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Azhar, Jadeja on top of the world

Prem Panicker

There have been dominant partnerships before, studding the 1311-game history of one-day internationals.

Some commanding -- like the 263 runs Aamir Sohail and Inzamam-ul-Haq put up for the second wicket against New Zealand at Sharjah in 1994. Or the 232 Cullinan and Rhodes put up against Pakistan at Nairobi in 1996. Or, to cull from more recent memory, the 230 Anwar and Ijaz blasted off the Indian attack at Dhaka in January this year.

Then there have been the numbingly murderous -- like the 106 unbeaten partnership for the 10th wicket between Viv Richards and Michael Holding (to be accurate, one would have to say the one with Viv Richards, where Michael Holding played ringside spectator) against England in 1984.

And then there's this -- 275 unbeaten, for the fourth wicket, between Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja. A world record, for any wicket, against any opposition.

The two batsmen bat well together, complementing each other -- they already hold the world record for the best fifth wicket partnership, 223 against Sri Lanka at Colombo in August 1997. And their forte is an ability to rapidly rotate strike -- both are good workers of the ball into the gaps, very good judges of a run, and among the fleetest between wickets in the game today.

Those were the qualities that came in handy today, as the two first weathered the shock of three early wickets going down, then began hauling the team back into contention with well thought out cricket, before finally going into high gear to put up an imposing total and, in the process, smash records like they were going out of style.

But to begin at the beginning, India went in to its last league engagement of the Pepsi Cup triangular making two changes. Vinod Kambli was rested for V V S Laxman, Anil Kumble for Debashish Mohanty.

The logic of the second is easily understood -- for one thing, the Barabati Stadium is Mohanty's home ground, for another the layer of grass on the wicket did seem to indicate a three-seam attack.

But Laxman for Kambli? I thought the team management was being unfair to the left-hander. Laxman, having been taken in the squad, did deserve a chance to get a feel of the one day game at the highest level -- but it would have made more sense to rest maybe a Sachin Tendulkar, rather than Kambli.

Simply because Sachin is in good touch, doesn't really need the batting practise. But Kambli, fighting for his rehabilitation in the national side, deserved an extended run, in which he could bat himself back into top form.

The left-hander must be feeling, around now, that Lady Luck has a major down on him. For not only does he get dropped from the side for this one, but further, he comes out to field as substitute, goes for a great stop at cover, dislocates his right ankle in the process, is carried off the field on a stretcher and will now, we are told, miss not only the final of this tournament, but the Coca Cola Cup at Sharjah as well.

The pitch, meanwhile, had an even covering of grass -- about as rare on Indian soil as a waterfall in the Sahara Desert. And rain, a couple of days before the game, meant some sub-surface moisture. Which, in turn, meant that there would be assistance for pace bowlers early on, before the sun soaked up the moisture and turned the track into an even-paced belter.

Alistair Campbell didn't need to think too hard, therefore, before opting to bowl first when he won the toss -- the pitch, the moisture beneath it, the slight cloud cover early in the morning and the high humidity all combined to remind you of the track on which Pakistan found itself 35/5 against India last year.

And India, in the space of eight and a half overs, found itself 26 for three.

Tendulkar, I thought, lost his wicket more through self-confidence than anything else. True, the leg-cutter Streak bowled to him was perfectly pitched -- but the batsman, who had faced only one ball before that, walked into the kind of drive on the up you play after you have really judged the pace and bounce. Here, the extra nip off the moist grass, the bounce and pronounced seam movement induced the edge, for Andy Flower to hold behind the stumps, Tendulkar nodding his appreciation of the ball as he walked off.

Laxman was, rather surprisingly, upped to number three -- a position the Indian skipper claimed for himself as soon as he took over from Tendulkar. It was a good chance to bat himself into a side, but the debutant lasted two balls before going too far across to off to try and flick across the line, setting up the LBW.

Mbwangwa, who Anil Kumble feels has lost a touch of pace in recent months, was using the conditions admirably, seaming the ball around late, and the ball he produced to get rid of Ganguly was the kind bowlers dream of when they confront left-handers. It was bowled from close to the stumps, narrowing the slant across the batsman, drawing him forward into line then moving very, very late to feather the edge to the keeper.

