da marjack bet： The Coca-Cola Cup tournament in Zimbabwe has managed quite comfortablyto make a fair number of people reconsider their opinions
Anand Vasu02-Jul-2001The Coca-Cola Cup tournament in Zimbabwe has managed quite comfortablyto make a fair number of people reconsider their opinions. Before thetri-series began, the hosts were seen to be, if not the outrightfavourites, at least the safest bet of the three sides. India’sconfidence had taken a beating in the recently concluded Test seriesagainst Zimbabwe and West Indies minus Brian Lara were a less thanformidable side. Or so it seemed. With just one match to go before theIndia-West Indies final, the tournament is already over for the hometeam, who had the mortification of losing all four games they played.Then again, this tournament has hardly gone according to script, withthe scenario itself constantly changing and reinventing itself. A lookat the schedule is the best place to start. Zimbabwe and India playedeach other twice, before the latter had a single game against the WestIndies. With India winning both their clashes against Zimbabwe, andWest Indies beating Zimbabwe in their first encounter, the men fromthe subcontinent were virtually through to the final without playingagainst the West Indies!The second aspect that put a dampener on the tournament was thewithdrawal of Messrs Lara and Andy Flower. A recurring hamstringinjury meant that Lara would fly back to the West Indies withoutplaying a match in the tournament. Flower, on whom all Zimbabwe’shopes rested, pulled out before the first limited overs game, citingan injury to his thumb. The Zimbabwean top order bat and stumper wasto undergo a surgery around the same time when the tournament gotunder way. With two of the biggest guns in India’s opposition ruledout, the balance shifted a bit. But surely no one expected India toenter the final with such ease.The Indians for their part have reached the final in effective, butsomewhat unspectacular fashion. Batting second after consistentlywinning the toss, India have had smallish totals to chase: 134 againstZimbabwe at Harare, 235 against Zimbabwe again, at Bulawayo and 170against West Indies at Bulawayo. Perhaps that contributed to the factthere was no centurion, or for that matter a bowler who took fivewickets in an innings. Zaheer Khan with 4-42 got closest to the mark,while fans had to make do with Sourav Ganguly’s 85 against Zimbabwe atBulawayo for the highest score by an Indian. The saving grace however,was that the innings spoken about signaled the return to form of theIndian captain.If India had anything to be a bit worried about in their undefeatedmarch to the final, it was the form of a couple of youngstersseemingly earmarked for higher honours, Dinesh Mongia and VirenderSehwag. Mongia, selected ahead of statemate Yuvraj Singh on the basisof his consistent performances in the domestic circuit eked out just45 runs from two innings, including one innings of 37. Coming in tobat in situations ideally suited to his form of batting chasing lowtotals against opposition attacks without any big guns, Mongiadisappointed. Enigmatic Delhi all-rounder Sehwag too flattered todeceive. Coming in to bat with the score on 187/4 chasing 238, Sehwaghad an ideal opportunity to knock up an unbeaten 20-30 odd runs andforce the pace. Presented with the opportunity, Sehwag failed to grabit with both hands.Then again this is not the time to be overly critical. The only reasonone is nudged to think along these lines is the refreshingly differentapproach of another youngster trying to make a name for himself -Hemang Badani. Helping himself to an unbeaten half century in India’sopening game of the series, the southpaw took every opportunity tostay at the wicket and make a few runs. Never impetuous or rushinginto his innings, Badani failed only in the second encounter againstZimbabwe where he was dismissed first ball by Grant Flower.The other aspect the Indian selectors can take heart in is theperformance of the quicker bowlers. In the absence of the experiencedJavagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, HarvinderSingh and Debashish Mohanty all discharged their responsibilitiesextremely well. Taking full advantage of the moisture in the wicketearly on the seamers accounted for 19 wickets between them. Mohanty,not seen as much more than a tourist on this trip, snapped up 3/18 off10 overs in the first game he got. Will the Indian captain be temptedto give him another go in this tournament? If he does, it will have tobe at the expense of either Ajit Agarkar or Harbhajan Singh, as thetwo left-armers have done enough to hold their places.With just a rehearsal of the final to go before the big event, JohnWright should be quite content with the way the Indian machine ismotoring along. Some fine tuning might happen, but a major change inapproach is unlikely.