Defending the already-damned
Pradip Kumar Chakraborty - 18 January 2003

Any analyst could dissect the 2002-03 India-New Zealand series and call it a dismal story for the tourists, right through the series. The tour raised many questions about the calibre of the Indian batsmen when it comes to playing the moving ball. Red or white - the colour of the ball hardly seemed to matter to the batsmen, and they gave a very poor account of themselves in the process. The tour also brought Indian fans down to earth in no uncertain matter after what was a fabulous year for Indian cricket.

Having said all this, I have something to say in the defence of the Indian cricketers. The Kiwis seem to have left no stone unturned in boosting their confidence ahead of the World Cup, but their efforts in doing so cannot go unquestioned. The hosts dished out the most exquisite samples of seaming and bouncing tracks to be found anywhere, catching the Indians totally on the wrong foot and romping home to emphatic victories in both the shorter and longer versions of the game. En route, New Zealand's bowlers took on the fearsome aspects of Dennis Lillees or Jeff Thomsons on those pitches.

But can one expect the South African pitches to be as bowler- friendly during the World Cup? No way. The South Africans are looking to make the cricket World Cup exciting, if only to ensure as much financial profit as possible. People would much rather see big hits from the batsmen rather than a team bowled out for 150 due to the star performance of one bowler. Although the odd match or two with bowler-friendly tracks are the norm - for bowlers must have their share of luck - the fans throng one-day games more to see the stroke-repertoire of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag.

New Zealand's bowlers, consequently, stand a chance of getting slaughtered on the batting-friendly wickets in the World Cup, especially at the hands of the mighty South Africans, dangerous Sri Lankans and unpredictable Pakistanis. India, in fact, may have missed out on a golden opportunity for sweet revenge; had they been in the other pool, they could have gotten their own back at New Zealand.

One other thing I would like to point out is that we often find players from other countries pulling out from a series against India in India, and cricket pundits all around the world criticise the Indians for preparing spinning tracks and winning every series at home. Fast bowlers, turned to toddlers on turning tracks, crib about the conditions, but nobody points out the inability of the touring batsmen against quality spin.

Yet the same people are never short of words when the Indian batsmen falter in alien conditions, so our team gets tagged as tigers at home and mice abroad. But who isn't? Even the might of the Australians was decimated in Indian conditions, so one must refrain from judging the Indians too harshly on the strength of just this series.

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