da gbg bet： After having won the first two Test matches so convincingly, all thatremained to be seen was whether India would make it a 3-0 clean sweepof the series
Erapalli Prasanna04-Nov-2002After having won the first two Test matches so convincingly, all thatremained to be seen was whether India would make it a 3-0 clean sweepof the series. West Indies for the best part of this Test series hadstruggled in all departments of the game, and there were no way onecould see them avoiding a rout when the Test started. But all creditto the to the tourists, they proved a lot of people, me included,wrong by scrapping hard at Eden Gardens.
© CricInfoThe reason why one tends to be so pessimistic while rating the chancesof Carl Hooper’s men is simple. They do not have the firepower when itcomes to fast bowling. And with their batting struggling on mostoccasions that leaves them in a very helpless situation indeed. Evenin Eden Gardens where they performed creditably, one could not helpbut be shocked by the sight of the likes of Cameron Cuffy trundling inand bowling medium-pace. Take it from me that the West Indies cannever regain their lost glory if their fast bowlers continue toperform in this vein.Moving on to the Test, the one thing that struck me the most was theimprovement in the West Indies fielding. A few crucial catches weretaken, unlike in Chennai. Their bowlers also did a good job torestrict India to 275/6 on the first day, before failing ratherdramatically on the second day. This enabled the Indian tail to wagmerrily – Parthiv Patel and Javagal Srinath were allowed the luxury offree hits as India posted a healthy total.That said the contribution of Sanjay Bangar at the top of the Indianorder must not be forgotten. He may not be the most attractive strokeplayer in the team, but Bangar makes up for all that by doing atremendous job as an opening batsman. Not only did he top score with77 but he also carried out the important job of seeing off the newball. One look at the second innings failure of Bangar at Kolkata andthe events that followed proves Bangar’s importance to this team.When the West Indies replied, their batsmen showed commendableapplication. They were helped to no small extent by the lack ofdiscipline in the Indian bowling. I am not too sure why our spinbowlers occasionally tend to forget the virtue of bowling a good lineand length. But they sure did make the task of Wavell Hinds, ChrisGayle and Marlon Samuels easier.Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s success was an entirely different matter. Heis a tough cookie and relishes playing against India, as evidenced bythe fact that five out of his six centuries have come against them.His first hundred in the land of his ancestors must always remain anespecially sweet one for him.
© CricInfoLooking back at the Test series, it was a very good one for India.Sehwag and Bangar have emerged as a formidable opening pair. Barringthe unlucky Sourav Ganguly, all batsmen got big scores. Even thebowling department did very well; I am impressed with the way ZaheerKhan bowled in the first two games. And the two spinners HarbhajanSingh and Anil Kumble were just too good for the West Indies batsmenon helpful tracks.Parthiv Patel has emerged as a stronger cricketer and has cemented hisplace in this Indian Test team. He has been a revelation behind thestumps – trust me it is not an easy task to keep when the ball isjumping and turning. The kid has developed a great deal since I firstsaw him at the NCA in Bangalore and I am sure that he will go on torepresent India for many more years.Moving on to the upcoming one-day series, I am sure it will be muchmore closer than the Test series. Sachin Tendulkar’s unfortunatehamstring injury gives India an opportunity to experiment a bit withthe middle order. It, for instance, will not be a bad idea to giveParthiv a few games in the course of this one-day series.Before I sign off, let me, then, congratulate Ganguly and the boys forthe Test series win. Hope they will continue their scorching run inthe one-day series too.