Sports
WACA pitch is not what it used to be (Comment)
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By Veturi SrivatsaThere was a time when the very mention of Perth used to unnerve the
batsmen -- even the Australians when they had to face the fearsome West
Indies pace men. However, the Western Australian Cricket Association
(WACA) ground, like many others in the world, has lost some of its
viciousness in recent years.
The Indians will have their first
taste of WACA on this tour Friday when they take on England in a virtual
semi-final of the ODI tri-series. Thanks to rain washing out their game
against Australia in Sydney, India got a life-saving two points. All
they now need is to beat England, who have five points from three
matches. India lost to Australia and England in their first two games.
If
the Indians had lost to the Australians Monday they would have been on
calculators the entire Friday calculating the run-rate or the number of
overs required to bowl England out.
More than the tri-series, the
Indians will be happy to get a feel of the WACA as they will be playing
two World Cup Games there - against the United Arab Emirates Feb 28 and
then the West Indies March 6.
More than the pitch at WACA, the
Indians are more worried about getting eleven fit men in time for the
World Cup. They can’t be going in as defending champions with two of
their key players - if not three - nursing injuries.
Ravindra
Jadeja has not played any cricket for over two months and Ishant Sharma
for three weeks. Both would have played in Sydney and so should be there
Friday. Rohit Sharma’s hamstring is on the mend, but the think-tank
would not like to risk him either Friday or in Sunday’s final if India
make it.
There can’t be a luckier guy than Shikhar Dhawan. The
opener from Delhi is perforce getting chance after chance because there
is no reserve batsman in the squad -- Ambati Rayudu already being
slotted at No.3 in the batting order for Rohit.
As if these vexed
problems are not enough, the team management is undecided where the
team’s best batsman Virat Kohli should bat -- No.3 or No.4. The argument
for him batting at No.4 is that he could hold the wobbly middle-order,
but then the failure of the top order in the first two games has meant
that he had to walk in at a precarious position with two-down for almost
nothing.
A similar situation had arisen ahead of the 2007 World
Cup when Sachin Tendulkar had to, much against his wishes, bat at No.4
with Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly and Robin Uthappa occupying the top
three slots. India exited in the first stage itself.
This
shifting of Tendulkar “in the interest of the team†was one of the
reasons leading to a rift between Tendulkar and coach Greg Chappell.
After that Tendulkar was restored to the opening slot, saying that the
team’s best batsman should get to play the maximum overs.
If
that’s the case, Kohli should open the innings and he will get to bat 50
overs, unless someone pipes up to say that would unsettle the entire
batting!
As for the WACA pitch, the Indians can take heart from
history. On the 2008 tour, India won the Test by 72 runs, the pace of
Rudra Pratap Singh, Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan proving good enough
to rattle the Australians. And the batsmen stood up to the pace and
swing of Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait and two-in-one Andrew
Symonds.
As way back as 1980 when the Perth pitch held some
terrors for the batsmen, the Indians beat New Zealand by five runs in
the World Series Cricket (WSC), playing Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar,
Javagal Srinath and Subroto Banerjee plus Ravi Shastri.
Again in
the 1991 WSC, ahead of the World Cup, India tied with the West Indies in
a low-scoring game at WACA, both teams struggling to get to 126. Roger
Binny took four wickets and had the support of Kapil Dev, Karsan Ghavri
and Sandip Patil to bowl seam up with Dilip Doshi to assist with his
left-arm spin.
Two days later, India walloped Australia by 107
runs at the same venue, Ravi Shastri, the team director now, claiming
five wickets for 15 runs -- so he should know a bit about the Perth
wicket.
India may not have the luxury of going in with five or
even six bowlers today like they did a couple of times in the past. In
one classic game at the Gabba in 2000, Pakistan had Wasim Akram, Waqar
Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Razzaq, Saqlain Mushtaq and Shahid Afridi
while India fielded Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad, Ajit Agarkar, Ganguly,
and Robin Singh to share the new ball and Anil Kumble to tighten things
with spin. If needed, skipper Tendulkar could also have turned his arm
over.
In that series, Pakistan’s firepower proved too much for
India at the Gabba, Hobart and Perth. India could only beat them at
Adelaide where Kumble was at his best.
The era of bits-and-pieces
players coming to the party are over with the new field restrictions
when the mainline bowlers themselves are unable to bowl six tight
deliveries without a four-ball. The days of Gangulys, Prabhakars and
Agarkars doubling up are over, specialists will have to do well if the
team has to win.
And WACA pitch is not what it used to be.
(Veturi Srivatsa is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at [email protected]).