The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Time for an encore, India
M.S. Unnikrishnan

The Indian one-day team won the series when they toured Pakistan in 2004, but have lost four matches in a row to their arch-rivals since then.

The controversies are over. It’s time for high-voltage cricket. Sourav Ganguly’s team is keen to deliver an encore, having tamed Pakistan in the latter’s backyard last year. Inzamam-ul-Haq’s side, on the other hand, buoyed by four one-day wins on the trot against India, is determined to win the Test series as well.

There is plenty of enthusiasm for the series as Pakistan are touring India after six years. They last came to India in 1999 but a lot has happened in between, with India becoming a force to reckon with. Ganguly’s boys have earned the reputation of being the second best in the world, behind world champions Australia.

The well-balanced Indian team, having ‘home advantage’, is expected to sweep the series, while Pakistani supporters are hoping that their heroes would avenge the humiliation heaped on them at home by India last year. Either way, cricket stands to benefit as the fans see the teams now as a whole and not as a mere composition of a few individuals who consider themselves above all.

Fans are really not concerned about Shoaib Akhtar’s absence or the uncertainty over Sachin Tendulkar’s fitness. All they want are exciting contests. Both teams have several experienced and talented players in their ranks to enliven the series.

“We will concentrate on playing good cricket”, promised Inzamam. “There is no reverse in sport”, he reasoned. Pakistan have picked a relatively young but promising team which proved its mettle against Australia, despite getting a 0-3 drubbing in the Test series.

The role of the spinners would be dominant in the series though Indian batsmen rarely show respect for spinners.

The talk of Pakistan bringing the “weakest team ever” is hogwash. Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer is determined to prove a point or two, particularly after the debacle in Australia. Haq would have a tough job on hand in moulding his team into a winning combination.

The present Pakistan team have speedy and penetrative fast bowlers in Mohammad Sami and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who are capable of producing match-winning spells.

Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria can take quick wickets at critical movements. He is Pakistan’s spin trump card. He was recalled for the Australian series, but is short of match practice. Arshad Khan will be another good spin foil. Shahid Afridi came good to rediscover his spin tricks in Australia and hope to replicate it in India.

In batting, Pakistan have a fine left-right batting combination in Yasir Hameed and Salman Butt as both are attacking players. Younis Khan is another good hitter with a better scoring record than Yuvraj Singh and Mohammed Kaif.

Inzamam and Yousuf Youhana bring in stability in the middle order while Asim Kamal, Kamran Akmal, Moin Khan and Arshan Khan are all capable of pitching in with useful scores.

Arshad, besides contributing with the willow, can trouble the Indian left-handers with his off-spin bowling. But it would be a difficult task to dislodge the world-class Indian batsmen twice in five days on home turf in the Test series, which makes it a no-win situation for Pakistan.

India boast of dynamic batting and bowling line-ups. Though one of the opening slots is slightly unsteady as Virender Sehwag is yet to find a solid foil to his attacking ways, the selectors have persisted with the dependable Gautam Gambhir, who is expected to provide solidity at one end while Sehwag launches his assault.

Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh make the Indian top order batting deep and resourceful while Dinesh Kaarthick has been rewarded for his consistency behind the wickets.

The Indian bowling attack is an eclectic mix of pace and spin, with ample left-right variety to choose from. India have the depth to play on any kind of tracks as the bowling attack looks solid and penetrative in the hands of veteran leg spinner Anil Kumble, off spinner Harbhajan Singh and pacers Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra and Laxmipathi Balaji.

Balaji, back in the team after an injury-induced five-month lay-off, is now fit and ready. His bowling in Pakistan took him to the big league in his very first international outing. He proved himself match fit and his striking ability was sharp and precise in the Challenger Trophy and the Duleep Trophy recently to re-establish his credentials as a strike bowler with a killer punch.

Pathan was troubled by a side strain and was out of action for long spells last year. But he is a dangerous customer and the Pak batsmen will not forget his killer ways in a hurry.

India’s new physio John Gloster of Australia would have to shoulder a major responsibility in keeping the players free of injuries as during the tenure of his predecessor Andrew Leipus, some of the stars were always on the sick list.

Tendulkar played just one Duleep Trophy match, and made a measly four runs, after the series against Bangladesh in December. Tendulkar would take the field against Pakistan only if he is “100 per cent fit”.

