A Quest for Supremacy

When India played South Africa in Nagpur, it turned out to be quite the show the world was waiting for. It was always going to be an evenly contested battle. It was always going to be the biggest league game of the tournament. It was a battle of two of the hot favourites to win the cup. It was a finely cut piece of the greatest sporting spectacle on earth that the fans savoured till the very last minute. From the perspective of a cricket fan, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the game. From an Indian perspective, however, I felt miserable and disappointed as the match ended.

The match began with downright dominance of the Indian openers in Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. Sehwag flashed his bat in the air so often that it seemed like a law of the land to do that each time a ball was bowled at you. He flew ferociously in the African skies conquering a bowler after another. At the other end, of course, was the man my words can never suffice for - a man who has achieved so much that the more you talk about him the more incapable do you find yourself to describe his genius. And as it happens often lately, while Sehwag was gambling at one end, Sachin was playing shots that could not be better timed, better placed, and more adored. Sachin looked in sublime form and looked like a man on a mission. He knew exactly what he was doing and when he pushed one straight passed the bowler and then checked his stance like he was learning the straight drive, I knew that day was going to be special. And when he hooked Dale Steyn over deep midwicket for a six, it looked as if he was reminding the world, in his own wonderful manner of course, of what he is and what he has been - Sachin Tendulkar. After Sehwag's departure, Sachin carried the innings in remarkable style, advising Gautam Gambhir every now and then as he initially struggled and later went on to score a fine 69 of 75. These were a couple of hours of unmatchable perfection that had every South African effort look dull as Sachin registered his 48th ODI hundred and 99th international hundred with all the charisma and greatness that he had scored the previous 98 with.

This, however, was the situation till Sachin was on the ground. Soon, as the batting powerplay was taken, started a collapse never seen, never imagined. From 267/1 in the 40th over, India were reduced to a shameful 296/10 in 48.4 overs. It was a shock, an aweful, unwise display of the fancy Indian middle order. Dhoni was stranded at the other end as Dale Steyn came back rather viciously after Tendulkar's dismissal, taking a 5-wicket hall. He was fast, accurate, and too much to handle for the Indian tail. India lost 9 wickets for 29 runs and this to me was the greatest turning point of the match.

The South African batting looked strong enough to chase 297 in Nagpur where chasing is relatively easier than on some other venues. Against a toothless, indisciplined Indian bowling the Africans were always going to be the favourites to chase anything under 300. Zaheer Khan, however, looked in good rhythm, and bowled pretty well throughout the match. Harbhajan, finally got some flight on the ball, occasionally came around the wicket and finally managed to impress in the tournament. India's woes were, however, to bear the burden of talentless bowlers like Nehra and Munaf who were treated like school-kids by the Africans. I really doubt if either of them really belong to this level of cricket. They lack talent, they lack pace, they lack accuracy. They have nothing that would qualify as an attribute of a good seamer. Moreover, they lack energy and fitness too. It's amazing how a country that has produced so many great batsmen and a few excellent spinners, fails completely to produce one genuine fast bowler. Nehra and Munaf are neither fast nor bowlers. Munaf is Right Arm Straight and Nehra is Left Arm Haywire. That's all. Any team can milk them at will and India will without much of a choice have to play them and pay for them in the tournament.

The African run-chase was fuelled by will and a hope that was broaden by the kind of attack India staged against them. They started slow and steady and the match was always in the balance. When Jack Kallis was run-out after an inspiring 69, I guess, India had a wonderful chance of capitalizing on the situation since the asking rate had gone high up then. The part-timers in Yuvraj and Pathan had bowled decently and right when it went to the final few overs, India missed fast bowlers. They needed just one of them to bowl in tandem with Zaheer Khan - who was bowling beautifully - but couldn't find him. As a result, it came down to getting 17 from 2 overs. Zaheer Khan bowled a fantastic second-last over and gave away just 4 runs. Dhoni had to choose between Harbhajan and Nehra. If I were him, I'd blindly choose Harbhajan. Not that I'm saying it now, but I believe some kind of spin on the ball is better than a straight ball right in the slog. India might have still lost it had Harbhajan bowled the last over but would have certainly had a better chance. Nehra bowled three lousy deliveries - the second one being the worst ball of the world cup so far - and South Africa scored 14 off 3 balls when 13 were required from 6.

