da stake casino： Time and again I have been writing in this column about theimportance of bowling a good line and length
Erapalli Prasanna15-Mar-2002Time and again I have been writing in this column about theimportance of bowling a good line and length. Bowling the rightline is something a fast bowler has to strive to achieve; he canalways overcome the tendency to bowl slightly short by increasinghis pace. The Zimbabwe bowlers learnt this lesson and reapedhandsome rewards at Kochi against a complacent Indian team.The home team batsmen helped them achieve their task rather easily withsome atrocious batting. The two main culprits were the seniormostmen in the Indian side – Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. Whensteady batting was the need of the hour, they got out toindiscreet shots. It is very disturbing to see senior playersbeing so reckless and casual about their game.
© CricInfoZimbabwe players had a spring in their step; Douglas Hondoplaying his one-dayer in India showed a lot of maturity. Bowlingon a placid track, he stuck to the basics of good medium-pacebowling – good line and length. Hondo also made use of thefreshness of the wicket, getting the ball to move off the seam,which accounted for Dinesh Mongia and VVS Laxman.It amazes me, why India could score only 191 at Kochi, when onlya few days back the same batsmen had put up a massive 319. The Indianteam management owes everyone an answer.The top order’s abject surrender must be a cause of worry for allthe concerned authorities. No wonder, then, that the selectorsdelayed the selection of the squad to tour West Indies. Ourplayers must realise their enormous responsibilities when theyrepresent their country. A much more focused approach is requiredto ensure that there is no repeat of the Kochi disaster.
© CricInfoThe return of Yuvraj Singh adds strength to the Indian team forthe remaining two games. I have always believed that he shouldhave been a regular in the one-day team. The youngster is intremendous form and should definitely bolster the Indian batting.Most importantly, his inclusion adds an extra dimension to theIndian fielding. Murali Kartik too is a welcome addition to thesquad; we haven’t seen too many left-arm spinners in the side inrecent times. I hope that the two youngsters would measure up tothe task with which they have been entrusted.I always feel that the Zimbabwe fielding makes it easy for theirbatsmen. These lads are so good on the field that they alwaysmanage to restrict the opposition.To my surprise, the Indian fast bowlers chose a length that suitedthe Zimbabwe batsmen. I was particularly impressed by the wayAlistair Campbell batted. He seems to be able to read HarbhajanSingh’s bowling. If you have noticed, Campbell loves to take the bulkof the strike when the off-spinner is bowling. I can only hopethat the Indian think-tank has also observed this.Zimbabwe have a newfound self-belief; they are not willing togive the Indians an inch and are always pressing hard for a win.Geoff Marsh might have passed on to them some of the Aussievirtues and most importantly taught them to never give up.The Indians, for their part, are making heavy weather of the oneday series. If there is no marked improvement in theirperformance, they would find it very difficult to win back-toback matches in Hyderabad and Guwahati and thereby take the series.