The Hindu : Jaffer, Dasgupta come good

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 30, 2002

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Sport - Cricket

Jaffer, Dasgupta come good

By Vijay Lokapally

Indians' opener Wasim Jaffer drives Dinanath Ramnarine to the fence, as Ridley Jacobs watches, on the final day of the tour match against Busta XI in St. Lucia on Sunday. — Photo: V.V. Krishnan

ST. LUCIA APRIL 29. The Indians salvaged a draw in the three-day match against the Busta XI as the match meandered towards an expected finish. The honours obviously rested with the home team, which batted and bowled better than the opposition at the National Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.

The match over, the Indians got into a training session. Some batted and some bowled with Anil Kumble put through a sort of test again as Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly analysed his skills while coach John Wright stood in the umpires position to make his own judgement.

The India skipper was made to face a few short-pitched balls in anticipation of what he would most likely encounter in the next Test at Bridgetown starting on May 2.

The match itself taught the Indians a few lessons and the most significant concerned the attitude of the players. There was a complacent approach in this match, which cost them such loss of face. A draw was fine but only after the team was asked to follow-on.

The team management would like to point out the absence of six key players but then it would not help anyone's cause because the replacements were found to be short of motivation clearly.

If there was an exception in the first innings, it was the left-handed Dinesh Mongia, who exhibited his resilience in the middle order. His temperament saw him farm the strike well and pace his innings once he realised that the tail was not equipped to provide him the support he desired. He did sound the tour selectors of his ability to adapt, as he did in the only innings he got to play.

For Wasim Jaffer, it was an opportunity to stake his claims. After a poor decision in the first innings saw the Mumbai opener being adjudged leg-before even as he indicated that he had played the ball, his second venture in the middle gave him the stage to make his point.

It was a neat innings by Jaffer and he was nearly flawless as he build his innings in a planned manner. He was aware that this was his only chance left to redeem his position in the team and he grabbed it with a very sensible approach.

A few drives adorned his innings once he settled down and then he met every ball with lot of conviction.

There was a purpose in the way Jaffer crafted his half-century. He did not allow his composure to be disturbed when Shiv Sundar Das fell cheaply.

Jaffer was greeted with some short deliveries but then his task eased after the Busta XI took left-arm seamer Pedro Collins off the firing line.

Leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine too was restricted to just ten overs by skipper Ridley Jacobs as all three made figured in the West Indies team for the third Test.

Jaffer grew in confidence and his footwork appeared adequate to tackle the bowlers as Busta XI emplyed nine bowlers. Towards the end it became a little farcical but then not much was expected on the last day of this match.

But India skipper Sourav Ganguly praised his mates "a half century is a half century and Jaffer did play the seamers initially. Hell certainly be in the mind when we pick the eleven for the third Test."

There was another man who may have just sneaked into the reckoning — Deep Dasgupta — as the team management continued to toy with the idea of reverting to this wicketkeeper-batsman in order to strengthen the batting.

The failure of Sanjay Bangar in the Tests at Georgetown and Port of Spain has once again opened the avenues for Dasgupta, who helped himself to an unimpressive half-century against the uninspired Busta XI attack in the last session of the match.

The long session by the Indians at the end of the match was a reflection on the new thinking in the team management. The players will be put through a rigorous test before the Bridgetown Test and the first steps were evident here.

The idea obviously is to keep the players on their toes and shut out any possibility of complacency creeping in on the eve if a crucial match.

The tour selectors, despite a 1-0 lead in the Test series, find themselves facing the same problem of finding a partner for Shiv Sundar Das. It is another matter that Das himself would come under the hammer if he does not improve upon his form.

He has been a major cause of worry at the top, as has been the failure of Bangar. That leaves the team management with the glorious chance of easing Dasgupta back into the playing eleven in the name of strengthening the batting at the cost of Ajay Ratra, who too has not been able to gain the confidence of the seniors.

Ganguly gave an insight into the likely Indian eleven for the Test when he said "Dasgupta is in the reckoning and will play as a specialist opener.

There was also a hint from Ganguly that Dasgupta will be asked to keep wickets since the team was not sure of Ratra's batting abilities up in the order." Ganguly, however, ruled out any chance of Mongia gaining a berth in the eleven.

The Indians were also convinced that the West Indians were confused regarding their bowling composition, going by the changes announced by the home selectors on Sunday.

The Indians, however, need to get their own camp in position as far as the composition was concerned. "We've to pick the ideal eleven", Wright would do well to remember what he had said at the end of the second Test.

The scores:

Busta XI — 1st innings: 437

Indians — 1st innings: 150

Indians — 2nd innings: S. S. Das lbw b Collins 0, W. Jaffer c Ganga b Breese 62, D. Dasgupta (not out) 54, A. Ratra (not out) 29, Extras (nb-12, w-1) 13, Total (for two wkts) 158.

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-103.

Busta XI bowling: P. Collins 4-0-12-1, D. Powell 14-4-32-0, R. Hinds 7-2-10-0, D. Ramnarine 10-2-19-0, K. Jeremy 5-0-18-0, W. Hinds 2-0-16-0, G. Breese 16-5-41-1, D. Ganga 1-1-0-0, R. Morton 5-0-20-0.

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