A more experienced captain, and team, would have probably moved in for the kill then. The ball was doing all but talk, the batsmen at the crease were both fresh and vulnerable to the pressure, the situation cried out for an attacking field, couple of slips, a gully, a short midwicket given the tendency of Indian batsmen towards wristwork.

What Campbell gave Mbwangwa and Heath Streak was a slip and a short cover. In the 9th over, off the last ball, Azharuddin lashed a drive that took the edge as the ball seamed away, and went to where second slip would have held it at belly height. An over later, Jadeja flicked, the ball seamed again, took the leading edge and went airborne into the vacuum at short midwicket.

That was it. For the next 40 overs, two batsmen held court, while the Zimbabwe eleven were essentially reduced to fetch and carry men, without ever once, in that period, getting within sniffing distance of a break-through.

The two innings had much in common. Azharuddin, after initially shaping like he wanted to try and do a Calcutta, hit himself and the team out of jail, settled down to doing what he does best, using those wrists -- someone said he has ball bearings there instead of bones -- to work the ball square, on the off and on -- to keep the runs coming and the strike rotating.

The patience and application shown, during this phase, was exemplary. As was the cricketing intelligence that ensured that India's run rate kept increasing, steadily, right through the overs 10-40.

It was only after he got to his 6th ODI century, with a flicked two off Streak to midwicket, that Azharuddin opened out. The century had come off 111 deliveries -- a stunning burst of strokeplay after that period got him a further 52 off just 38 deliveries.

At the other end, Jadeja continued the dream run to end all dream runs. He was yet to lose his wicket coming into this innings. 123 deliveries, 116 runs, later, they still can't compute his average for the tournament because he remains unconquered with his second century in four outings.

That he is an innovative striker in the end overs is a given. However, his one downside, earlier, was that when he came in early, he would bat himself into a good position, then lose it all with needlessly chancy strokeplay. In this tournament, Jadeja's been batting like he's been attending some kind of master-class just prior to the start of the series.

There is no fuss, no flurry, no innovation. Just sensible pushes, glides, checked drives and the clinical finish any time the bowler strays fractionally. And above all, a visible reluctance to lapse into wild, wicket-losing slogs.

If this is indicative of a changed outlook in the man, then it is bad news for opposing sides -- his cricketing intelligence was never in doubt, and if it is allied to this kind of patience, then the recipe is that of the perfect middle order exponent.

Campbell had a problem -- while Streak and Mbwangwa were good in the early spell, he just did not have the support bowling to keep the pressure on. Guy Whittall has been a dismal performer with the ball through this series, he was out of his depth here as well --why he was given the final over, in which Jadeja and Azhar clubbed a six apiece, I'll never figure out, more so when the far more impressive Mbwangwa had one over left to bowl. Gary Brent, debuting, proved to be innocuous with his medium pace -- merely holding a line and bowling a length does not challenge batsmen like these, when they are set and going strong. Adam Huckle has a lovely pivot as he bowls his leggies, but he is not the kind of turner of the ball Warne is, and came across too easy for the Indians.

Talking to Harsha Bhogle on ESPN the day before the game, Campbell said he figured Zimbabwe was a good side, with one major problem. "We keep getting into winning positions and then losing our way, we have to work on that," was his assessment.

On today's evidence, he and his side have a shade more work to do in that regard. Almost till the very end, it looked like Zimbabwe, one of the youngest sides of the business, would not only chase the daunting target, but even make the grade with some panache.

Campbell and Grant Flower started off smoothly against Prasad and Mohanty. The former had a bad first over, trying too hard, lapsing in line and length and getting the treatment, before finally settling down to bowl easily, well within himself as he normally does, occasionally surprising the batsmen by bowling at the extra yard of pace. In his third over, he produced the kind of leg cutters he used to bowl at will before -- in the corridor around off, just short of driving length, seaming away late, kicking high and taking the top edge of the bat to fly to second slip for an easy catch to Azhar.

An over later, Zimbabwe would have been in big trouble. Mohanty produced the kind of outswingers that come naturally with his action. The ball took Flower's edge and went straight to where second slip should have been -- why there wasn't one was a mystery. Azhar rectified the error by bringing himself in there, Mohanty repeated the delivery the next ball, Flower again edged, this one harder, it flew high to second slip, Azhar got both hands to it, and dropped a rare one.

In the process, he injured his finger slightly, handed over charge to Jadeja and left the field.

