By Gaurang - 21 Nov, '02
November 21 2002

India, going in without 4 of its top ODI players, complete the formalities without a fuss in Jodhur to tie the WI-India ODI series 3-3, with Dravid turning in a faultless performance in each of his 3 roles and several team members chipping in with bright performances. The pitch, slow, with uneven bounce, probably had more than anything else to do with the abrupt change in the way this 6th ODI was played. But then again it may have something to do with the man in charge.

Rahul Dravid, aka Superman, led his team brilliantly in only his 3rd outing as ODI captain and kept his 100% win record intact.

There were questions about his ability to handle captaincy, wicketkeeping and batting all in the same match. Well, he certainly answered his critics with a superb all round performance in all three categories, with even his wicket keeping shining, despite a let off or two (they were not easy chances and even a specialist may not have taken them) compensated by neat work behind the stumps, highlighted by a brilliant dig in the dirt from Sehwag's throw to run the last Windies man out. He looked like a champion first baseman in baseball, from the way he took the ball on the half volley and tagged the stumps all in one action!

His captaincy was calm, collected and very clever. Perhaps for the first time in history, Asoka DeSilva gave a couple of decisions in favor of the Indians (although he also turned down a plumb LBW against Samuels off Mongia). Credit must go to Dravid for this. His style of captaincy eliminated unnecessary appealing and in general the Indians looked more determined, but less over the top aggressive.

He also handled the bowlers beautifully. Srinath bowled one of the best overs of the tournament when he bowled a maiden to Hinds. Three of six balls narrowly missed the outside edge. Dravid also got the most out of Agarkar and Bangar, setting more sympathetic fields to them. His handling of Karthik, Sehwag and Mongia was brilliant (Sehwag dropped a relatively easy chance otherwise Mongia would have taken a wicket in his first over too), a difficult task on this slow turner of a wicket.

Karthik bowled magnificently. Clearly if he had been selected, as many (including yours truly) had wanted for the Kolkata Test, India may have got the 3-0 sweep Ganguly was looking for. He MUST be India's spinner of choice after Bhajji in ODIs.

Now on to Dravid's batting. India were in a crisis at 30-odd for two when Dravid stepped in and one could almost see the red cape fluttering behind him. Immediately the situation became much more calm. Now that he can rotate the strike almost at will (provided of course the batsman at the other end is not VVS Laxman), he has become the complete ODI batsman.

The most amazing statistic is this: At start of today's match both the aggressive Chris Gayle and Rahul Dravid had identical strike rates of just over 97.. wow!

Sure India had its hiccups. The dismissal of both Mongia and Sehwag in the first few overs was a big brake on the innings. Especially Sehwag's dismissal as even on this slow and uneven pitch he was timing the ball sweetly, until Drakes held one up and the pitch further slowed it down for him to spoon it to cover.

Mongia looked nervous, and his dismissal was due to lack of footwork and playing away from the body. But with his in today, out tomorrow tenure this was expected. In the field, Mongia patrolled the midfield area with feline grace, underarming bullets to the keeper to keep the batsmen in their crease, and taking a nice catch to dismiss Hinds off Agarkar.

VVS, one would have thought, would have relished this situation. Slow pitch, plenty of time to bat, and no pressure as such. But he perished also to a mistimed stroke, with Gayle taking a blinder of a catch. Maybe his inability to successfully rotate the strike caused him go for the big shot.

Dravid and Yuvraj then played very sensibly, rotating the strike beautifully with excellent nudges and pushes and lightening fast running. In between Yuvraj hit some shots with typically ferocious power. More than even Chris Gayle, when he hits them they stay hit.

A sudden collapse in the middle after Yuvraj once again instinctively chipped it to the on-side and Dravid then did the same after being deceived by a slower one, followed by a rush of blood from Sodhi, brought crisis men Bangar and Kaif together and they nearly took India home.

A word about Sodhi. He fielded brilliantly. With Yuvraj at point, Kaif at cover and Sodhi at mid-off, the entire offside field was well nigh impenetrable and the usual easy singles were severely limited. In addition to his actual fielding, one could sense his energy.. he was constantly clapping encouragement to the bowlers and fielders, he was chirpy in the field. It was a shame that he didn't get to bowl, but with Srinath, Agarkar and Bangar, doing so well, there was no need for him to bowl. Especially as Sehwag and particularly Karthik did a fantastic job as well. As for his shot, one could read his thinking. The field is set to save a single, let me get one over the cordon. Unfortunately this was not the pitch to try the big hit without spending at least a dozen balls gauging its pace and bounce.

Finally, about Kaif and Bangar and Man of the Match Agarkar. Kaif looked cool and collected, though he again played a poor percentage shot and lost. It was Collins' last ball of his 10 overs and there was no need for any flashy shots, especially as just a few balls ago he had crashed Collins through the covers, but Kaif couldn't resist the short and wide outside off ball and cut in the air over Powell, who leaped to take a very good catch, making up for his very poor drop of Bangar. They don't come any easier at this level.

Bangar's demeanour once again suggested that he has ice water running through his veins. He was totally calm and collected as the situation demanded as he once again guided India to victory. He has proven that he is a thinking cricketer, who can either graft (as a Test opener) or play at a run a ball (as a ODI finisher). In my mind it was he who deserved the Man of Match award, though Agarkar was worthy as well.

As for the Windies, they were victims of their own conservative approach. Hinds scored 1 run off 28 balls and Samuels 3 off the same number, i.e., they scored 4 runs between them in nine-plus overs. In addition the Windies were bowled out with over 3 overs left, which was inexcusable. What should have been a pressure match for the Indians turned out instead to be a pressure match for them. Carl Hooper must be worried about the lack of the ability to drive home the advantage shown by the Windies. If they can't do it against a severely depleted Indian team (No Sachin, Ganguly, Zaheer or Harbhajan) when will they do it?

This was a No-Natak win, but it will be a much different ball game come Saturday.