The Hindu : India incandescent

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 16, 2002

Opinion

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India incandescent

IT IS DIFFICULT to find the appropriate words to describe what transpired at Lords on Saturday. But it is clear that whatever happened on that hallowed turf was not just a game, but a piece of sporting magic. Not just a contest for a Cup, but a war of wizardry. Not just cricket, but enchantment. When the dust of elation settles down, the final of the NatWest Trophy will come to be regarded as one of the finest one-day internationals ever played. It is difficult to think of another one-day match in which India has played which surpasses this. Of course, in terms of tournament wins, India has enjoyed bigger and more significant victories. The triumph in the World Cup final in 1983 and that in the Benson and Hedges World Championship a couple of years later are two obvious examples of this. But the NatWest series final obscures pretty much everything else when viewed as a game, as a spectacle, as a brave and almost miraculous bid to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

If the World Cup triumph was engineered by India's bowlers, this victory over a tenacious English side was scripted almost entirely by its batsmen. The fact that only one other team batting second has scored more than 326 runs to win a one-day international reflects the enormous odds against India winning the match. These odds were only multiplied many times over when, after openers Saurav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag gave the side a blazing start, the Indian middle order crumpled under pressure. This is when two young men — at a time when the crowd was thinning, when the TV sets were being switched off and when the English Captain, Nasser Hussain, was probably rehearsing his victory speech — set about repairing matters. It was no easy task for Mohammad Kaif and Yuveraj Singh. They plugged the leak, made sure the boat stayed afloat, got it moving, and finally, when the time was just right, sailed full steam ahead to overrun the English fleet and storm their way into Indian hearts.

Kaif's man-of-the-match winning 87 not out was remarkable for its maturity and measured aggression. Together with Singh, whose spontaneity and exuberance is now happily tempered by the use of a cool and strategic head, Kaif engineered a seemingly impossible victory, thus breaking the jinx of having lost nine tournament finals in a row since 1999. But what is really remarkable about these two men is not merely how they played, but what they possibly represent — a brand new face of Indian cricket. Whether it is Mohammed Kaif, Yuveraj Singh, Virender Sehwag or Zaheer Khan, it is impossible to miss the buzz and the energy that the younger crop of players has infused into Indian cricket. They seem to have given it a new attitude, a new character, in fact a new mindset. The manner in which they played right through the NatWest series does raise the tantalising question. Did what we witness here signify not merely a victory but the regeneration of Indian cricket itself?

The answer is possibly, yes. The imperative now is for Saurav Ganguly and his men to use the momentum provided by this victory to strive harder, think bigger and aim much higher. At the same time, it is important not to exaggerate the meaning of the NatWest Trophy victory. Some commentators have already begun to suggest that it makes India a top contender for the World Cup Championship next year. This is wishful thinking and the possible route towards overconfidence and complacency. There are other excellent sides such as Australia, South Africa and Pakistan around and India still has a very long way to go before being truly regarded as one of the tournament's favourites. At the same time, we should not look blindly at India's recent incandescence, which does provide a real basis for an even brighter cricketing future.

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