India under pressure in third one-dayer
Nov 25, 2006 - 11:34:03 PM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
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Umpires: Billy Doctrove -, South Africa to name second official
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By RxPG News Service,
[RxPG] Cape Town, Nov 25 - India will be under tremendous pressure to put the Durban drubbing behind and perform when they clash with South Africa in the third one-day international here Sunday.
With a thorough professional performance, South Africa defeated India by a whopping 157 runs - the Proteas' biggest win ever over India - at the Kingsmead Stadium Wednesday to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. The first in Johannesburg was washed out.
The Rahul Dravid-led Indian team's capitulation raised a furore in India and the Indian cricket board president Sharad Pawar reacted by asking chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar to go to South Africa for the three-match Test series beginning in Johannesburg Dec 15.
The Indian board's move defies logic because if the players fail to perform on the field, no one, not even Vengsarkar or coach Greg Chappell, can do anything. After all, it's the players who will have to lift their game and any number of stalwarts sitting outside the boundary would be of no help.
The only difference Vengsarkar can possibly make is in picking the playing XI, which is normally chosen by the tour team management committee comprising the captain, vice-captain, coach and manager. At times, senior players like Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble are included in the committee.
Now, Vengsarkar will become part of the gang, even though the board officials have acknowledged that no selector can be part of the tour selection committee as there is no such provision in the constitution of the Board of Control for Cricket in India -.
Moreover, the former India captain will reach South Africa at the conclusion of the ODI series, when India's worst phase of the tour would possibly be over as they are expected to be a better side than South Africa in the longer version of the game.
When India take to the Sahara Park ground in Newlands, they will have to begin afresh, leaving behind Durban abysmal performance. Only three batsmen - Tendulkar, Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni - managed double figures scores.
All-rounder Jacques Kallis, who scored his first century in two years and the first against India, made all the difference between the two sides.
He scored a responsible and unbeaten 119 off 160 balls and then returned to compound India's miseries with an incisive spell with the ball. The medium pacer took three wickets at a total cost of three runs in 4.1 overs to hasten India's demise.
Fearsome fast bowler Andre Nel was more destructive as he took four wickets for just 13 runs in eight overs. In reality, it was Nel who nailed the Indians, starting with top scorer Tendulkar, who managed 35 off 51 balls.
They combined to bowl out India to their lowest total against the home side. India's previous lowest total against them was 147 in Port Elizabeth in 1992-93.
On the other hand, it was South Africa's biggest win. Their previous biggest win over India was by 80 runs in Sharjah in 1995-96.
Sunday, however, will be a different story. A consolation for India is that they cannot perform worse than they did in Durban. They can only rise from the Durban depths and bloom.
Teams:
India: Rahul Dravid -, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Wasim Jaffer, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Mongia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik -, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, S. Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Munaf Patel and Ajit Agarkar
South Africa: Graeme Smith -, Loots Bosman, Jacques Kallis, Herschelle Gibbs, A.B. de Villiers, Mark Boucher -, Justin Kemp, Shaun Pollock, Robin Peterson, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Boeta Dippenaar, Andrew Hall and Charl Langeveldt
Umpires: Billy Doctrove -, South Africa to name second official
Match referee: Chris Broad -
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