Visitors put to the sword
Abhijit Chatterjee

Losing four matches on the trot, and the series, to India must have been traumatic for Kevin Pietersen and his men, who had come to the country after an emphatic win over a solid South African squad.

Not that England was expecting an easy time in India. The visitors knew that touring India has been traditionally an arduous task, and this time more so as Team India had just put it across the mighty Australians, albeit in a Test series. Their spirits are high and the Indian team is on a roll. Add to this the travel and weather conditions and you get an extremely demanding tour on hand.

Nothing seemed to have gone in favour of the English team. If in the first three games Yuvraj Singh did them in, the fourth game went out of their hands through the blades of Virender Sehwag, whose 57 ball 69 just took the game away from the visitors.

Yuvraj, returning to the Indian team after a long hiatus due to injury and loss of form ( as also the vice-captaincy), had a point to prove and how he proved it. Two back to back centuries, the first one in whirlwind fashion (138 runs from 78 balls), answered not only his critics but also made the life of the visitors all that more tough.

To add to the excellent form of these two batsmen India can bank upon Gautam Gambhir (who is improving day after day specially after his excellent showing in the Test series against Australia) and Suresh Raina as also Sachin Tendulkar, who returned to the squad after missing three games. And then, of course, there is Dhoni.

In fact the Indian batting machine is functioning well and all the batsmen are complementing each other so efficiently that England are never sure when to let their guard down, not knowing what will hit them next.

Besides the batsmen, India’s bowlers also rose to the task and performed brilliantly, especially the new ball bowlers. Of course the pick was Zaheer Khan who has done exceptionally well match after match.

His effort of two for 20 from five overs at Bangalore was something which every bowler dream of but rarely gets to perform. Zaheer, Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma have made the task for the other bowlers all that easy and England batsman are finding it difficult to put away even the irregular bowlers.

The one big reason why India are doing so good is the fact that in Mahendra Singh Dhoni India have an exceptionally astute captain who is willing to back his players to the hilt.

His brilliant leadership qualities first came to the fore in the Twenty20 format and he has carried on the good work, first against against Australia in the tri-nation ODI series, and now against England. Another aspect of Dhoni which now people have come to appreciate is the fact that he opted out of the Test tour of Sri Lanka citing fatigue and then returned to lead the team to victory in the one-day series which followed.

Here is one player who is willing to take the field only when he is fully fit and focussed and is not willing to fritter away any chance by not being hundred per cent fit. Which other Indian player, barring probably Sachin Tendulkar, can afford to miss a series and still be sure that he will get a recall he moment he says he is willing to do national duty. But then the strong bench strength Team India is something to be happy about with so much cricket lined up ahead.

The last man standing
Vaibhav Sharma

Anwar Ali has cemented his place in India’s national football team with solid perform- ances. Photo: Rajesh Bhambi

An astounding build notwithstanding, his smile is a big give away. He might look like someone who would have a problem or two if approached for a post-match interview, but the moment you fall in his eye line, a warm smile melts any cold thoughts built up. Anwar Ali, the JCT defender, and Indian team regular can get away with the image of a snob, with dark shades et all, but the moment he greets you to ask ‘How are you?’, it becomes clear that the big man still has his head on his shoulders.

Hailing from Rurka Kalan village, Anwar started playing with JCT in 2006. He has cemented his place in the team and is definitely a crowd favourite. His defensive ability cannot be attributed just to his build, as he also has the head to gauge and check a run, mark his man with perfection and know the exact difference between pushing forward and leaving your defensive line in a tight spot.

He does make the occasional run forward, during a corner or a dead-ball situation, keeping in mind the height advantage he has over others. But most of the times, Anwar is the last man on the half-line, the one making the final tackle, the last ditch attempt to save the goal. Perhaps his role as the ‘last-man standing’ in defence, is just an extension of his character off-the-field.

Talking to The Tribune Anwar says, “It has been an incredible journey. I love the club and it has been an honour to represent a club like JCT. I have been playing for the national team for about a year now and it is hard to believe the way life has changed over the past couple of years.

“I know it has been a tough journey and I have had to work hard but not everyone who works hard gets the rewards. So in a way it is extremely satisfying but I still have a long way to go.”

Ask him about the experience with the national side and you can feel a streak of excitement run through his voice. “It is just great. To share the space with so many great and talented players is something special. Everyone, from the coach to the veteran players are in love with the game and you can almost feel that even the thoughts running in the air are filled with football”.

So what are his plans in the immediate and the foreseeable future? “The league will get a break for the Federation Cup. And our matches begin from December 10. There is some action coming for the national side early next year too. I am just hoping to stay fit and give in my all for all the games I play.”

As a parting shot, when asked the most clichéd question, if he thinks football will ever be a match for cricket in India? he says, “Well the answer is a little obvious, that things are changing but it will take time and all that….atleast, looking at the brighter side of it, football ‘has a bigger ball’” he concludes with a wink.

SPORTS MAIL

Ignorance is Bliss

An article in The Tribune dated November 20, 2008 states that sports minister MS Gill has said, “I will take steps to ensure that Dhyanchand’s birthday is commemorated as National Sports Day from next year onwards. I will write to the education ministry about this,”. I am pained to learn that Honorable Minister is not aware of the fact that in India Dhyanchand?s birthday is already being observed as ‘National Sports Day’. Even the ‘nic’ portal states on its Home Page.

Though the nation celebrates 29th August as the National Sports Day to celebrate Major Dhyanchand's birthday, this year will see some special celebrations to commemorate the birth centenary of the hockey wizard? (http://sportal.nic..in/showarnews.asp?maincatid=68&id=62 ). I am sure there must be some communication gap at some end. This is to request that please take care to ensure that neither the image of the Tribune or of the Minister is blemished on count of sheer ignorance.

Dr Ravi K Mahajan, Chandigarh