Hayden goes hammer & tongs in steel city

Hayden goes hammer & tongs in steel city
Bishan Singh Bedi

The steel city of Vizag may not be an ideal venue for a One day International. But it did bring the steel out of the Aussies to stay abreast with the Indians. It was a good toss to win and without any tantrums too! A century a piece for the inform Mathew Hayden and a painfully struggling Ricky Ponting enabled Australia to an imposing 338/4 in 50 overs. Hayden is having a whale of a time on Indian wickets, it is almost impossible to believe that this is his first ton in shorter variety of the game.

Perseverance paid off for Ponting. Actually, the Aussies didn’t have much choice. To Ponting’s credit, he looked a lot more technically compact and confident of himself today. It seems Ponting has worked at staying side-on. And he also manages to shed the Harbhajan-phobia in time to remain in contention for the Ashes trip to England - the ultimate for an Australian cricketer worth his ability to wear the baggy green.

Good days as well as bad are all part of the game. It is how you accept them philosophically. The excitement for both Hayden and Ponting after they got their respective hundreds made a pleasant picture considering the physical endurance they have had to put up with. To be realistic, no Indian bowler had any scope of success on such a listless strip. There was only one winner in the prevailing circumstances - the man with the wood and not the leather. This was to be the pattern of play while the Aussies were batting. And Indian bowlers were proverbial lambs to the slaughter. Indian fielding was expectedly sloppy on a sub-standard out-field.

Chasing the mammoth score was a tall order. But the Indian batsmen displayed very little spine. Once again Sachin Tendulkar was the only hope and he did not disappoint his fan club. However Sachin’s brave effort was too good to last. Once he perished, the rest of the Indian batting folded like a gift parcel.

The Indian captain’s nightmare continues. This was quite an ideal location for Saurav Ganguly to have a nice feel in the middle. Making a mess of opportunities is becoming a Ganguly trademark. And it is difficult to fathom how he can possibly face his colleagues in a team meeting. There have been times when the Australians have plotted Saurav’s dismissal. But there have also been occasions when Ganguly has meekly presented his wicket to the opposition almost on a platter. Let us face it, Saurav has allowed the Aussies to get under his skin. It is all very well to be counter-aggressive verbally, but not without a strength of personal performance.

Well without being too over-bearing, I feel the Indian captain’s technical problems are lying pretty bare. It is not for one to suggest what they are. It is entirely up to Saurav to prove that he is a good student of the game and he has no hang-ups about going back to the basics. Let coach John Wright take it upon himself as a challenge to rectify the problems of the Indian captain.

Finally, the Indian tail wagged for a while. But not before some of the main line batsmen helped Steve Waugh and Shane Warne regain their bowling confidence. For goodness sake let no one talk about Harbhajan Singh as an all-rounder. Indian team has plenty big heads as it is, on this count.