India up against it at the Eden Gardens

Prem Panicker

Us unfortunates who earn a living reporting on cricket matches just love this!

I mean, one day you write with vim and vigour about how the pitch is a featherbed, the bowling helpless, the batsmen certain, if only they can stay there long enough, of breaking Brian Lara's world record score and of how the contest itself looks headed for one of those remakes of the Timeless Test.

A day later - what fun! - the same reporter has the task of explaining how on that selfsame pitch where 339 runs had come on the first day for just two wickets, 12 wickets went down in course of the next day's play for just 241 runs.

Misfortune, they say, loves company. So do false prophets - which is why, in my misery, I look around and see the likes of Hansie Cronje ("A perfect batting pitch"), Bob Woolmer ("A great Test strip"), Ravi Shastri ("...loaded with runs"), Robin Jackman ("I wouldn't want to be a bowler on this little beauty")...

So how did it all go so horribly wrong?

Or has it, in fact, gone horribly wrong? Did some devil crawl under the pitch covers overnight, and turn a dream batting track into a nightmare of a wicket?

Answers, perhaps, need to be found via a review of the day's proceedings. So, with a shamefaced glance at the reader and a mumbled mea maxima culpa for having talked through the back of my silly neck in the first day's match report...

In cricket as in everything else, consistency is a priced virtue. I am not too sure, though, that Javagal Srinath, for one, was about to hand out awards when Sanjay Manjrekar, in the slips, began the day by grassing an edge off a lifter on the off stump to Darryl Cullinan - almost in similar fashion to the way he had let Hudson off the hook on the first day. And when Manjrekar then moved to forward short leg and proved his versatility (not to mention consistency) by dropping a catch at that position as well, Srinath looked in danger of snatching himself bald-headed.

Begs the question - how come Manjrekar, who took what was probably the catch of the Wills World Cup in Bangalore, suddenly turn incapable of catching flies in a fishmarket?

One answer could be the time-honoured "One of those things". I mean, how does a master batsman sometimes get out patting a half volley into the bowler's hand? Another answer could be a lessening of the mental edge, the keenness of mind required especially up close to the bat, consequent on being treated like Indian cricket's favourite yo-yo. Remember that Manjrekar hadn't exactly batted badly at Ahmedabad on a rough wicket, remember too that he was unceremoniously dumped again immediately thereafter - perhaps it is inhuman to expect a 33-year-old, facing the inevitable end of his cricketing career, to have quite that schoolboy keenness going in to substitute?

Fortunately for Manjrekar - and India - the dropped chances did not, as it so easily could have, extinguish the fire of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, bowling brilliantly with a second new ball just nine overs old at the start of proceedings.

The two bowlers did everything right. Gripping the ball loose, they let it slip rather than bang it in. Result, the length was fuller, which meant more opportunities for the ball to move in the air. And also that on pitching the ball, rather than climb, did interesting things off the seam.

Herschelle Gibbs was the first victim, playing back to one from Prasad that, after swinging in towards middle stump, straightened on the batsman and hurried through after pitching. 31 runs in 112 deliveries was not quite how the debutant would have wanted to celebrate his first Test cap, but a combination of superb bowling and apparent nerves proved too much for him to bat with the flair the South African camp claims for him.

Hansie Cronje, at the best of times, is a hesitant starter. And on the day, his nervousness was only increased by the regularity with which Srinath either beat his bat or turned him inside out, depending on which way the ball was going. Finally, the Indian quick produced what is rapidly become his strike weapon - the ball on off stump, swinging and seaming away late, for the batsman to edge. Mongia, after grassing two sitters the day before, made amends by pouching this one with ease.

If Brian McMillan wants to live up to the hype that bills him as successor to the great all-rounders - Kapil, Imran, Hadlee - he will need to bat with more than mere muscle. The burly all-rounder tends to come out swinging, rather like Tyson looking for a first round kayo, and on the day Prasad merely had to slip one in straight and fast, for McMillan to make a horrible mess of playing across the line and getting trapped plumb in front.

