da pinnacle： © Reuters Andy Flower is a true hero
Erapalli Prasanna15-Sep-2002
© ReutersAndy Flower is a true hero. There aren’t many cricketers like himin world cricket today. I, for one, cannot help admiring theman’s dedication to the game. No wonder, then, that he is such atowering influence as far as Zimbabwean cricket is concerned.On Saturday, under extremely demanding circumstances, the elderFlower played an innings of great character, single-handedlyensuring that Zimbabwe made a good fist of chasing an imposingIndian total. It must surely have hurt this great player when hissupreme effort in one-day internationals failed to secure aZimbabwean win. Looking back, he must feel that the match wasprobably lost when his brother, Grant, was tragically run outthanks to a superlative effort by Yuvraj Singh, fielding atpoint.When play began in the afternoon, I thought that the Indianbatsmen would be highly positive, coming as they did into thisChampions Trophy after a very successful English summer. To myutter disbelief, all that they displayed, though, was rankcomplacency.Douglas Hondo is a very deceptive bowler; he bowls a good lineand also has the knack of bowling the heavy ball now and then.Batsmen have to be very alert while playing such bowlers but thisfact seemed lost upon the top order Indian batsmen.Hondo bowled the perfect delivery to Ganguly, getting the Indianskipper to nick it into the waiting hands of second slip. He,then, snared Mongia soon after before going on to snaffle theprize wicket of Sachin Tendulkar.Talking of Tendulkar’s dismissal, I am sure that the wilyZimbabwean coach Geoff Marsh had a hand in plotting it. Theydefinitely seemed to have hit upon the fact that Tendulkar hasthe habit of moving into the line of the ball just before it isdelivered. Hondo bowled a beauty on or about the 4th or 5th stumpline, and the extra pace also was a factor in bringing about thedownfall of the master batsman.Fortunately for India, Rahul Dravid is in the form of his life;on Saturday, he carried on from where he left off in England. Thecomposure with which he played, and the sagacity with which heguided Mohammad Kaif, helped India get out of jail. The 117-runpartnership between the duo also witnessed some fine runningbetween the wickets. Ironical, then, that Dravid was dismissedbecause of an error in judging a single.
© ReutersKaif by then was ready to shoulder the responsibility ofshepherding the Indian innings through the final overs; he madethe right moves and played the right shots to ensure that histeam ended up with a formidable total. The young man, who isblessed with the temperament needed to succeed at this level, hasnow blossomed into a very good finisher in one-dayinternationals. Mark me when I say that he will play a definiterole in India’s success in the World Cup 2003.Moving on to the bowling, I must admit that the Indian spinbowlers bowled atrociously. I fail to understand why they haven’tlearnt the lessons that the English tour taught them. On the day,Sachin Tendulkar bowled better spin than the frontline spinners.Despite the poor showing of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh,India were saved by the fact that they had a large total to bankupon. All credit, though, to the Zimbabweans and Andy Flower, forthey fought the good fight before surrendering. I am now lookingforward to Wednesday’s encounter between Zimbabwe and England. IfSaturday’s showing is anything to go by, Zimbabwe might end uppulling the rug from under England’s feet.