Mark provides the spark

Mark provides the spark
Sanjay Manjrekar

Cricket returned to some kind of normalcy. None of that nail-biting, exciting stuff we were getting accustomed to. Without any drama, Australia coasted to an easy win, in the second one-dayer at Pune. The Nehru Stadium pitch which is renowned in the country as a batting paradise wore a different look today. It did not look as friendly. Ganguly won an important toss and rightly decided to bat first. One of the weaknesses of India made a glaring appearance this morning. Three run outs in the top-order saw India getting off to a very jerky start.

Now, running between the wicket is an aspect of the game that needs to be addressed, while you are young and growing up as a cricketer. If you have deep-rooted bad habits as a runner it is very difficult to get rid of them later. You can get better but the handicap remains. With the increase of academy culture in our country, I fear the good old rule of playing more matches to hone your cricketing skills is not forgotten. Modern-day cricket makes it imperative for you to be competent between wickets. It’s best you start working early, it might just be a bit too late after that.

Coming back to the match, in spite those three run-outs, India reached a total they had in mind, at the start of the match. That was only thanks to Hemang Badani. Coming in to bat at No. 5 on a pitch that was not conducive to stroke-play and with the realisation that all the big guns had not fired and were back in the pavilion, reaching a personal score of 100 at a near 100 % strike rate was, I thought a very special achievement. It’s a pity that the knock did not get a match result, it deserved. Badani had showed glimpses of his ability in the last series. This innings showed the full flair of the TN left-hander. I think he has done enough to earn a Test place now.

One of the good things that India did in the Test series was, get rid of Mark Waugh early. Although he got two fifties in the Chennai Test match he really did not get going in the Test series. Mark Waugh is the best player of spin in the Australian side. Like a good batsman against spin, he picks up the length of the ball early, thereby getting into a position to attack even on spinning surfaces.

Mathew Hayden would have had some good company had Waugh stayed longer in Tests. Waugh carried his team through to a win today. Win, a feeling that the Australians had missed for a while now. The series is now open for grabs as we prepare to go to Indore for the third one-dayer.

-- (SportsNet Syndication)