Last chance for Tendulkar, Lara
Ashish Shukla
India and the West Indies are looking to their respective batting superstars to tilt the balance in their favour as the two teams go into the fifth and final cricket Test in Kingston, Jamaica, on Saturday, seeking to break the 1-1
deadlock in the series.
The anxiously awaited showdown between Tendulkar and Lara
failed to take-off in the first four Tests and the captains of
both the teams are hoping the big occasion would spur the two
master batsmen to produce their best.
After a good start with scores of 79 and 117 in his first
two knocks of the series, Tendulkar has managed only eight
runs from his next four innings, having been dismissed for
nought three times.
On the other hand, Lara began with a zero, then compiled
scores of 52, 47 and 55 before falling to Anil Kumble for four
in the fourth Test.
However, the two captains seem least concerned with the
below-expectation performances of their star players and feel the series could still live up to the hype if the two geniuses
fired in this hour of need for their teams.
"He is a legend; a class act," said Ganguly about
Tendulkar. "He has failed, but that's human, and I believe a
three-figure knock from him is due in the next innings."
Similarly, Hooper too was quite positive about Lara's
chances in this Test.
"We haven't seen the best of Brian or, for that matter,
Tendulkar, but I am confident he would fire in Sabina Park,"
Hooper said.
"If Brian and Sachin fire, it's going to be a
fitting finale to a well-contested series.
"Lara is a big match player and he would certainly do
something special here," Hooper said. "We have done well in
batting but without Lara, I believe, we are yet to fire on all
four cylinders."
Despite the absence of any special knock from these two
greats, batting seems to be the least of the worries for
either of the teams, with V V S Laxman, Rahul Dravid and
Ganguly doing a fine job for India and Hooper and Shivnarine
Chanderpaul completely dominating the show for the West Indies.
While Hooper and Chanderpaul have struck three centuries
each and are the top run-getters in this series, Laxman is the
highest scorer so far for India, with an aggregate of 386 runs and a century and three half-centuries, and is closely
followed by Dravid, who has 369 runs. Ganguly also had a few good
knocks and has so far scored 258 runs.
There's been good news for both teams in the opening
department also with Wasim Jaffer and Wavel Hinds coming up
with attractive knocks in the fourth Test. There was
speculation that India might rest opener Shiv Sunder Das, who
has had a miserable series so far, and bring in Sanjay Bangar
in his place but there was no confirmation available from the
team management.
The fast bowling department was causing a bit of concern
in both camps. With each team batting for more than two days
in the fourth Test, the bowlers have been overworked and
are feeling the strain.
Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra have so far
sent down 164, 132 and 144.1 overs respectively. All three
had bowled more than 40 overs each in the fourth Test, where
the West Indies piled up 629 for nine declared in reply to India's
513 for nine declared.
Ganguly is hoping his fast bowlers will be able to overcome
the fatigue in this all-important battle even though the
scorching heat at Kingston is likely to test the fittest over
the next five days.
Physio Andrew Leipus spent extra time with the
three Indian pacemen and said they are responding well to the
work schedule.
With Anil Kumble having returned home for surgery on
his fractured jaw, which was successfully completed yesterday
in Bangalore, Harbhajan Singh will be back in action. The young off-spinner is just one wicket short of
completing 100-wickets in Test cricket and would be looking
to produce an impressive performance to end an otherwise
laclustre series for him.
The West Indian bowlers are in comparatively better shape
since they had an extra three-day rest during the fourth Test.
India have never won at Sabina Park, losing four of the
seven matches they have played at this venue while drawing the
other three.
India's tour of West Indies - The complete coverage
Mail Cricket Editor