The dashing Yuvraj has been preferred to the dynamic Mohammad Kaif for the first Test in Mohali. It is just as well, for Yuvraj would be playing in front of his home crowd, though Kaif had dome well in the Test series in Pakistan to merit selection.

With Kaif waiting in the wings, Yuvraj would have to deliver at Mohali to retain his Test slot. The same goes true for wicketkeeper Kaarthick, as Parthiv Patel and MS Dhoni are waiting for him to falter.

India hold advantage in fielding too as Yuvraj and Kaif are a class act with their dives, chases and catches.

India’s coach John Wright would want to demit office on a winning note, as his contract would expire after the Pakistan series.

The BCCI would now be looking for a coach who would stay with the team till the 2007 World Cup. Wright, if he is willing, can confidently stake his claim only if India conquer Pakistan at home.

Wright’s four-year term has been marked by twists and turns in the fortunes of the Indian team. He has indeed succeeded in moulding Ganguly’s men into a fine blend of fighters. A series win against Pakistan at home would be the icing on the cake.

Colossus among Pak captains
R. Mohan

The dynamic Imran Khan is the only Pakistan captain who has won a Test series in India

He was something of a specialist in having India over a barrel. While everyone is entitled to think the biggest day of his specialisation came in Sharjah in 1986 when Javed Miandad smote Chetan Sharma in the most famous last- ball six, the day Imran Khan really foxed all of India had come six years earlier.

It was on January 30 in 1980 that Imran put all of us Indians to shame. The scene was a splendidly packed Eden Gardens.

It was a Test match and Imran had the ball in his hand. Umpire PR Punjabi kept looking back to see why the great fast bowler was not even beginning his run-up.

Very soon, it was 11 am. The sirens rang around the city. Imran threw the ball a few yards along the turf and stood at attention.

Only then did the umpires and other players realise it was Martyrs’ Day. Till then they had not been seen to be aware of the silent tribute that is paid to the Father of the Nation every year on the day he died.

The crowd then rose slowly to observe a minute’s silence. Possibly, Imran was inspired by interactions with his cousin Majid Khan, a very keen student of history, who had led India in its tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on that day 25 years ago.

Imran was like that, always proud to lead. All that is needed to jump to the conclusion that Imran Khan Niazi was a sort of Colossus is a quick scan of succeeding Pakistani captains, all of whom pale before him. As an inspirational leader, who welded a bunch of egomaniacs into a fighting cricket unit, he had no equal.

The biggest stumbling block to Indian and Pakistani captains had always been the potential divisiveness of a team that is a disparate aggregate of personalities from diverse regions. And there is no race card to play as in the Caribbean where Clive Lloyd found it the unifying force nor was there ever a professional pride to appeal to since Asian cricketers were essentially amateur till not so long ago.

Imran’s Cambridge background and his experience with Worcestershire, Sussex, New South Wales and Packer’s World Series Cricket Pakistan, which were all teams to which he contributed in a massive way to memorable wins, may have given him the rounded personality team-mates so looked up to. There is no denying he was the alchemist who turned base metal into gold.

On a long and seemingly futile visit to India for the 1986-87 series, which was a throwback to the 1960s when a draw in an away series in India and Pakistan was considered a win, Imran played the waiting game to perfection. His sense of humour was very much intact in a building crisis as the crowd threw pebbles at outfielders at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Imran’s response after protracted delays to restore public order was to bring all his men on to the field with protective helmets on. Today’s ICC may have reprimanded him for an inappropriate response that could have further inflamed passions.

Imran’s sporting spirit carried the day then even as Sunil Gavaskar’s speech in Gujarati had helped douse tempers.

He delivered his opinions with a patrician voice that only added to the intensity. Having seen the best and worst of India on several visits, Imran preserved an ideal equanimity best represented by the passionate manner in which he castigated Karachi students for disrupting a game by throwing stones at the Indians in 1989.

It is hard to gauge if Imran will ever succeed in translating his immense popularity into a basis for his budding career at politics. The lessons he learned on the cricket field should help him though. And if a sense of history will help, it will certainly take him somewhere as it did on the day he had India over a barrel. — UNI

Simply unforgettable
Vikramdeep Johal

Vinoo Mankad bowled India to their first-ever win over Pakistan in 1952-53.
Saeed Anwar sent the Indians on a leather hunt during his record-breaking 194 at Chennai, 1997. — Photos by AP/PTI/Reuters

India-Pakistan encounters usually bring out the best in players from both countries. The Tests and one-dayers held in India over the decades have been no exception. Here are some outstanding performances, most of them match winning while others nearly so, which are etched on the memory of cricket fans.

