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DEAR REDIFF

The art of turning victory into defeat

Prem Panicker

One thing needs saying for the Lankan bowlers - they do their home work and, in Bruce Yardley, they have a coach who knows what he is about.

Just before the Indian reply began, Greg Chappell in the commentary box was asking Yardley what plans they had for containing the Indian openers. "Bowl wide of off stump to Sachin, with a slip, a backward point and an orthodox point in place to defeat his attempts to cut and square drive to that line," came the prompt response.

And for Saurav? "He is extremely fluid to anything outside off stump, and of late, he has begun pulling well to anything short on the stumps, or playing off his pads if the ball is angled at leg stump. So the ideal line is just short of driving length, on off stump and angling in to cramp him for space," was the reply.

And that is precisely what Liyanage and Sajeewa D'Silva did at the start of the Indian innings - with the result that Ganguly was totally choked, and even Sachin Tendulkar found himself unable to get going - as witness a score of 16/0 in five.

Say what you like for Sachin, though, he is a selfless batsman - rarely, if ever, concerned with his individual scoreline, and with wicket-preservation at any cost. Here, it was obvious that if India did not get a lot of quick runs in the early overs, then the array of Lankan spinners, backed by a fielding side that saves a good 35-40 runs in each outing - would put even the reasonable target out of India's reach.

Thus, seeing his partner unable to get stroking with customary fluidity, Tendulkar suddenly changed gears in over number 7. Sajeewa D'Silva's outside-off line was countered by the batsman walking right across to outside off and savagely pulling over square leg for a six, the ball being carted round from way outside off. In the next over, he first came down to Liyanage to lift him straight back for a six, then smacked a savage cut for four, then pulled yet again for another four - rattling the bowler to such an extent that he ended the over with a half volley to Ganguly which the latter promptly put away to the mid off boundary. Thus, from 18/0 in 6, India was 50 in 8 - 32 runs coming off just 12 deliveries and, in the process, the required run rate being hauled right back.

That kind of neck or nothing strokeplay does, however, produce the mistake - and Sachin got his when he chased one outside off, trying to hit through point, to get the ball to the bottom of the bat and Lanka D'Silva, already moving to cover the ball's angle, launched into a dive to pull off a great catch off the slip fielder's bootstraps.

That brought Robin Singh to the wicket, and the left-hander promptly launched into Liyanage with a pulled four followed by a straight hit for six. However, Yardley again gave the key to Robin - "He is not a slogger, his batting is basically characterised by a very minimal backlift, he always hits through the line. He is also a powerful puller of the ball. So you can choke him by not pitching short or on his legs - keep the ball short of the length he needs to drive, aim for off and middle, and you can contain him," the Lankan coach said.

Liyanage appeared unable to bowl that line - but Sajeewa, a big, strong man who should rank among the fittest in this squad, has enviable accuracy. And Ranatunga used Dharmasena - no big turner of the ball, but incredibly accurate - to bottle up the other end. Besides, he kept his field right up, despite the fact that the Indians were at that point in the driving seat, with the result that the singles dried up as well. An increasingly impatient Ganguly, unable to break the shackles, tried to drive at Sajeewa, playing the shot early and failing to pick the slower ball - and the bowler took an athletic catch on his follow through to have India at 78/2.

The point, though, was that India had already got to 70/1 in 10 overs, which meant that it needed 195 runs off the next 240 deliveries (40 overs) - a required rate not calculated to induce panic in any international side worth the name.

Robin for his part perished in trying to take the attack to Muralitharan - an attempted sweep against the turn soaring up to land safely in the hands of deep midwicket. The shot was, unfortunately, played at a time when there was no need for it, for India, at 106/2 in 20, were still looking at a mere 154 off 180 balls.

At this point, note needs to be taken of India's progress - from 70 to 102 in 10 overs, at just three an over. The Lankans hauled the Indian batting right back by bowling to a tight line, Ranatunga despite the field restrictions being off kept six men inside the circle and made singles impossible to come by, and the Lankan fielders (Muralitharan and Mahanama in particular) fielded as if their lives depended on it.

India was the side, at that point, that should have been playing pressure-free. In the event, thanks to astute captaincy and committed work in the field, it was the batting side that came under pressure.

Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Azharuddin then began a process of consolidation. And Dravid's tenure gave yet another interesting point for the connoisseur. "He is classical, and I rate him very very highly," was Yardley's assessment. "However, sometimes he is too classical - and that means you can set a field to control him. He needs to learn to work the ball into gaps - once he does that, he will be really outstanding."

