A tale of two southpaws

On the face of it they have nothing in common. One is a fast bowler who, ignored by his home state Mumbai, went on to win national colours playing for Baroda. The other is an opening batsman seemingly so cavalier and laid back that even his home state, Tamil Nadu, found him frustrating. In their own ways, both Zaheer Khan and Sadagoppan Ramesh underlined their importance to the team in India's recent series squaring triumph at Kandy.

The first Test of the three-Test series, played on a grassy Galle wicket exposed some of the shortcomings of India's pace attack. A three-pronged pace line-up starring Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Venkatesh Prasad, played into the hands of Sanath Jayasuriya. Feeding the strong southpaw with deliveries short and wide ensured that a series of lusty square cuts put India out of the reckoning in a hurry. How could someone who played cricket day in and day out bowl to Jayasuriya in that fashion, asked the whole cricket loving public in India. Well, one knows not what temporary madness seized the Indian bowlers but at least one can say that is has passed.

The second Test saw Zaheer Khan step up a gear, stick to the basics and torment opposition batsmen. Sourav Ganguly's lack of confidence in Railways mediumpacer Harvinder Singh meant that the workload on Zaheer Khan and Venkatesh Prasad was almost unfair. For a bowler in Zaheer Khan's mould, who relies on pace and extra bounce, this is hardly the best mode to operate in.

In the first innings, the left-arm seamer bowled 22 overs of the total 78.3, claiming 3/62. In the Islanders' second dig, Zaheer Khan bagged a career best 4/76 after sending down 23 of the 66.3 overs bowled. In both innings, Zaheer Khan bowled more than any of the other bowlers. Coming into the Test, severely under fire for his approach in the first Test, Zaheer Khan outshone every other Indian bowler with ease.

Sadagoppan Ramesh, for his part, has been batting for his place in the Test side almost every time he has walked out to bat in recent times. His footwork has always been leaden, his tendency to play at the ball away from his body, a weakness. However, he did manage to make up for all of that with a dogged temperament and a good eye, scoring runs at the top of the order. With increasing media scrutiny and no doubt pressure from some selectors, Ramesh has gone out of the way to curb his shotmaking.

In the second Test at Kandy, Ramesh left the ball outside the off stump with greater regularity than one had ever seen him do. Top scoring with 47 in the first innings, Ramesh did not score off 74 of the total 95 balls he faced, and a good many of those were left alone. In the second essay, Ramesh made only 31, but consumed 105 balls in the process, of which 90 were not scored off, thereby seeing off the new ball, a key responsibility for any opener.

As a captain, Ganguly has made it a point to back the players he has selected. With Zaheer Khan and Sadagoppan Ramesh, this certainly has paid off. There's a lesson in that, for Ganguly first, and certainly for the young cricketers who enjoy the captain's confidence.