What's a Test, these days, without the inevitable umpiring error? The one against Cullinan, though, was a shade more ludicrous than most others - the bowler made one swing a long way, from middle to way down leg. The ball crashed into the pads. The bowler flung his hands up in anguish, having realised the ball was slipping down to leg. And the umpire, interpreting the accompanying yowl of frustration as an appeal, declared Cullinan out. Distinctly unfunny, that, but still one couldn't help laughing at the look of sheer surprise on Prasad's face as he saw the batsman walk away from the wicket.

South Africa, projected to top the 550-run mark before tea when play began this morning, went into lunch at 402/7, having lost five wickets in the morning session. Equally interesting was the fact that the two Indian quicks bowled unchanged, and looked unplayable, through the entire first session of play - something that hasn't happened, especially on Indian wickets, in living memory.

A major problem for India in recent times has been its inability to wrap up the tail, after having decapitated the head. This time, a combination of shrewd captaincy and good bowling ensured that the tail wouldn't wag. Tendulkar continued after lunch with Prasad, because you don't just take the ball away from your most successful bowler. And used Kumble at the other end, because the Indian leggie is temperamentally incapable of standing much nonsense from the tail.

In short order, Prasad bowled the leg-cutter through Symcox's defences; Kumble made a regulation leg-spinner do enough to take Donald's outer edge to a diving Laxman at first slip, and soon thereafter produced the flipper to peg back Adams' off stump. South Africa 428 all out, having lost 8 wickets while adding just 89 runs.

Full credit to Srinath and Prasad - the former was as fast as any we have seen on Indian wickets, using movement and control to give his pace the cutting edge. Prasad, meanwhile, worked out the right length and line needed on this wicket, then stuck to it like a leach - in the process, getting six wickets for his efforts. Come to think of it, if all those edges hadn't been grassed, Srinath just might have wound up with his second five wicket haul in successive innings - but that belongs in the realm of cricketing ifs, buts and maybes.

Rahul Dravid opened the Indian innings, as Tendulkar had promised on day one. Accompanying him was Nayan Mongia.

True, the wicket was easy, with the ball coming on to bat - just right for Mongia to play shots and get runs during the initial phase when the field would most certainly be set on aggressive lines. But I still believe it is time India stopped playing around with this position - Saurav Ganguly could well have been asked to accompany Dravid out, and as things worked out, the southpaw would probably have settled down more easily had he gone in at the top.

In the event Donald and Klusener bust a gut trying to bowl at top speed, banging the ball in hard and short - and Mongia and, to a lesser extent, Dravid, had themselves a ball. The 50 was up in the 11th over and, when a frustrated Klusener banged in a bouncer Dravid, who as per usual batted with calm authority, swivelled into a copybook hook and deposited the ball at the square leg fence.

Why Dravid, after having faced the initial burst of pace with perfect technique, chose to cut at one from Brian McMillan that was wide enough to leave comfortably alone, is a mystery. In the event, the top edge was claimed by Andrew Hudson at second slip and India, looking for 229 to avoid the follow on, had received a bit of a setback.

In came Ganguly, and McMillan promptly put a silly gully and short square leg in place and concentrated on sending the ball climbing into the batsman's ribs. International teams appear to have worked out that Ganguly's technique, silken outside off, is flawed when the ball is climbing into his body - and if he doesn't do something to counter this impression, the young southpaw is going to have a rough time later this year, when he goes out to bat on the faster South African wickets. In the event, though, the batsman was so relieved when McMillan went round the wicket to him - which meant no more ribtickling deliveries - that he played all over an angled ball and lost his leg stump.

