game. He achieved this feat when he dismissed Wasim Akram of Pakistan in his 180th one-day international match at Sharjah on December 12, 1997. Before Srinath, Anil Kumble was the last bowler to take 200 wickets in one dayers. He reached this milestone when he bowled Zimbabwean Garry Brent at Bulawayo on September 26, 1998 in his 147th match. Kumble is the only spinner of this elite club. Born on August 31, 1969 at Mysore, Javagal Srinath made his international debut against Pakistan on October 18, 1991 at Sharjah. Pakistan’s Wasim Akram was his first victim in one-day internationals. Srinath completed his 50 wickets in one dayers by dismissing Gary Crocker in his 37th match on March 19, 1993. In his 67th match against the West Indies at Calcutta on November 5, 1994, Srinath completed his century of wickets. Stuart Williams was his 100th victim. South
African Brian McMillan at Mumbai on December 14, 1996 was
Srinath’s 150th wicket in one day internationals. It
was his 115th match. |
Aiming for
medals in Bangkok Asian Games INDIA’S athletics run-up to the Asian Games has been simply unbelievable. The number of records updated and the depth unfolded in the National Open Meet in Calcutta defies logic. The athletes have either peaked too early or have improved beyond expectations. Whatever it was the fact does remain that faster timings were recorded, new distances measured and a young heptathlete strove gallantly for a national record but still remained outside the qualifying mark. Indian athletics never had it better. The performance which rocked the Open Meet was the lowering of Milkha Singh’s national record of 45.6 sec (electronic time-45.73) of 1960 vintage. This was a mark, which along with his 20.7 sec for the 200 metres, also of the same period, had stood majestically untouched. In fact few quarter-milers had come under 47 sec and no one under 46 sec. Then the first sign of possible danger to the mark was sounded with Paramjit Singh of the Police crossing the first hurdle, the 46 sec barrier, clocking 45.95 sec in the Asian Championships in Fukuoka in Japan in the third week of July. After that he was beaten twice in slower timings, once by Lijo David in the Raja Bhalindra Singh Memorial International in Delhi and then by Jata Shankar in the Police Games, also held in Calcutta, before the Open Meet. Perhaps reserving his best for the bigger event, Paramjit gave an explosive performance in the Open Meet to invoke memories of the Flying Sikh and his times. He came home in 45.70 sec, overtaking Jata Shankar, Lijo David and Ramachandran. Milkha’s 38-year-old mark was gone at last. It is of little importance that the great Milkha Singh was reportedly reluctant to accept the fact that his name no longer adorned the record books. He just refused to believe that Paramjit had beaten his mark, seeking shelter in subterfuges. That showed a distinct lack of grace on his part. Paramjit had stood head and shoulders above the other Indian runners in Fukuoka and his two remarkable efforts as the anchor athlete in the relay had helped lower the India mark on both occasions. And in Calcutta he only repeated his Fukuoka showing, combining with Jata Shankar, P. Ramachandran and Lijo David, the same three whom he overtaken in the quarter-mile, but now as part of the AAFI team, to lower the national mark set in Fukuoka. The squad clocked 3:04.91. Paramjit’s individual showing and the contribution by the other three means that India has, apart from one athlete of a sub-46 sec capability, quality depth in the event. And the four athletes have proved it by breaking the national mark three times in two meets, the first one in July and the other in November. The performances of Pramjit and the others is essentially an Indian show and is unlikely to make much of an impression on the Asian Games track in Bangkok. Sugat Tillakratne of Sri Lanka has run two sub-45 second races, once while winning the gold in the Asian Championships in Fukuoka and the other, for a bronze in the much tougher Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. There is thus no faster man as an anchor in the continent and the Indians will have to run much faster if they are to win even a bronze in the relay. The Japanese and the men from Qatar are the likely candidates to fill in the top two spots. Traditionally the shot put has been an Indian event in the Asian Games, starting with Madan Lal in the inaugural edition in New Delhi in 1951, followed by Parduman Singh in the next two Games. Indian shot putters have generally placed in the first three with late Joginder Singh alone after Parduman, winning it twice in succession on four visits to the Games. Shakti Singh with a career best of 19.08 metres had stood apart from the others but without ever coming up with a matching effort outside India. Perhaps bitten by the progress bug, the strong man from the Railways crossed the 19-metre mark twice in the last ten days, measuring the maximum of 19.47 mts in the Open Meet. The earlier effort of 19.38 metres was achieved during the Circuit Meet in Mumbai. He was, however, in for a major shock as the more consistent Bahadur Singh of the Police went over his mark, his effort measuring 19.59 metres for a new national record with two of them in the plus 19 metres category, a repeat performance in the Bangkok Games would certainly ensure a medal for India. The current crop of shot putters in the continent, with the exception of Saad Bilal Mubarak of Qatar, have not really hurled to any outstanding distances. In fact the 20-metre barrier appears to have eluded the current aspirants in the continent, though the record stands at 20.45. At the moment Bahadur appears to be the athlete more likely to upstage the field in the Asiad. Shakti, despite his experience, is notoriously erratic in the international ring. Another event which the Indians will be looking at as a medal prospect is the women’s discuss where Neelam Jaswant Singh, selver-medalists in the Asian Championships, has stretched her effort to 59.18 metres. Neelam now has a cover candidate in Swaranjit Kaur who provided the incentive with a life-time best throw of 58.54 metres. A repeat and if possible a clearance of 60 plus metres may qualify the two women to a place on the victory podium in an event where there are at least two Chinese athletes who have had better throws. This is a tricky event as is the case with other throws and athletes generally tend to choke in major competition. Neelam has proved herself to be a good competitor at the Fukuoka Meet and that experience backed up by the confidence gained from her latest effort should help her to a medal in the Asiad. It is a pity that P.T. Usha was not fit to take part in the Open Meet and her defeats in the 100 metres and 400 metres in the competitions after the Asian Championships have not helped the cause of women sprinters. But for all that Usha remains the best bet for a medal in the Asiad in Bangkok. Her presence alone should help the cause of the two relay squads where India has quality depth as was demonstrated in the Fukuoka Games. India won a gold in the 4 x100 and a silver in the longer distance. Sahib Singh’s record breaking effort of 50.43 sec in the 400-metre hurdles was another positive sign but he will have to run below 50 sec to come within medal scrutiny at the Asian Games level. Indian progress in this highly technical event has not matched that of some of the other countries, particularly China, Japan and Qatar. Women’s long jumpers, Lekha Thomas and Pramilla, could perhaps go further than 6.33 metres to be accommodated among the medal winners in the Asian Games. Lekha did break the national mark in both the long jump and triple jump though with Pramilla, busy as she is with the seven-in-one-event, the heptathlon, to push her with matching efforts, she could well enter the Asian jumpers zone of 6.50 metres plus to make an impression. Pramilla for whom the long jump is a strong event, broke the national mark in the heptathlon with a tally of 5705. This is the second time this year that she has improved the national mark. Improved
performances in some of the other events in the recent
competitions was an indication that Indian athletics is
headed the right way. National records in javelin by
Satvir Singh (79.65 mts) and Surnita Rani in the 5,000
metres (16.09.68) apart, there was the re-emergence of
Bahadur Parsad, perhaps the only Indian with
international recognition for his efforts in the 1,500
metres and 5,000 metres, all augur well for the country
during next month’s multi-discipline Games in
Bangkok. For all his reputation and his performances
Bahadur is yet to win a medal in the Asian Games. Bangkok
could perhaps be his last fling at a medal. |
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