First blood

Vinoo Mankad, India’s greatest all-rounder along with Kapil Dev, spun India to victory in the inaugural Test between the two nations back in 1952-53. The left-arm spinner grabbed 13 wickets for 131 runs, including 8 for 52, as Pakistan crashed to an innings defeat with a day to spare.

Ace of pace

Legendary pace bowler Fazal Mahmood was the architect of Pakistan’s first Test win in the second match of the 1952-53 series. On a jute matting pitch in Lucknow, Mahmood ran through the Indian batting in both innings, claiming 12 wickets for just 94 runs. Pakistan triumphed by an innings and 43 runs to level the five-Test series, which was eventually won by India.

All-round heroics

Kapil Dev’s superb show with the bat and the ball paved the way for India’s series win at home in 1978-79, their first against the arch-rivals since 1953. He was at his best in the fifth Test at Madras (now Chennai). Kapil took 4 for 90 as Pakistan were dismissed for 272 in the first innings. Sunil Gavaskar led a strong Indian reply with a hundred, but it was Kapil who stole the limelight with a 98-ball 84. He then removed the top three Pakistan batsmen in the second innings to dash their hopes of a draw. India reached the target of 76 runs without losing a wicket.

Last hurrah

Sunil Gavaskar played one of the finest knocks of his life in his last match — the Bangalore Test in the 1986-87 series. On a minefield of a pitch, the Little Master batted patiently for over five hours to score a heroic 96. Sadly, his efforts failed to bring India victory. Pakistan won by a slender margin of 16 runs to clinch the series.

Valiant knock

In a knock reminiscent of Gavaskar’s 96, Sachin Tendulkar hit a fighting 136 in the 1999 Chennai Test, only to see India lose by 12 runs. Chasing 273, India needed just 17 to win with three wickets to spare when Sachin was foxed by Saqlain Mushtaq. Pakistan bowlers cleaned up the Indian tail in no time to secure another close win.

Demolition man

The flamboyant Shahid Afridi, primarily a one-day specialist who has the fastest century to his name, scored a thrilling 141 off 191 balls in the 1999 Chennai Test that enabled Pakistan to set India a decent target. Afridi hit 21 fours and three sixes in his knock, which proved to be a match-winning one.

Perfect Ten

India’s leading wicket-taker Anil Kumble destroyed Pakistan with a magical spell in the Delhi Test of 1999, becoming only the second bowler after England’s Jim Laker to take all 10 wickets in a Test innings. His figures read 26.3-9-74-10 in the second innings. (In the first, he took 4 for 75). India won by 212 runs to level the series.

Savage assault

Coming to the one-dayers, Salim Malik singlehandedly won a match for his country at Kolkata, 1987. Pakistan required 78 from the last eight overs when Malik began his savage assault. He scored 35 off two overs and hit the last 12 off three balls from Kapil Dev. Malik remained unbeaten on a brilliant 72 off just 36 deliveries.

Pillar of strength

The 1996 World Cup quarterfinal in Bangalore is best remembered for Ajay Jadeja’s blitzkrieg against Waqar Younis as well as the spat between Aamir Sohail and Venkatesh Prasad. However, it was Navjot Sidhu’s well-paced 93 that set the stage for India’s 39-run win. Sidhu’s knock helped India post a challenging 287, which proved too much for Pakistan despite Javed Miandad’s valiant effort. No wonder Sidhu was named the man of the match.

Record-breaker

The Indian bowling was torn to shreds by Saeed Anwar in Chennai, 1997. The Pakistan opener took 146 balls to score a mammoth 194, beating Viv Richards’ world record of 189. His knock consisted of 22 fours and five sixes. Anwar brought up his 150 by hitting 6,6,6,4 off consecutive balls from Anil Kumble. Chasing a huge target of 328, India fought hard but fell short by 35 runs.

Uncramped will

Young opener Salman Butt, playing his first match in India before a huge Kolkata crowd, made a glorious 108 not out to guide Pakistan to victory in the BCCI platinum jubilee match in 2004. Cramps forced him to leave the field for a while, but showing great determination, he returned to complete his maiden hundred and take Pakistan to the big target of 293.