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Can India get it right from here?

By S. Dinakar

Shiv Sundar Das, Parthiv Patel, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik relax on Napier beach on Thursday. The Indians had to forgo their practice session as their baggage had not yet arrived in Napier. — Photo: N. Balaji

Napier Dec. 5. These waves are indeed relentless. Every surge is defeated, yet they keep coming back, rocking the shores, only becoming stronger with every futile attempt.

Perhaps, there is a lesson to be learnt for the Indian cricketers from these huge waves. That life's all about fighting back, from adverse times and situations; there's no such thing as giving up.

The Indians had a team meeting on Thursday evening, in a pretty building overlooking the sea, and after it concluded, a few cricketers, including maestro Sachin Tendulkar, took a walk down the Napier beach.

One, a great conqueror. The others at varying stages of their careers. This was a rather special evening when men like Harbhajan Singh, Shiv Sundar Das, Parthiv Patel and Murali Kartik could have been inspired by, both, the waves and Tendulkar ... towering, imposing, awesome.

And a side that is seeking an away Test series victory outside the sub- continent in 17 years, will take in every bit of inspiration it can get. The Indians are lucky too that they possess a firm captain in Sourav Ganguly, who can look a challenge in the eye. And a test of skill and character it certainly will be when the Indians take on New Zealanders in the two-Test series.

It is in this context, that the three-day game against Central Districts at the McLean Park, beginning on Friday, assumes significance. "We want to play tough, hard cricket. We will be approaching the game like a Test match.''

The coach is concerned by the fact that the Indians are not always the best of starters on tours, especially during Test match campaigns. ``We won the game against Hampshire this summer, but did not play particularly good cricket, and went on to lose to England in the first Test at Lord's.

And the last time the Indians were here, they actually lost to Central Districts in a tour game, before being defeated by New Zealand in the first Test at Wellington,'' Wright was certainly making a point.

Ganguly believes the present Indian side is one of the best `touring sides' the country has produced. "We have a definite chance in the series, and the confidence level is high in the side. We will be fielding our best possible side against the Central Districts.''

This suggests Virender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar will open the innings, followed by Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, and Ganguly, the little Parthiv Patel donning the big gloves. With pace spearhead Zaheer Khan ruled out of the game due to the knock he took on his knee while fielding in the India-Max Blacks clash on Wednesday, Aashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar pick themselves.

The odds are that Tinu Yohannan will be the third seamer, and ace offie Harbhajan Singh, recovering well from a viral fever, is likely to be the lone spinner in the side. "Murali Kartik is in the 12,'' revealed Wright, and it would do India's cause no harm if this promising left-arm spinner features in the only first class match on the tour, apart from the Tests.

Wright, who knows the pitches in this part of the world only too well, observed that the Napier wicket would assist the seamers early on before settling into a good batting pitch. Last time around against the Central Districts, in 1998, the Indians collapsed against the pacemen on day one and even a blistering second innings century by Tendulkar could not save the side from an embarrassing setback.

No practice for Indians

Meanwhile, the Indians had to do without practice on Thursday, because their baggage, weighing nearly 2.7 tonnes, could not arrive before 6 p.m. in Napier on Thursday.

Since the aircraft from Christchurch to Napier are basically small and light, they just cannot lift such heavy loads, and it was decided that the cricketers and the baggage would reach Napier via Wellington, in a Boeing.

However, even this plan came unstuck, since the Wellington airport had been closed for three days due to a fog, and when it finally reopened on Thursday, the authorities had a huge passenger backlog to clear. And with the Wellington-Napier flight being jam-packed there was just was no room for the cricketers' luggage.

Finally, the option of bringing it by road from Auckland was taken. For the liaison officer of the Indian team, John Bishop, this has been a testing time.

The Central Districts has no such worries, though the team too did not have nets today, due to the fact that the players were assembling only in the evening.

With the former dashing opener Mark Greatbatch around to lift their spirits, the Central District cricketers have a fine motivator, however, the side has had mixed fortunes this season, defeating Otago and losing to Wellington.

The home team is looking forward to the game against India. "The side is keen, and it has some good batters and bowlers,'' said Blair Furlong, CEO, Central Districts cricket team, and a famous All-Blacks rugby player of yesteryear.

The side has some useful cricketers in the experienced opener Craig Spearman — by a strange quirk of fate, he is now an overseas player in the Combined Districts side, having played in the English county last season as a domestic cricketer. Skipper Jacob Oram is an efficient seamer and a hard striker of the ball, and Mathew Sinclair, once he survives a tentative early phase brought about by his shuffling ways, can compile a big score. Glenn Salzburger is a handy off-spinning all-rounder, while Andrew Schwass is considered a genuine swing bowler. Yet, the biggest threat to India could be in the form of left-arm fast medium bowler Lance Hamilton.

The teams:

India (from): Sourav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sanjay Bangar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Aashish Nehra, Tinu Yohannan and Murali Kartik. Coach: John Wright.

Central Districts (from): Jacob Oram (captain), Craig Spearman, Peter Ingram, Matthew Sinclair, Glen Salzburger, Jamie How, Bevan Griggs, Martyn Sigley, Michael Mason, Andrew Schwass, Brent Hefford, Lance Hamilton. Coach: Mark Greatbatch.

Umpires: Doug Cowie & Billy Bowden.

Playing hours: From 3 a.m. (IST).

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