An emphatic victory over gallant opponents
A victory is a victory
Partab Ramchand
27-Oct-1999
A victory is a victory. Let us not forget that as we savour India's
win over New Zealand at Kanpur's Green Park on Monday. It must be
remembered that it was achieved with more than a day to spare and by
the emphatic margin of eight wickets. Yes, certainly it cannot be
compared with the Indian victories at Port of Spain in 1976 or at
Melbourne in 1981 - arguably two of the greatest triumphs associated
with Indian Test cricket. But then there have been lop sided victories
over weak opponents like Sri Lanka or New Zealand or second string
English and Australian sides. To that extent, Kanpur represents an
improvement in that it was achieved against a side which had a good
record of late - an entry into the World Cup semifinal, a series win
in England. This New Zealand side is not a weak or brittle side. Yes,
it may be no more than an average team for there are weaknesses in the
batting and bowling. And these flaws became more pronounced on our
turning tracks.
Too much however should not be made about the pitch. Admittedly, it
was a difficult wicket for batting but it was not a vicious turner.
Even New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming downplayed the issue of the
pitch and the role it played in the defeat. He admitted the team
should have batted better but the batsmen were found wanting in
technique. After all two Indian batsmen got near centuries so it could
not have been an unplayable wicket.
When listed, the New Zealand batting extends to No 9. But on Indian
wickets, this strength remains on paper. Few have the skill to
successfully negotiate the turning and lifting ball. Where the turn is
slow, like it was at Mohali, the New Zealand batsmen have the time to
play their shots and keep out the really good deliveries by defensive
tactics. By falling prey at Green Park, the tradition of New Zealand
failing against spin in India has been maintained. On their first tour
in 1955-56, even such reputed batsmen like John Reid and Bert
Sutcliffe found the assorted tricks of Subash Gupte difficult to
fathom. The great Indian leg spinner finished with 34 wickets in the
five Tests. In 1965, `new boy' Venkatraghavan emerged as the
wrecker-in-chief taking 21 wickets in the four Tests, including a bag
of 12 for 152 in the final Test at New Delhi, which India won to
clinch the series. In 1969-70, Bedi and Prasanna, then at their peak,
made life difficult for the New Zealand batsmen, even though they had
in their midst excellent players of spin bowling like Graham Dowling,
Bevan Congdon, Glenn Turner and Mark Burgess. Seven years later, it
was the trio of Bedi, Chandrasekhar and Venkatraghavan who wove
patterns around the visiting batsmen. In 1988-89, Narendra Hirwani and
Arshad Ayub shared 41 wickets between them in the three Tests to shape
India's victory. And the last time out in 1995-96, the New Zealand
batsmen found it difficult to handle Hirwani and Kumble. And with
Kumble being a deadlier bowler now, it was always on the cards that
the visiting batsmen would find him almost unplayable particularly on
a pitch helpful to him.
Like the batting, the New Zealand bowling too has weaknesses. It
depends too much on Cairns, Nash and Vettori and to be candid, good
bowlers as they undoubtedly are, on Indian wickets, their fangs are
cut. Stronger bowling sides have come to grief against Indian batsmen
here and it would be too much to expect the New Zealanders to pull off
another rabbit out of the hat - something they did while bowling out
India for 83 at Mohali. In the second innings, the Indian batsmen put
the bowling into proper perspective. About the only aspect in which
the New Zealanders score over the Indians is in the field. But a side
cannot win by fielding alone when the batting and bowling is so
inferior to the opponents.
If there is one quality the visitors possess it is gallantry. They are
prepared to fight it out even if they are aware that the opposition is
stronger, that the wicket and weather conditions are loaded against
them and that there are inherent weaknesses in their side. The
fighting qualities were seen in abundant measure at Mohali and even in
the reverse at Kanpur, they did not go down without a fight -
restricting the Indian first innings total, taking two early wickets
in the second innings. In a way this has enhanced the achievement of
the triumph at Kanpur, only the country's fourth victory in 18 matches
(against three losses) at this venue.
From India's point of view, the outstanding feat was Kumble's. The
ace Indian spinner certainly is at the peak of his powers. India's
main strike bowler of the 90s now has a bag of 253 wickets in 55 Tests
and the average has slipped to below 27. These are excellent figures
by any standards. Of course how many of these wickets have been taken
outside India is a moot point. But the fact remains that on our
designer wickets at home, Kumble will continue to be a match winner.
Accuracy has always been his forte but now his top spinners and
googlies are very difficult to negotiate. If only he could perform
even half as well in Australia, India could fancy their chances in the
series.
Harbhajan Singh exceeded expectations making up for Joshi's lack of
form. Admittedly the batting was a bit of a disappointment, especially
after the excellent start given by the first three batsmen. Apart from
Kumble, a notable achievement was registered by Devang Gandhi and
Sadagoppan Ramesh who became probably the first Indian opening pair to
notch up two successive century partnerships. The famed middle order
for once failed but one is sure this is only a minor aberration. And
finally, the match could mark a turning point in Tendulkar's
captaincy.