India warms up for ODI series with fine win

Rally round the West Indies/Now, and forever, rally...

The stirring anthem was created, and first sung, by a gent name of Rudder who, though never having played cricket at any level, is widely recognised as one of those who, from the sidelines, has contributed in immense measure to the game.

Rudder was part of the audience as India, a day ahead of the first ODI against the West Indies at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Jamaica, took on the University of West Indies Chancellors' XI - a rather academic title, covering a catchall team led by Brian Lara and featuring, among others, Windies stars Otis Gibson, Mervyn Dillon, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper, Jimmy Adams and, of course, Brian Lara himself. Mark Boucher, of South Africa, played in the lineup as a visiting wicketkeeper.

The warm-up game doubled as a benefit match for two Trinidadians - Rudder, and former Windies star Augustine Logie. But the former had to wait a considerable while before the anthem he created was heard blaring on the PA system - simply because India, powered by the opening pair of Saurav Ganguly and Navjot Singh Sidhu, got off to a blistering start and, in fact, addded 150 runs before the first wicket fell.

The one day game had, in fact, a relevance beyond being a mere warm-up for the Indians. The touring side had several questions to find answers for, and the tour management used the game to make a start at getting there.

The first question was, who to open with? Of late, Saurav Ganguly has been going out with Sachin Tendulkar. The return of Navjot Singh Sidhu confuses matters considerably - because Sidhu is by inclination and ability an opener. If he opens with Tendulkar, then the question is, what does one do with Ganguly? He is not a speedy runner between wickets and, though a stylish strokeplayer, not too adept, yet, at placing the ball in gaps and stealing quick singles. Given these intrinsic handicaps in his technique, Ganguly is not quite fitted to a role in the middle order, and that in turn presents a problem for the selectors.

In this game - which, incidentally, is being played on the same venue as the first ODI, against West Indies, this Saturday - Tendulkar sent Ganguly out to open with Sidhu. And the two responded, against the pace of Gibson, Dillon and South African medium pacer Makaya Ntini, wiht a blistering opening partnership that took the score to 150 before Sidhu, who mixed up his trademark drives over the infield with two straight sixes, once off Adams and once off Hooper, fell trying to hit Chanderpaul out of the ground. By then, however, he had rattled up 70 off 91 deliveries, with four fours and two sixes.

Mohammad Azharuddin, coming in at one drop, found his poor run continuing, being caught by Logie, playing in his benefit game, off Chanderpaul, for a mere eight. And Robin Singh gave the selectors some worries, falling to the medium pace of Ntini for a duck. Ajay Jadeja, however, came in and, in trademark fashion, took the initiative with a scintillating 36 off 28 balls including three clubbed fours, and a huge six. And Sachin Tendulkar came out in the slog overs to join Jadeja, authoring a classy cameo of 39 off 23 balls with five fours before holing out to the bowling of Gibson.

Ganguly, meanwhile, played the sort of stylish knock one associates with him, and which has, in recent times, been somewhat infrequent. In silken touch on the off side, Ganguly in this innings revealed also a new found confidence on the leg side, stroking through the gaps with assurance and, when the fast bowlers pitched short, rocking back to pull with competence and timing. His innings comprised 141 deliveries for the 101 runs he ended scoring, and included nine fours.

And if fault were to be found with him, it would be concerning the petulance he displayed when, having crossed the three figure mark, he pointedly refrained from acknowledging the cheers of his team-mates and the public. Rather surprising, that, from a normally pleasant natured cricketer - and it does make one wonder whether the interpersonal relations in the Indian dressing room are all that they should be. Is Ganguly feeling the wounds of having been dropped from the side for the fifth Test? Or was his sullen demeanour indicative of a deeper problem within the ranks? The truth will be interesting.

The upshot was that India totalled, in the allotted 50 overs, 274 for the loss of six wickets, with Saba Karim and Sunil Joshi remaining undefeated on four and two respectively.

Overall - more so given that the bowling was of a reasonably high standard - it was a good way to prepare for the ODI series beginning this weekend. Because the innings revealed a pattern that will have delighted the Indian management. The openers clicked, and not only put up a good partnership to provide a platform for the latter order, but also got the runs in good time. Jadeja - so woefully out of his depth in the fifth Test where he opened the innings - came into his own in the shorter version of the game, in which he is rapidly earning the reputation of one of the most dangerous performers in the middle order. And Sachin Tendulkar, coming late in the order, plugged a gap that the Indian batting has had in recent times - namely, an inability to accelerate in the slog overs - in fact, he and Jadeja in tandem proved almost impossible to contain.