The field Ranatunga set for him was interesting. A point, to block the cut and square drive. A short cover, to block the drive on the off and deny the single. A mid off just outside the circle - a fleet footed fielder stationed there meant that the single to him was always risky, and his positioning halfway back to the line meant that an attempt to go over the top could end in a catch. And a sweeper behind cover meant that if Dravid did hit the ball through the close field, he only got a single.

More interesting was the leg side field - since Dravid likes to go back onto his stumps, or stretch well forward, and work the spinner down to the backward square-fine leg region, Ranatunga placed a withdrawn leg slip (or short fine leg) and a backward square to plug those two scoring areas (a ploy Sachin missed out on against Mahanama), put a short midwicket in place to check the on drive, a sweeper at midwicket in case the batsman cleared the infield, and a long on to check one of Dravid's best shots, the on drive.

A more or less similar field was employed for Azharuddin - but the former skipper has one advantage that Dravid lacks, and that is wrists of steel, allied to an uncanny ability to play with the softest of gaps and place the ball just far enough to left or right of any fielder to get him the single. Thus, Dravid went along at 41 off 68 (16 off those runs coming in fours, and again highlighting his inability to work enough singles). Azhar moved along at a run a ball - but when he finds himself marooned at the opposite end for four balls in an over, this in turn impacts on the Indian run rate.

Despite it all, India were still in the driver's seat going into the slog overs - 68 needed off 60 deliveries with Jadeja and Azhar at the crease, and an asking rate of just above 6 an over. Why the run rate was allowed to climb back over the six an over mark, after Sachin had in the course of just two overs dragged it right down, deserves some thought on the part of the Indian think tank. The Lankan success in chasing owes not merely to Jayasuriya's explosive starts, but equally to the fact that the batsmen following him work the ball around, keep the singles coming, and never allow the run rate to slip below the five an over mark. Playing defensively through the middle overs on the theory that if you have wickets in hand you can slog in the end overs doesn't really work - any halfway decent captain will merely use his most accurate bowlers at the end to block your attempts to hit out.

And that is what happened here - though it must be said that India abetted its own defeat with some of the most atrocious, thoughtless cricket seen in recent times.

Over number 41 and 42 were good - Azhar getting a four off Chandana to get to his 50, besides a couple of well taken singles; and then both batsmen taking a single off each ball to Murali. Over number 43 was even better - Azhar straight driving Jayasuriya for four, and the remaining five balls yielding five singles to fetch nine from the over and reduce the target to 45 off 42.

And then the fun began. In the 44th over, Jadeja pushed straight to short cover - the fielder close enough to say hello to without straining your vocal chords - and took off. Azhar sent him back. Jadeja checked. If he had returned at this point, he would have made it - but for some reason, he then tried to go forward again before turning to make a despairing, and futile, dive back into his crease. Not quite what you expect from arguably the best runner between wickets in the Indian side. And yet, thanks to a huge turner from Murali that went through both batsman and keeper for four byes, India at the end of 44 needed only 40 from 36 deliveries - with Azhar and Mongia at the wicket.

Came over number 45, and Azhar did a Jadeja - pushing to cover and taking off, while Mongia stood rooted to the crease. The run out was inevitable - and here, I would put the onus on Mongia. At that stage, batsmen had to be alert for singles all the time - and that means when you are a non striker, you start moving the second the ball is delivered, to get a head start in case you have to go. When the wicket was broken at the batsman's end, Azhar had not only come three quarters of the length down the pitch, but even managed to take four strides back - indicating that if Mongia had given the start a batsman expects in that situation, the run was easily made.

In the event, Azhar followed the way of Jadeja, India found itself at 227/6 and when, at the end of the over, the ask was 38 off 30, it was all over bar the shouting. I mean, that kind of job still means merely ensuring the singles come along, and taking advantage of the odd loose delivery (no bowling side is good enough to bowl 30 unhittable balls on the trot, that too under high pressure) to get a couple of boundaries. However, if you attend an Indian coaching camp - as I did at Bangalore - you realise one thing straight up. The nets time is taken up entirely by the batsmen - the tail very, very rarely gets to bat and even when it does, it is to part time club bowlers.

With that kind of practise, there was never any way the Indian tail was going to get those runs, despite one hefty clout by Kuruvilla for six, India finished a good nine runs short of the target.

Interesting, that difference. Because if you recall, the side began over number 41 needing 68 off 60 with six wickets in hand. And ended up having scored 59 runs off the next 60 balls (four of those coming as byes) for the loss of four wickets.

Which just about says it all, really, doesn't it? And takes us back to the initial premise - that this Indian team is so down in morale, so unused to winning, that these days it collapses whenever it sees a win looming on its collective horizon.

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