Ganguly will bat at No.5 in second Test
Ashish Shukla
The return of Harbhajan Singh and the injury to Mahendra Nagamootoo may well prove to be the
decisive factor as India and the West Indies go into the second
cricket Test, in Port of Spain on Friday.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who missed the first Test due
to a shoulder injury, is fit and almost certain to be back in
the Indian side which should be a tremendous boost to their
chances.
However, the West Indies realised to their chagrin on Wednesday that
their most reliable leg-spinner had sustained a hamstring
injury while fielding during the first Test. Though Nagamootoo
has not yet been ruled out for the match, the West Indies have
announced that fellow-leggie Dinanath Ramnarine would replace
him in case he does not report fit in time.
Both developments augur well for India, who have another
reason to feel good about their prospects. They have won only
two Tests on West Indian soil and both those victories have
come at this venue.
Chasing their first Test series win outside the
subcontinent in 16 years, India probably could not have
asked for more positives before the match.
Even otherwise, the Indians would not be entirely unhappy
with their performance in the rain-interrupted Georgetown Test
which ended in a tame draw. Though they did concede a huge
total of 501 runs including a double century from West Indian
captain Carl Hooper, India were able to fight back, thanks to a
splendid knock from Rahul Dravid.
Playing with a lot of patience and determination, Dravid
once again showed why he is one of the most successful Indian
batsmen on wickets abroad. His knock was also a reminder to
the other Indian batsmen that once they guard against making
mistakes, they too can play long innings. The West Indian
bowling attack is hardly threatening.
Almost all the established Indian batsmen got out to their
own mistakes in the first Test, Sachin Tendulkar and V V S
Laxman suffering momentary lapses in concentration after
helping themselves to good scores, and captain Sourav Ganguly
unable to negotiate a short-pitched delivery.
There may be a change yet again in the opening slot, with
wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta most likely to be dropped for this
game. All-rounder Sanjay Bangar will open the innings with
Shiv Sunder Das in such a case while Ajay Ratra will make his
Test debut. Being a regular opener for his domestic side,
Railways, Bangar is probably more qualified than Dasgupta for
this slot but it remains to be seen how he fares at this
level.
Also, even though Ganguly has expressed his desire to
continue to come at number three, Dravid's knock in Guyana may
just see the captain yield the spot to his teammate at least
for this match.
"Dravid is a very fine player and in very good nick and it
makes sense to send him at number three," Ganguly said
on Wednesday. "In that situation, I will come at number five."
The team management also had their thinking caps on for
striking the right balance in the bowling department.
There was a talk of Ashish Nehra replacing Zaheer Khan or
even both being included at the cost of Anil Kumble. "Zaheer
was in poor rhythm on the first day (of the first Test) but he
came back strongly on the second," Ganguly said. "Nehra, of
course, is a very talented bowler and from what I have seen of
him on this tour, he is vastly fitter than before."
The wicket at the Queen's Park Oval has traditionally been
more favourable to spinners than any other track in the West
Indies but has become inconsistent in bounce in the last few
years giving an advantage to the pacemen.
"We had a look at the wicket. It is pretty dry but they
might water it because of heat," Ganguly said. "If it is
dampish, we might look to make our attack pace heavy and in
that situation would need to choose only one spinner."
The state of the pitch has also set West Indian captain
Carl Hooper thinking whether it would be better to go in with
four fast bowlers. "That is a possibility. We played three
frontline seamers in Guyana. We hope this wicket is going to
be more conducive to seam bowling and we may have a result
here," Hooper said.
But as of now, the composition of three fast bowlers and
one spinner is more likely to be retained. "Nagamootoo was
encouraging (in the first Test) because he got Sachin
(Tendulkar) out after having him dropped a ball before and
then made Rahul (Dravid) nick a couple of deliveries," Hooper
said. "Now he has got a hamstring problem and the doctor has
advised him rest."
"It is worrying but the selectors have decided to cover
him with Ramnarine," he said.
Despite the West Indies posting a mammoth total in the first
Test, Hooper was not entirely happy with the performance of
his batsmen.
"We had a good thing going in the middle of the innings
but we had a poor start and then we faded away quickly in the
end. These are little things which need to be fine tuned," he
said.
Hooper was not worried about Brian Lara whose return to
Test cricket after six months of absence due to an injury
ended in a failure. "There is no pressure on Brian. He is a
world class player like Sachin Tendulkar and it is just a
matter of time before he comes good. The sooner the better.
"I think he was unfortunate to be given out last time but
that's cricket. He can come good in this game, the next game,
anytime. I am sure he will come good on a number of ocassions
before the series."
Having struck a magnificent double hundred in the first
Test, Hooper was naturally quite optimistic about his own
chances in this match. "I have never got a back to back
century in Test cricket so it would be nice to get one here but
then the Guyana game is gone. It is a new Test match, I start
at zero again. I am sure the Indians have had a good look at
me. They must be better prepared for me in this Test."
India beat the West Indies by seven wickets in the second Test
of the 1971 series which marked the debut of Sunil Gavaskar
and five years later they managed to chase a target of 404,
which remains a world record for the highest successful run-
chase for a side batting fourth.
India's tour of West Indies - The complete coverage
Mail Cricket Editor