South Africa won. India lost. South Africa had held their nerves till the very end in this classic of a cricket match. As teams stand now, South Africa are the only team in Group 'B' to have qualified for the next round. India are most probably in too and have a match on their hands. If they can beat the West Indies - who gave the victory away foolishly to England today - they'd be through for sure. India have a lot of questions to answer before they (hopefully) play the knockouts. I hope the nail-biters against England and South Africa would teach India quick and vital lessons about life in world cup cricket, and hopefully they will make the most of it. For now, India will have to deal with another unfortunate climax to a spectacular hundred by the great Sachin Tendulkar.

The Opener

In most things in life, the beginning is vital, and cricket is no exception. Opening the batting is not in everyone's reach of ability. There have been many who have fumbled doing the job. Talented openers are rarer than diamonds. Opening the batting is an art in itself, which involves negotiating with the ferocity of the new ball, coping with its wicked movement off the pitch, and getting scoring some runs, possibly at a good rate, to build a solid opening stand with your partner. This of course is the classical way of looking at the openers and their job. The job of an opener has constantly changed over the years. Opening in test matches and opening in ODIs are two very dissimilar jobs; the only similarity being the rarity of those who can handle either of the (or both the) jobs well.

Although writing about opening in test matches would be absolutely awesome, this is a World Cup 2011 blog, and hence I think I should stay as much in the region as possible.

In the earlier World Cups, Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge established themselves as one of the finest opening pairs of all time. They consistently helped their side - also, one of the greatest sides of all time - to win over their opposition by setting off to a flying start. Although not as sterling as their West Indian counter-part, even the Australians found a reliable pair of openers in David Boon and Geoff Marsh in the Reliance World Cup in '87. Sanath Jaysurya and Romesh Kaluwitharna proved to be the most devastating opening pair of the '96 world cup and massively contributed to Sri Lanka's eventual claim of the title. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly played fine one day cricket together but they never opened a lot together in a world cup. The last pair that must be mentioned in the list is Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, which to me, is one the greatest, if not the greatest, one-day opening pairs of all time.

It is going to be extremely interesting to know the strategy of the openers in this world cup. I assume, unlike '96, mindless slogging is out of fashion now, and at least one of the two openers for most of the teams would want to anchor the innings - which does not necessarily make them play slow. There are some batsmen who can score at fascinating strike-rates without playing a foul shot. Sachin Tendulkar is, of course, one of them and that's why I feel, he - along with a fiery Sehwag - will form the best opening pair of the world cup. Sehwag's merciless assault on the bowlers is going to be as crucial in this partnership as will be Tendulkar's classy stroke-play. Another opening partnership that the bowlers will be willing to spare their best weapon for is the one that Graeme Smith will share with Hashim Amla - who has been in supreme touch over the past 2 years. Shane Watson and Bradd Haddin will have a lot of Australian hopes rested on their shoulders but they - particularly Bradd Haddin - do not seem to belong to the same league as their Indian and South African counter-parts. England might be a surprise package as their aggressive leader in Andrew Strauss and a fine young talent in Alistar Cook build a few solid opening stands. Tilakaratne Dilshan has always looked virtually talentless to me but has still managed to score a few quick runs for his team with mindless handling of the bat. I think as in the last 4 world cups, Sri Lanka, would opt to slog in the first power play and Dilshan, if lucky as always, with Upul Tharanga may offer something to what I imagine to be a poor and hungry Lankan scoreboard in most matches. Pakistan is in such tatters right now that I am just not sure who is going to open for them, and I tend to think that even they aren't. I doubt if they have any known players apart from Shahid Afridi - who although learned nothing spectacular with either the bat or the ball and acquired zero cricketing wisdom in his career - seems to have the ability to remain a teenager all his life. Unfortunately for him, this ability does not extend to being able to be a 17 year old Sachin Tendulkar and forces him to be himself, which indicates no potential harm from him to the opposition.

The minnows might surprise us with a couple of sparkling performers. After all it's a world cup and everyone wants to prove himself. It is the biggest stage where the drama of cricket unfolds which I, in my own humble way, am trying to analyse and write about from a quiet place at a quiet hour in a crowded city where the 2011 World Cup is scheduled to be awarded to the best of the fighters.