Plays of the day
Amit Varma and S Rajesh in Ahmedabad12-Apr-2005It will be long debated if Sourav Ganguly, whose current form with thebat is that of a tailender, came out to bat at No. 4 before RahulDravid out of responsibility or selfishness. Either way, it did nothelp the side. The platform when he came out to bat was perfect forquick acceleration, but he pottered around uncertainly, asout-of-place as an octogenarian at a disco. You knew the end was nighwhen he charged out to Shoaib Malik, missed the ball completely, andKamran Akmal muffed an easy stumping. “They let him go deliberately,”said someone in the press box. “Pakistan want Ganguly to keepbatting.”But he was run out in the next over, a decision made by the thirdumpire. The players huddled together after the appeal, waiting for thedecision, and a buzz went through the crowd. Then suddenly theycheered madly, this home crowd, because their captain had been givenout. Ganguly walked back slowly, as the loud applause at his dismissalturned into louder booing. You felt sorry for the man, but unfair asthis salt on an open wound was, that wound was self-inflicted. Andonly one man had the medicine. (AV)Sachin rulesAfter three single-digit scores, there is bound to be a backlash, and Ahmedabad turns out to be the chosen venue for Pakistan to feel the heat of Sachin Tendulkar’s bat. The manner in which he dismantles Danish Kaneria is especially impressive – Kaneria bowls from round the wicket, pitching his legspinners well outside leg, but Tendulkar counters that superbly. Good-length ball? No problem – go down on one leg, reverse-sweep it to third man for four. A well-flighted one? Even better – make room, go down the track, loft it over long-on, then stand stand back and enjoy the atmosphere as the crowd rises to their feet and chants “Ganapati bappa morya” and “Sachin, Sachin”. Then move inside the line and offer no stroke to another wide one, forcing the umpire to call a wide. Kaneria has been rendered clueless, Tendulkar is back to his best, and all is well with the world. (SR)