Prior to that, of course, was Mongia's act of thoughtlessness. Having milked 35 runs, including 5 fours, off the initial blitz from Donald and Klusener, Mongia could have just hung around there and let the runs come in their own time. Why, having pushed the ball to Gibbs at point, Mongia raced over for a run even he will never know - Gibbs is no Jonty Rhodes, but like most of these young South Africans, he is a brilliant fielder with an accurate arm. The direct throw caught Mongia a couple of feet out of his ground, which only underlines the idiocy of that attempted run at a time when there was no need for such heroics.

For some reason, though, he seemed in a hurry to get to the batting crease - Ganguly's push to leg was going straight to Sachin Tendulkar had been batting with grim authority, eschewing runs and concentrating on staying there, while all this was going on. In came Azharuddin and, after playing a mere eight balls one of which he thumped to long off for a four, retired ill. The word from the dressing room is high fever, though the former captain is expected to bat tomorrow.

Azhar was replaced by Laxman. And around this time Allan Donald, like an ace thespian, decided that lesser lights had hogged the spotlight for long enough. Donald in his second spell was sheer magic - electric speed, immaculate control, unplayable movement both ways off the seam... A handful for even one of the ability of Tendulkar. One jumped at the Indian skipper and had him fending it off his face with an elbow, another swung in late and nearly yorked him...

Laxman, who had been reaching for the odd ball outside off but otherwise playing calmly, must have got rattled by these developments - in the event, he just pushed a foot into the wrong line, hung his bat out like he had no use for it, and found the ball from Donald straightening and crashing into his stumps off the inner edge.

A bigger jolt came when Donald, after having got the best of his duel with Tendulkar, stepped up a gear and produced the fastest delivery of the day, perhaps indeed of the whole S'African tour. The ball was through, the stumps shattered, before Tendulkar's bat had really come into defensive line - a class dismissal from a brilliant fast bowler.

Sunil Joshi may be a good left arm spinner, but someone needs to give him an IQ test. Standing at the non-striker's end while Srinath pushed Donald to mid off, Joshi ignored the convention that the call was the batsman's and just went racing down the wicket like he was trying out for the Olympic short sprint. Srinath, rightly, hadn't moved - so Donald on his follow through picked up, had a little smirk, then lobbed the ball back to Gibbs to complete the run out.

The day had gone pretty crazily till then - at this point, it outdid itself. With clouds obscuring the setting sun, the umpires decided to lead the players off the field, with SA short of their quota of overs by 13 or so overs yet to be bowled.

Cronje, for some reason, choose to make a fuss and inform the umpires that if need be, he would bowl only his spinners, but he would like to continue.

So, after about 10 minutes of dithering at the entrance to the pavilion - by which time some of the cloud cover drifted off the face of the sun - the umpires trooped right back, followed by the players, and play resumed.

At that stage, India were 125/6. If Cronje had just decided to down tools for the day, he had the option of using a fresh Donald, first thing tomorrow, to rip through the remaining four wickets for minimal runs. By opting to continue, with an all spin attack, he ran the risk of giving away needless runs.

And yet he choose the second option, and Messers Kumble and Srinath capitalised with a few well struck blows, to add another 26 runs to the total without losing a wicket.

That the Indian batsmen were enjoying this diet of spin after Donald's blistering pace was evident when, at one stage, the umpires offered them the light and deputy skipper Kumble indicated that he would prefer to bat on.

Cronje, at this stage, tossed the ball to McMillan - almost certainly because he realised that the spinners were a luxury he didn't need. And the threat of a medium pacer coming on was sufficient for the batsmen to claim the light, and go off the field - which makes that little business, with Cronje insisting that he wanted play to continue, rather difficult to understand.

So what, then, of tomorrow?

Having already stuck foot firmly in mouth yesterday, I find I have nothing to lose, really. So - India just could, if Kumble, Srinath and Azhar bat with their heads down, avert the follow on tomorrow. In which case, Cronje has a delicate balancing act - he needs to put a target of 400, 450 runs (inclusive of the lead), time the declaration so there isn't a hope of India pulling off a surprise win, and then hope Donald and the rest can blast the Indians out in the second innings.

