After surrendering so meekly on the lively tracks in New Zealand,
skipper Sourav Ganguly sounded philosophical about the dismal
performance by the Indian batsmen

Santhosh S15-Feb-2003
After surrendering so meekly on the lively tracks in New Zealand,
skipper Sourav Ganguly sounded philosophical about the dismal
performance by the Indian batsmen. Ganguly found support from the
New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, and even from the CEO of NZ
cricket Martin Snedden – about the nature of pitches prepared for
the one-day series.Granted that the conditions were not friendly for the Indian
batsmen in New Zealand. Even the most cynical Indian supporter
was willing to give them the benefit of doubt after that debacle.
But what about looking like wannabes against the Dutch at Paarl?
One could be forgiven for thinking that it was starting-trouble
for the Indian batsmen against the Dutch.So they travelled to Centurion to take on the world champions
Australia. There were enough reasons to hope that India would put
up a better performance at Centurion. We still had faith in the
seven-batsman theory, though there were enough signals in The
People’s XI to suggest that Sourav Ganguly and Mohammad Kaif have
been put on notice. Ganguly picked up only 76.69% of votes and
was placed at # 8, and Kaif finished at #11 – picking up 61.81%
votes.
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View in graphic formatGoing by the vote pattern in The People’s XI, Ganguly and Kaif
had a lot to prove with their bat at Centurion. Ganguly failed
again after spending 27 minutes in the middle, hitting one
boundary in making nine runs. He was again caught behind,
sparring at a delivery outside the off stump. When the skipper
struggles so badly, the rest of the team follows suit.

But there can’t be any excuses for the way Mohd Kaif has been
batting lately. Today he scored just the solitary run before
finding the fielder placed at deep backward square leg with
uncanny accuracy – with a hook shot. That makes it 90 runs in the
last eleven outings at an average of 8.18Even though the selectors can’t give the failing batsmen a shock
treatment in the middle of a tournament, they have full right to
call up the team management and ask them to get things right – at
the earliest. As far as India’s chances in the World Cup go, they
cannot afford to lose a game from here on.This was the playing XI at Centurion – and all they could gather
was 125 runs, and the seven-batsmen theory was put to shame once
again. For the tenth time in a row India failed to bat out the
full compliment of 50 overs. Now that is some dubious record!Here is your chance to make your opinion heard loud and clear.
Even before the selectors get together and even decide to talk to
the team management, cast your votes for The People’s XI. It is
the people’s choice – whether the likes of Bangar and Agarkar
should play ahead of Kaif or even Ganguly for the next game
against Zimbabwe at Harare.India hold a 2-1 advantage over Zimbabwe in all one-dayers played
at Harare Sports Club. The last time India played a one-day game
at Harare, they lost to West Indies in the final of the Coca-Cola
Cup, with Sachin Tendulkar making a duck! Another batting
collapse at Harare is something India cannot afford.Vote for The People’s XI to play against Zimbabwe at Harare
Sports Club in Harare on 19th February 2003.The People’s XI for the India v Netherlands game at Paarl (Analysis)