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| SPORTS TRIBUNE |
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Turned on by the urn
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Trial by fire
Team India is ready to face the South African challenge with the first one-dayer to be held tomorrow. Besides three Tests and five one-dayers, India will also play their first-ever Twenty20 international on this tour. Though the Indians failed to impress both with the bat and the ball in the Champions Trophy at home recently, they are keen to get the record straight against the Proteas. The Indian experience in South Africa on their three previous visits has been disappointing. Whether it is Tests or one-dayers, the Proteas outplayed Indians in all aspects of the game on home soil. India have failed to register a Test victory in South African and have managed just three wins in 16 ODIs. In their first-ever series in South Africa in 1992-93, when India became the first international side to play a Test in South Africa since 1970, India lost the Test series 0-1 and were drubbed 2-5 in the one-dayers. Team India did not fare much better on the next two visits as well. In 1996-97, the visitors lost the Test series (0-2) as well as the one-day tri-series involving Zimbabwe as the third side. On their third visit in 2001-02, India lost the Test series yet again (0-1) and the one-day tri-series involving Kenya. With their miserable form in the recent past, the South African tour poses an acid test for Team India as they will look to regain the form that made them a super-strong outfit barely a year ago. With the series beginning with the one-dayers, India have got a great opportunity to prove their mettle after their failure in the Champions Trophy, the DLF series in Malaysia and the series against the West Indies. A series win will help them brace up for the Test challenge against the Proteas and also boost their morale for the ensuing World Cup. Skipper Rahul Dravid and his deputy Virender Sehwag, who had hit their maiden centuries in South Africa in 1996-97 and 2001-02, respectively, need to repeat their feat to turn the wheels of fortune in India’s favour. Moreover, young guns Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni need to plug the gap created in the Indian batting line-up due to Yuvraj Singh’s absence. How well Sachin Tendulkar and the others face the South African pacers, namely Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel, Shaun Pollock and Charl Langeveldt, might decide the fate of both the series. Among the bowlers, Munaf Patel and S. Sreesanth, who have never played in South Africa, need to fire and take full advantage of the fast pitches there. Though the return of the old warhorse Anil Kumble will surely bring depth into the bowling department, a resurgent Zaheer Khan needs to bend his back with ferocity along with the experienced Ajit Agarkar. Though history is not on India’s side, it is going to make no difference if Team India performs consistently. Having won a Test series earlier this year in the West Indies after 35 long years, the team has the capability to do it in South Africa too. It all boils down to getting acclimatised to the conditions quickly and playing to one’s potential.
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Turned on by the urn Andrew Flintoff (2005):
England had not won the Ashes for almost 18 years. They were in good form, but a lot extra was needed to beat the formidable Aussies. Flintoff provided the cutting edge, coming up with a breathtaking all-round show that stunned the rivals. He scored 402 runs and took 24 wickets in the five-match series, which England rallied to win 2-1. Known as the “potential Botham” for too long, Flintoff finally emerged as a star all-rounder in his own right. This time, he faces a bigger challenge, having to lead from the front. Shane Warne (1993):
This was the series in which rookie Warne took the cricketing world by storm. In the first Test at Manchester, he bowled Mike Gatting round his legs with what was called the “ball of the century”. Making life hell for the English batsmen, he ended up with 34 wickets in six matches. He still remains a bugbear for them, having taken 40 scalps in the five-match series last year. Ian Botham (1981):
The series started on a nightmarish note for skipper Botham. His side lost the first Test and drew the second, in which his own contribution was a pair of ducks. He stepped down for the third Test at Leeds, making way for Mike Brearley. This proved to be a blessing in disguise for Botham as well as England. Playing like a man possessed, he smashed an 87-ball hundred in the second innings after England were forced to follow on. His unbeaten 149 against the likes of Dennis Lillee and Terry Alderman paved the way for England’s sensational 18-run victory. In the fourth Test at Edgbaston, he orchestrated another dramatic win by taking five wickets for one run in a 29-ball spell. He cracked an 86-ball hundred in the next Test at Manchester to secure the Ashes for England. His aggregate in the six-Test series was 399 runs and 34 wickets. No wonder Botham’s Ashes was the name BBC gave to its video about the epic series. Jim Laker (1956):
The English off-spinner bowled his way into the record books with an astonishing 19-wicket haul in the Manchester match. Test cricket had never seen anything like this before (and it’s probably never going to see it again). His figures of 10-53 and 9-37 amply demonstrated his dominance over the Australians. He had also spun England to victory in the previous Test at Leeds with an 11-113 haul. Laker’s staggering total of 46 wickets in five matches has not been matched in Ashes encounters. Don Bradman (1930):
All of 21,
Arthur Mailey (1920-21):
The Australians, led by the majestic Warwick Armstrong, whitewashed England 5-0 thanks mainly to Mailey’s leg-spin bowling. Despite not being able to bowl in the second Test at Melbourne due to injury, he grabbed 36 wickets in the series, an Ashes record for an Australian that survived for about six decades before it was broken by Rodney Hogg. Mailey destroyed England in the fourth Test at Melbourne, taking nine wickets for 121 runs in the second innings (much to his agony, the 10th man was dropped off his bowling).