The fun begins if India lose its remaining wickets quickly tomorrow morning, and Cronje enforces the follow on. The first tast, obviously, for the home side will be occupation of crease - down by over 220 runs on the first innings, there is no way India can look to win the game by first wiping off the arrears, then putting on a further 250-odd and still have time in hand to bowl the opposition out.

In effect, then, the Indian team is now reduced to a defensive battle. An emphasis on occupying the crease, chipping away at the lead and ensuring that no matter what, it doesn't leave SA in the position of either pulling off an innings defeat or, alternately, having time on its hand to hit up a small target.

The batting strength is there - whether the temperament, and the will to fight, is also part of the home team's arsenal is something we will find out over the next couple of days.

There is, of course, one other option - India lose quick wickets, but Cronje does not enforce the follow on. Australia tried something similar in the first Test at Brisbane, and won handily despite Campbell's century.

The catch, though, is that in Calcutta the ploy could backfire. Cronje will not feel comfortable about declaring his second innings until he has some 400, 450 up on the board - which means that in the second innings, the SA batsmen have to hit up a quickfire 200 or more. India can, in this situation, pull itself back by going defensive, denying runs and forcing the SA batsmen themselves to consume valuable crease time - which means that when the declaration does come, India has less time to play out.

Alright, that covers all the bases - now let me see what mistake, or wrong prediction, I have to apologise for tomorrow!

Scoreboard:

South Africa 1st innings                            R   B   4  6
AC Hudson                         b Prasad        146 244  24  0
G Kirsten                         b Srinath       102 170  14  0
HH Gibbs       lbw                b Prasad         31 112   7  0
DJ Cullinan    lbw                b Prasad         43  85   7  0
WJ Cronje      c Mongia           b Srinath         4  18   1  0
BM McMillan    lbw                b Prasad          0   2   0  0
DJ Richardson  not out                             35  58   4  0
L Klusener                        b Prasad         10  21   1  0
PL Symcox                         b Prasad         13  20   0  1
AA Donald      c VVS Laxman       b Kumble          0   3   0  0
PR Adams                          b Kumble          4   8   0  0
Extras         (b 6, lb 25, nb 9)                  40
Total          (all out, 121.1 overs)             428

Fall of Wickets: 1-236 (Kirsten), 2-296 (Hudson), 3-346 (Gibbs),
     4-361 (Cronje), 5-362 (BM McMillan), 6-363 (Cullinan),
     7-379 (Klusener), 8-421 (Symcox), 9-422 (Donald),
     10-428 (Adams).

Bowling                      O      M      R      W
Srinath                     37      7    107      2 
Prasad                      35      6    104      6 
Joshi                       12      1     48      0 
Ganguly                      3      1     10      0
Kumble                      20.1    1     78      2
Hirwani                     14      2     51      0

India 1st innings                                   R   B   4  6
NR Mongia      run out (Gibbs)                     35  68   5  0
R Dravid       c Hudson           b BM McMillan    31  48   5  0
SC Ganguly                        b BM McMillan     6  17   1  0
SR Tendulkar                      b Donald         18  62   3  0
MA Azharuddin  retired                              6   8   1  0
VVS Laxman                        b Donald         14  35   2  0
SB Joshi       run out (Donald)                     4   9   1  0
J Srinath      not out                              9  36   1  0
A Kumble       not out                             24  23   4  0
Extras         (nb 5)                               5
Total          (6 wickets, 50 overs)              152


Fall of Wickets: 1-68 (Dravid), 2-71 (Mongia), 3-77 (Ganguly),
     4-114 (VVS Laxman), 5-119 (Tendulkar), 6-119 (Joshi).

Bowling                      O      M      R      W
Donald                      12      3     31      2
Klusener                     8      1     34      0 
Adams                        6      0     24      0
BM McMillan                 12      4     30      2
Cronje                       6      3     13      0
Symcox                       6      1     20      0

Score card source : Cricinfo