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Thanda
matlab Inzamam-ul-Haq |
Review of the 4th ODI between India & Pakistan at
Ahmedabad by
Pradeep Ramarathnam
 Motera,
still recovering from the brutal carnage in
2002, when over 650 runs were scored in a day,
saw another humdinger today with Pakistan
scraping home with a last ball victory and in
the process chasing 300 successfully for the
first time. Inzamam now acquiring a Javed
Miandad hue with his new strategy of batting
late and batting to the end, caressed a terrific
60 and saw Pakistan home.
For India, Sachin returned to form and
pilloried the Pakis to the tune of 123.
Unfortunately for him, the bowlers couldn’t
defend 315. Unfortunate in more ways than one,
because now, the critics got more fodder.
“Sachin makes a hundred only in losing causes “.
The sky is blue. The grass is green. The toss
is of paramount importance in a cricket match in
India. Probably the three most redundant
statements we have to grin and bear with.
Today’s toss however had a comical dimension.
The pitch had a couple of damp spots on the good
length spot. Even as Balaji, Sami and the rest
of the fast bowlers screamed redemption. Messrs
Ganguly and Inzamam thought it was terribly
unfair on the players if the ball started moving
around. The bowlers would develop bad manners
like bowling bouncers and we might just see
three slips in a one dayer. That would be a
mockery wouldn’t it?
 Sarcasm
aside, the game started an hour late to kill off
all traces of moisture on the wicket. The
curator Dhiraj Parsana didn’t show up so no one
had a clue what had happened. When the game
started though, it was the same old tale of
batting ogres feasting on poor bowlers. Lucky
Gujjus. Got to see what Kochi, Vizag and
Jamshedpur couldn’t; Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
firing on all cylinders. My neighbour is 77, in
diabolical health and just back from surgery.
But he sat up all morning to watch Tendulkar.
His defense –“I’ve waited a year for this
innings" (Sachin actually made his last ODI 100
more than a year ago, March 16th to be exact,
against Pakistan at Rawalpindi). Tendulkar
blessed us with a flashback to 1998 or so when
he was at his murderous best. Even the
irritating commentary of Arun Lal ("I think Kaif
is batting too low at 7" - Where do you suppose
we could fit him in?) and Rameez Raja (It is not
Yograj Singh, it’s Yuvraj. You are only 24 years
behind schedule Sir) couldn’t get in the way of
us enjoying the coruscating brilliance of Sachin.
The Sachin straight six off Kaneria brought
goosebumps to many. Shane Warne, asleep at home
in Victoria, would have woken up in cold sweat.
 Mahendra
Singh Dhoni was a revelation. For those who
thought he was only capable of insane swipes to
the stands, he showed that he could exercise his
grey cells just as much as his powerful
forearms. Dhoni played second fiddle to Sachin
and ended up with a neat 47. Sehwag left his
brains in a milk carton and succumbed to a
Younis Khan direct hit. It was the kind of
running Ganguly and Javagal Srinath made famous.
Ganguly himself who came in after Dhoni fell
looked determined, but couldn’t make use of a
life and was out. (Guess how?)
Yuvraj powered India to 315 with a dazzling
little cameo of 35. With the overs now reduced
to 48, India had every reason to believe the
match was in the bag. For Pakistan, Shoaib Malik
bowled no balls and good balls alternatively to
end up with 3/67. Rana Naved lost some more hair
and was carted all over Motera.
The Pakistanis use Afridi with some very
underrated intelligence. Afridi is presently
capable of holding his place with bowling alone.
But he is sent at No.1 with a clear Kamikaze
mandate - Do as much damage as you can before
you get shot down. Today, he caused irreparable
damage to Nehra’s submarine before a Balaji
torpedo got Afridi to top edge to Tendulkar.
Salman kicked Butt for a while with wristy
drives and cuts before a classic arm ball from
Kartik got Salman on the sweep.
 Malik
and Razzaq then added a hundred. Even as cricket
experts where wondering whether there was a
virus in Woolmer’s laptop (Who would hide
Inzamam, Younis and Youhana in the lower middle
order!), the duo painlessly picked up singles
and twos. Tendulkar finally sold him a lollipop
and Razzaq got himself a cavity, holding out to
deep midwicket. By now Pakistan was firmly in
control with Inzamam milking runs with
consummate ease. The dismissal of Youhana
created some artificial excitement as even then
Pakistan’s required run rate was less than a run
a ball. But the dismissal of Younis Khan to a
fantastic throw by Nehra set the cat amongst the
pigeons. At 281 for 6, the match was wide open.
Akmal struck a couple of handsome blows before
Nehra hit the stumps again. Through all this
confusion, Inzy stood like a rock; only lighter
on his feet. He ran like a hare. I repeat,
Inzamam-ul-Haq ran like a hare. And also scored
at well over a run a ball, minus the monstrous
sixes.
 Inzy
and Sami took Pakistan to the last mile. 3 Runs
Six Balls, flashback of Hero Cup 1993. Big Burly
batsman on strike, Tendulkar bowling. Only this
time Brian McMillan wasn’t around, Big Inzy was.
Romantics that Bengalis are, Dada threw the ball
to Sachin and the whole of India rudely expected
another miracle. Sachin, the magician that he
is, kept Pakistan to 2 from 5. Arun Lal was
getting a heart attack in the commentary box as
India had only 5 fielders in the circle. Dravid,
Ganguly, Kaif all ran to Sachin and desperately
pleaded with him to add another few people in
the circle. A whole two
 minutes
or so later play resumed. Inzamam, probably
humming his favourite Ghazal all the while,
squirted a square drive to the boundary and
Pakistan was home. No one crossed 65, the sign
of a well distributed team effort.
Interestingly, of the top 4 run chases,
excepting the 2002 India-West Indies clash at
Ahmedabad where Dravid ground out a brilliant
109*, no one has gone on to make a hundred. Food
for thought?
The scores are now level 2-2. For a cricket
fan, it couldn’t be better. For Musharaff and
Manmohan Singh, this is going exactly according
to script - a 3-3 scoreline to append the 1-1
test result. But, the momentum is clearly with
Pakistan. And if India doesn’t do some rapid
rethinking, Pakistan might well lug the TVS Cup
across the border. Are three seamers a good
option? Nehra, for all his fielding prowess must
hit the stumps from the bowling crease, and he
is still the prodigal son when it comes to
bowling. Jai Prakash Yadav has performed with
alarming consistency on the domestic front. Is
it time for India to pull a rabbit out of the
hat?
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