England's commitment won the day
The second one-day international at Cuttack once again demonstrated the basic difference between the two sides
Woorkheri Raman
23-Jan-2002
The second one-day international at Cuttack once again demonstrated the
basic difference between the two sides. While the youngsters in the
visiting side are keen to contribute towards their team's cause, the
younger lot in the Indian side seem to be indifferent when it really
matters. The chase at the Barabati Stadium was well within the reach of
the hosts but they made a mess of it. The fact that there were short by
a matter of just 16 runs makes it all the more difficult to digest. The
margin of the defeat was reduced by the heroics of the Indian lower
order. Agarkar was involved in a couple of fighting partnerships, but in
the end the visitors wrapped the game up in a fairly comprehensive
manner.
The choice of inserting the Englishmen in was a bit of a surprise as the
pitch at Barabati tends to become slow and low in the latter part.
Ganguly knows this particular aspect about the Barabati Stadium as he
has played on numerous occasions there. Having put the opposition in,
the Indians failed to drive home the advantage they had gained by
claiming both the openers cheaply.
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Collingwood was quick on the uptake and he was almost perfect in his
shot selection especially against the spinners. Not that he was averse
to playing shots against the medium pacers, but shots he played against
the spinners were all the more praiseworthy as they were the bowlers
expected to torment the English batsmen. Vaughan is another batsman who
has looked the part on this tour though he had not got big scores before
Cuttack. But on the day it mattered, both Collingwood and Vaughan took
it upon themselves to consolidate and take their team to a respectable
total.
It seemed difficult to keep Collingwood out of the game on Tuesday as he
was also instrumental in running Laxman out though the Indian stylist
has to be ticked off for his lethargy.
There is a lot of talk about the run-outs being instrumental in India
losing the game but the run-outs (Tendulkar's) were a result of some
outstanding fielding from the Englishmen. After the unfortunate
dismissal of Tendulkar, the middle-order batsmen played with gay
abandon. Sehwag and Badani have only themselves to blame, with neither
of them realising the importance of their tenure at the crease. The
young wicketkeeper Ratra showed a lot of pluck and spirit in the little
innings of his. He was ever on the lookout for singles and punished the
loose deliveries without any fuss. In the two games he has figured so
far, he has acquitted himself well and this is a good sign as the
selectors are still at sixes and sevens in the case of the wicketkeepers slot.
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