To the credit of the batting side, they kept powering on -- and right till the end, were ahead of India in terms of runs scored. Goodwin, known to be a powerful puller of the ball, played the shot with impeccable timing and confidence bordering on arrogance, till he did it once too often. Agarkar pitched a shade short, inviting the shot, Goodwin obliged, Kanitkar took a blinder. Literally. The ball was coming in high, and out of the sun, the fielder at midwicket had to pick it out of the light and held on, falling backwards in the process.

Andy Flower came, and went to a superb delivery from Agarkar -- who appears to be gaining in stature and confidence with every outing. To the left hander, Agarkar from close to the stumps angled one across off, making it straighten with the arm to go through the gate and take out off stump.

Campbell's shuffling of his batting order didn't make too much sense. Was he holding the bludgeoning Craig Evans back for a late assault? Perhaps -- but the promotion of Whittall was a downer, the all-rounder has been in much less than mid-season form right through. To give him credit, though, his dismissal here owed to an error by his partner. Grant Flower pushed to midwicket, and took off for the run, ignoring the shouted NO from the other end. Sachin raced across to his right, picked up and fired in a return over the top of the bails that had Whittall out by yards, and Flower slumping to the ground in self-disgust.

Heath Streak came in and, eschewing the blind slog, began batting with sense, nudging the singles, rotating strike, and coming up with the occasional big hit when the length was right. From 122/4 in 20, Zimbabwe moved to 148/4 in 25, 182/4 in 30. A rate that compared more than favourably with India's -- 114/3 in 25, 147/3 in 30.

It was at this point that the real thought that went into the Azhar-Jadeja partnership showed. The two Indian batsmen, even going into the last 20 overs, never tried any outrageous hitting, preferring to pace themselves to a nicety. Streak, not as experienced, went for an almighty heave against Ganguly, who was given the ball almost immediately after Jadeja assumed the reins. The ball was not pitched up enough, Ganguly does get late in-cut on his deliveries, the combination ensured that the ball was merely dragged onto middle stump by the batsman.

Zimbabwe, in 35 overs, were 202/5. India, it bears reminding, were 210/3 in 40. Sensible cricket -- and Grant Flower was playing just that -- could still have authored a remarkable chase, as the Indian bowlers, while being accurate, couldn't really impress themselves on what was turning out, under the sun, to be a beauty of a batting strip.

Sensible cricket, however, was at a premium from there on in. In the next Ganguly over, Paul Strang dabbed one at his feet and took off. Mongia, standing reasonably close to the stumps, raced around with electric speed, whipped his glove off, grabbed the ball as it was rolling towards point and threw down the stumps at the non-striker's end.

That brought Craig Evans to the crease. One expected him to get himself set -- after all, there were plenty of overs remaining, and Flower at the other end looked like he could bat all night -- but Evans, like Streak before him, made the mistake of underestimating Ganguly. With feet planted firmly in place, no attempt to move into line, he pulled wildly at a Ganguly delivery and, in fashion identical to Streak, dragged it onto middle.

And for all practical purposes, the game ended there. Flower, doing his impersonation of Lone Hand Luke -- in fact, he was batting with a right hand damaged by a lifter from Prasad that crashed into his fingers, jamming them against the bat handle -- finally succumbed to the pressure of watching his partners vanish and, one ball after completing a superb fighting century, gave Sanghvi a return catch.

Sanghvi somehow seems to have a knack for inducing batsmen to play at him too early -- something to do with the way he manages to make the odd ball hang in the air, in a manner reminiscent of Bishen Bedi. He did it again here, bowling with calm confidence at the death.

At the other end, Kanitkar, who had a great day in the field, administered the coup de grace when he first tossed one up at Mbwangwa, inviting the slogged drive that Prasad at long on ran round to hold. A ball later, he floated one in to Brent, deceiving the batsman in flight and bowling him through the gate, and India had pulled off its fourth straight win of the series.

An interesting aside relates to the captaincy -- Jadeja proved no slouch. His field placing was good, he rotated his bowlers well, and ensured, going into the slog, that all his lead bowlers had enough in hand, so that in case one bowler got thumped, he had others to call on. This, mainly through astute use of Tendulkar and Ganguly to absorb a few extra overs.

Azharuddin was named man of the match. A superlative effort from the skipper, his highest ever in ODIs -- but one did feel that the interests of justice would have been better served had Jadeja, his partner in a world-record-breaking stand, got to share the honour with him.

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