Line & Length
R Mohan
Stress beginning to show on skipper Kumble
April 10, 2008
The stress is just beginning to show. Although Anil Kumble is known to get very angry on the field, as seen on his visage when he reconciles with a dropped catch or poor fielding, he has never been known to be this sullen in public, He can be very cross when he is denied by an umpire when he thinks he has nailed his batsman. Off the field he has been a calm and collected sort of person.
But, never before, would the Indian skipper have been as curt as he was before the second Test was to begin in Ahmedabad.
Maybe, he was cross with comments on the way the Chepauk pitch had pampered his batsmen.
However, the more likely cause is the curator at Motera, Dhiraj Parsana, had not pleased the Indian captain by preparing a pitch that is more often seen in South Africa - a tinge of green hiding below-surface moisture.
Having handled all the pressures on and off the field Down Under with the aplomb of a statesman, Kumble may have let himself down a shade by adopting a sort of persecution complex when at home. No bowler-skipper is to blame if six specialist batsmen plus an all-rounder are bowled out in the blink of an eye leading to his team's innings lasting exactly 20 overs.
Maybe, just maybe, Kumble allowed his anger to get the better of his judgment. He may not have considered deeply enough of avoiding batting first. But then he may not have had an inkling of the moisture that lay hidden. Had he used what is known as a 'penetrometer' in horse racing tracks, he would surely have known the extent of the danger awaiting his batsmen.
Just two days before the second Test, Graeme Smith had wondered aloud about how South African the pitch preparation seemed with so much watering being done on the vital part of the square.
And yet he revealed at the toss that had he won it he would have batted first. As an opener he might have fancied his chances of surviving the early life that was bound to be there in the pitch.
If there is one major weapon against Indian batsmen, it is swing, not pace. Movement often undoes them, as it is known to have extensively in South Africa where pitches do tend to allow swing because of high moisture content from the watering used in preparing the pitches, besides the seam movement associated more with grass. Therein lies the key to why India could do so well at Perth while being decimated at Ahmedabad.
Ironically, the last time India played five bowlers was in the Mumbai Test against England two years ago, which too was lost after a batting collapse on the final day. The then skipper Dravid had put England in, perhaps fearing the swing and cut of Hoggard on the opening day when conditions are invariably at their best for bowlers in western India. The fifth bowler has only little to do with batting collapses save in leaving the batting one specialist less.
As batting collapses go, the one in Ahmedabad was a serious one, the brevity of the innings bringing back to mind the cartoons that British newspapers published after the infamous Lord's collapse of 42. Seventy-six is as much bus route number-like as 42, or for that matter, 66 in Durban where the South Africans laid out a nasty greentop to get even with the spin paradises of Ahmedabad and Kanpur where India had won in the same season (1996-97) in which they had travelled south to the Republic.
The South Africans may have been tickled pink by getting in Ahmedabad a playing surface that was more like a Wanderers pitch in early summer. These are ironies that Indian cricket can never escape from. Bishen Bedi was heard moaning in the mid 70s when he claimed Indian groundsmen were preparing English pitches to welcome visitors, his grouse somewhat logical since Tony Greig's team won the first three Tests.
What Kanpur has in store for India may have a crucial bearing on whether India will remain No.
2 in the Test rankings or surrender the place to the mentally tough South Africans who have conquered Indian frontiers before.
Whether Kumble agrees with the pitch preparation or not, the truth is he cannot afford to let his anger get in the way of good judgment, of which he has a lot.
Republished with permission from The Asian Age
But, never before, would the Indian skipper have been as curt as he was before the second Test was to begin in Ahmedabad.
Maybe, he was cross with comments on the way the Chepauk pitch had pampered his batsmen.
However, the more likely cause is the curator at Motera, Dhiraj Parsana, had not pleased the Indian captain by preparing a pitch that is more often seen in South Africa - a tinge of green hiding below-surface moisture.
Having handled all the pressures on and off the field Down Under with the aplomb of a statesman, Kumble may have let himself down a shade by adopting a sort of persecution complex when at home. No bowler-skipper is to blame if six specialist batsmen plus an all-rounder are bowled out in the blink of an eye leading to his team's innings lasting exactly 20 overs.
Maybe, just maybe, Kumble allowed his anger to get the better of his judgment. He may not have considered deeply enough of avoiding batting first. But then he may not have had an inkling of the moisture that lay hidden. Had he used what is known as a 'penetrometer' in horse racing tracks, he would surely have known the extent of the danger awaiting his batsmen.
Just two days before the second Test, Graeme Smith had wondered aloud about how South African the pitch preparation seemed with so much watering being done on the vital part of the square.
And yet he revealed at the toss that had he won it he would have batted first. As an opener he might have fancied his chances of surviving the early life that was bound to be there in the pitch.
If there is one major weapon against Indian batsmen, it is swing, not pace. Movement often undoes them, as it is known to have extensively in South Africa where pitches do tend to allow swing because of high moisture content from the watering used in preparing the pitches, besides the seam movement associated more with grass. Therein lies the key to why India could do so well at Perth while being decimated at Ahmedabad.
Ironically, the last time India played five bowlers was in the Mumbai Test against England two years ago, which too was lost after a batting collapse on the final day. The then skipper Dravid had put England in, perhaps fearing the swing and cut of Hoggard on the opening day when conditions are invariably at their best for bowlers in western India. The fifth bowler has only little to do with batting collapses save in leaving the batting one specialist less.
As batting collapses go, the one in Ahmedabad was a serious one, the brevity of the innings bringing back to mind the cartoons that British newspapers published after the infamous Lord's collapse of 42. Seventy-six is as much bus route number-like as 42, or for that matter, 66 in Durban where the South Africans laid out a nasty greentop to get even with the spin paradises of Ahmedabad and Kanpur where India had won in the same season (1996-97) in which they had travelled south to the Republic.
The South Africans may have been tickled pink by getting in Ahmedabad a playing surface that was more like a Wanderers pitch in early summer. These are ironies that Indian cricket can never escape from. Bishen Bedi was heard moaning in the mid 70s when he claimed Indian groundsmen were preparing English pitches to welcome visitors, his grouse somewhat logical since Tony Greig's team won the first three Tests.
What Kanpur has in store for India may have a crucial bearing on whether India will remain No.
2 in the Test rankings or surrender the place to the mentally tough South Africans who have conquered Indian frontiers before.
Whether Kumble agrees with the pitch preparation or not, the truth is he cannot afford to let his anger get in the way of good judgment, of which he has a lot.
Republished with permission from The Asian Age