True, Tendulkar at the top adds a different dimension to the start of the Indian innings as he, more than most others, is fitted to take advantage of the field restrictions obtaining at the start. But if Ganguly and Sidhu can repeat this performance against the likes of Ambrose and Walsh, then Tendulkar in the middle just might provide the explosive ending that India has lacked in the past, besides being ideally placed to come in and guide the second half of a chase.

Mohammad Azharuddin failed yet again - but that will not unduly worry the Indians, given that Rahul Dravid, who was rested for this game, is the natural choice for the one-drop position, and his return gives even more strength to the lineup. Question is, however, whether in light of Azhar's continued poor form, they will drop him for the ODIs? Be interesting to see how the management works that one out.

The Vice Chancellor's XI's response was somewhat in the nature of a patchwork quilt. Facing the makeshift opening attack of Dodda Ganesh and Abey Kuruvilla (Venkatesh Prasad, like Anil Kumble, Dravid and Nayan Mongia, was rested for the game), Shivnaraine Chanderpaul in particular was in outstanding touch.

Ever since he broke that jinx and rattled up a century at Barbados in the third Test, Chanderpaul has looked a different, more confident, player. Earlier, he was more of an accumulator, nudging the ball around into gaps and getting his runs mainly in singles and twos - the post-century Chanderpaul, however, moves fluently onto the front foot and drives with elan, swinging through the line and adding to his strokeplay a power that has been hitherto lacking.

Here, he scored a brisk 66 off 81 deliveries, studding the effort with ten fours. And the manner of run-scoring is as important - in context of the series beginning this weekend - as the actual contribution, for with Chanderpaul in this mood, Brian Lara and Carl Hooper, the real strokemakers, will get the support they badly need in their bid to rattle the scoreboard along.

It was, inevitably, the Lara-Hooper combo that gave the Windies outfit what looked to be its best chance to take the game away from the touring side. Coming together for the fourth wicket, the two added a rapidfire 89, Lara contributing 57 off 61 balls while Hooper's effort yielded 41 off 44 balls. Both batsmen clubbed two fours and a six apiece.

Which brings up the question of the Indian bowling. The Ganesh-Kuruvilla opening pair were, at best, ordinary on what rolled out as a good batting wicket. What was interesting was the bowling of Sunil Joshi. Going flatter through the air, alternating between spinning the ball and letting it float out of his fingers, Joshi bowled a superb spell in the middle, ending with figures of four for 35 off eight overs. And the best indicator of his effectiveness comes from the fact that his nagging control and accuracy so stymied Hooper and Lara that both batsmen, in trying to break the shackles, found themselves stranded in midpitch for Saba Karim to stump them, in successive Joshi overs.

Even more interesting, though, was the bowling of one Noel David - 10-1-29-0. And it pays to remember that he did most of his bowling again in the middle overs, when Chanderpaul was nearing the end of his innings, and Hooper and Lara were on song. It was tight, controlled off spin bowling, the youngster showing an ability to bowl to his field and to keep even strokeplayers of the Lara-Hooper class in check.

The dismissals of Lara and Hooper effectively ended the Windies challenge, and the home side were all out for 242 in 48.1 overs, giving India a morale-boosting win ahead of the upcoming ODI series.

However, this now raises an interesting problem for the Indian tour management - namely, what lineup to field for the first ODI this Saturday?

Will it be Ganguly and Sidhu at the top, with Tendulkar and Jadeja providing the middle order acceleration? Dravid returns to his anchor role, but where then does it leave Mohammad Azharuddin? Robin Singh?

Does India play Nayan Mongia for his keeping skills and ability to gather runs with his trademark play on leg side, or sacrifice the wicketkeeping edge in favour of Saba Karim's more competent batsmanship?

Venkatesh Prasad will in all probability return to the lineup - but does India play Kuruvilla as well? If so, that leaves space only for two spinners - so who, between Kumble, Joshi and David (remember that the last named, with his electricity in the outfield, ideally complements the likes of Jadeja, Azhar and Robin Singh in the fielding department) gets the nod?

A possible lineup could be: Sidhu, Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar, Jadeja, Robin Singh/Azharuddin, Saba Karim, Kumble, David, Joshi and Venkatesh Prasad.

What, no second seamer? Actually, no - either Robin, or Ganguly, can share the new ball with Prasad. The advantage will lie in the fact that the Windies batsmen, who treat medium pace with a familiarity bordering on contempt, will be forced to get their runs against 30 overs of spin bowling, not to mention the gentle medium pace of Messers Singh, Jadeja, Ganguly and Tendulkar, none of whom really come on to the bat and permit free strokeplay.

Now to see what lineup they actually field, 24 hours from the time of writing this...