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Straight as an arrow India did not win any medal in archery at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, but the performance of the archers helped the Archery Association of India (AAI) realise that with systematic training and regular exposure to quality competition, Indian archers could win medals at international competitions. The AAI, under the stewardship of Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra, took a few corrective steps and the archers started winning medals at the international level from 2003. They have performed so spectacularly over the past few months that they now look forward to winning medals at the Doha Asian Games next month. Though there would be very tough competition in archery at the Asiad, with powerhouses like South Korea, China, Japan and Chinese Taipei expected to field their best bets, India have gained enough confidence to aspire to be among the top bracket in the men’s individual recurve and team events. India even fancy their chances of winning a medal or two in the women’s individual recurve event. Overall, the eight-member Indian team bound for Doha hopes to return with a few medals, which Prof Malhotra feels is not at all wishful thinking. Jayanta Talukdar, Tarundeep Rai and Mangal Singh have the potential to create ripples, while Vishwas is expected to do his best in the team event in the men’s section. Similarly, Dola Banerjee, Reena Kumari and Chekrovolu Swuro are the pick of the lot among women, while Punyaprabha will stand to gain a lot from the Asiad exposure. With archery expected to figure in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the AAI is keen that India open their medal account at Doha. The Indian hopes got a shot in the arm when the country bagged five gold, two silver and one bronze medal in the 2nd Commonwealth Archery Championship at Jamshedpur recently. This feat follows India’s second-place finish in the Asian Archery Championship held in Delhi last year. AAI Secretary Anil Kamineni is also hopeful of a good show in Doha. Indian archers have produced very good results in the past two years, starting with Dola winning the gold in the recurve event at the 18th Golden Arrow Grand Prix Archery Championship at Antalaya (Turkey) in May, 2005, and Jayanta bagging the gold in the FITA Mateksan Archery World Cup 2006 and the European Grand Prix Tournament at Porec (Croatia) in May this year. The Indian archers’ image of being also-rans is well and truly behind them. For the first time, an Indian archer won a world title, while Palton Handsa also did the country proud when he won the compound gold in the 9th Junior and 3rd Cadet Archery World Championships at Merida (Mexico) in October this year. There were many other medal-winning displays, like in the 3rd Asian Grand Prix Archery Tournament in Jakarta (Indonesia) in September, 2005, where Mangal and Tarundeep picked up the silver and bronze, respectively, in the recurve individual Olympic round, while the women’s team of Dola, Reena, Laxmi Rani and Swuro got the silver, after losing to South Korea in the final shootout 228-240. In the compound division, Jhanu Hansda bagged the individual gold, while Jhanu, Bansaralin, Sakro and Majudha annexed the team gold. In the 14th Asian Archery Championship held at the Nehru Stadium in Delhi, the Indian girls won the bronze and men the silver in the recurve team events, while Jhanu, Sakro and Bansaralin completed a gold-silver-bronze haul in the compound individual Olympic round. “I won’t say Indian archers are on a roll, but we have made considerable improvements in the past two years to think in terms of winning medals at the Asian and world levels,” summed up Kamineni confidently.
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IN THE NEWS A fatigued Saina Nehwal went down to Wang Yihan of China in the final of the World Junior Badminton Championship, but she proved beyond doubt that her victory in the Philippines Open earlier this year was no flash in the pan. She also learnt a few lessons from her formidable opponent that would stand her in good stead. The next major assignment for the 16-year-old Hyderabadi is the Doha Asian Games from December 1 to 15. Saina has fast emerged as a giant-killer, her big scalps including Bae Youn Joo of Korea and world No. 4 Xu Huwain of Germany. She also played a crucial role in India winning the team bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne earlier this year. Elated over his ward’s success, national coach Pullela Gopichand has said that efforts are on to provide her with a more specialised support staff from next year. — Agencies
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Team India lacks punch As expected, Australia won the ICC Champions Trophy which had eluded them so far. They continue to reign supreme in both versions of the game. For the Caribbeans, the journey from the qualifying round to the final was a big leap forward. In the write-up “Topsy-turvy” (Saturday Plus, October 28), Ivninderpal Singh has rightly asserted that most of the teams, including India, were let down by their inconsistency. Sachin Tendulkar made a grand return by hitting his 40th ODI century in the match against the West Indies in Kuala Lumpur. However, he was not able to repeat his performance in the subsequent matches. Other Indian batsmen also lacked firepower, while the requisite punch was missing from the bowling. The entire blame for the fiasco lies with Greg Chappell, whose tactics have not produced the desired results. In the write-ups “In a tight spot” and “Chappell, deliver or quit” (September 30 and October 29), Abhijeet Chatterjee has rightly observed that Chappell’s domineering attitude has deprived the players of self-confidence, so essential for delivering the goods. They have become robotic, meekly submitting to Chappell’s bidding with the BCCI a mute witness. Under coach John Wright and the assertive captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, India had reached the final of the 2003 World Cup. Under Chappell, our chances for the 2007 edition look bleak. D.K. Aggarwala, Hockey champs Punjab and Sind Bank got their name inscribed on the Rangaswamy Cup, the symbol of supremacy in Indian hockey, by retaining the national title. They outplayed Delhi 3-1 in the final. Ironically, most of the players playing in the final and the third-place playoff came from Punjab, who could not even qualify for the semifinal. It shows the sad state of affairs of Punjab hockey. Tarsem S.
Bumrah, Batala |
The clashes for the Ashes often bring out the best in English and Australian cricketers. It’s not just a battle to grab an urn containing the remains of a burnt bail — there is much more at stake, primarily national pride and cricketing superiority. Steeped in history, the traditional rivalry has seen marvellous performances from some great players, who have changed the course of a series virtually on their own. With the epic showdown set to begin on November 23, sample these classic moments: