On the face of it they have nothing in common
Anand Vasu27-Aug-2001On the face of it they have nothing in common. One is a fastbowler who, ignored by his home state Mumbai, went on to winnational colours playing for Baroda. The other is an openingbatsman seemingly so cavalier and laid back that even his homestate, Tamil Nadu, found him frustrating. In their own ways,both Zaheer Khan and Sadagoppan Ramesh underlined theirimportance to the team in India’s recent series squaringtriumph at Kandy.The first Test of the three-Test series, played on a grassyGalle wicket exposed some of the shortcomings of India’s paceattack. A three-pronged pace line-up starring Javagal Srinath,Zaheer Khan and Venkatesh Prasad, played into the hands ofSanath Jayasuriya. Feeding the strong southpaw with deliveriesshort and wide ensured that a series of lusty square cuts putIndia out of the reckoning in a hurry. How could someone whoplayed cricket day in and day out bowl to Jayasuriya in thatfashion, asked the whole cricket loving public in India. Well,one knows not what temporary madness seized the Indian bowlersbut at least one can say that is has passed.The second Test saw Zaheer Khan step up a gear, stick to thebasics and torment opposition batsmen. Sourav Ganguly’s lackof confidence in Railways mediumpacer Harvinder Singh meantthat the workload on Zaheer Khan and Venkatesh Prasad wasalmost unfair. For a bowler in Zaheer Khan’s mould, who relieson pace and extra bounce, this is hardly the best mode tooperate in.In the first innings, the left-arm seamer bowled 22 overs ofthe total 78.3, claiming 3/62. In the Islanders’ second dig,Zaheer Khan bagged a career best 4/76 after sending down 23 ofthe 66.3 overs bowled. In both innings, Zaheer Khan bowledmore than any of the other bowlers. Coming into the Test,severely under fire for his approach in the first Test, ZaheerKhan outshone every other Indian bowler with ease.Sadagoppan Ramesh, for his part, has been batting for hisplace in the Test side almost every time he has walked out tobat in recent times. His footwork has always been leaden, histendency to play at the ball away from his body, a weakness.However, he did manage to make up for all of that with adogged temperament and a good eye, scoring runs at the top ofthe order. With increasing media scrutiny and no doubtpressure from some selectors, Ramesh has gone out of the wayto curb his shotmaking.In the second Test at Kandy, Ramesh left the ball outside theoff stump with greater regularity than one had ever seen himdo. Top scoring with 47 in the first innings, Ramesh did notscore off 74 of the total 95 balls he faced, and a good manyof those were left alone. In the second essay, Ramesh madeonly 31, but consumed 105 balls in the process, of which 90were not scored off, thereby seeing off the new ball, a keyresponsibility for any opener.As a captain, Ganguly has made it a point to back the playershe has selected. With Zaheer Khan and Sadagoppan Ramesh, thiscertainly has paid off. There’s a lesson in that, for Gangulyfirst, and certainly for the young cricketers who enjoy thecaptain’s confidence.
