India - Back to big time

[Ashok]

If not for Sri Lanka resembling boxing's Bum of the Month by the end of a series in which a succession of blows had reduced them to a glassy-eyed stupor, this would have been a euphoric occasion. But as good as India have been over the past fortnight - and at times, they were resplendent - Sri Lanka were awful, tending to what Geoffrey Boycott would term roobish. An embattled team with a former captain gazing wistfully from the sidelines played with such verve and intensity that Sri Lanka, dreams of No.2 status now firmly put into perspective, were forced to confront a future that appears less than rosy.

For India, the 6-1 triumph, sealed by another exhilarating hit-about from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, was a throwback to those heady 45 days in the Southern Cape when Sourav Ganguly's side - mercilessly hammered by the critics in the weeks preceding the World Cup - rode on some splendid seam and swing bowling and the colossal bat of Sachin Tendulkar to reach the final.

That achievement raised expectations exponentially, but in truth, it had been an aberration. Since Tendulkar's Aussie-slaying feats in desert storms, India had lost their way as a limited-overs side, failing to reach the World Cup semi-finals in 1999 and winning only 58 of 118 matches in the four-year period before South Africa. Subsequent events merely highlighted the one-off nature of the feat, with a mere 27 victories in 60 post-World Cup games before Sri Lanka arrived.

Dhoni's riotously joyful six-hitting and the encouraging glimpses of potential shown by the likes of Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao shouldn't obscure the fact that these games were played mostly on pitches where it was possible to plonk the front foot forward - or not move it at all - and have a heave. Indian cricket will only be able to rest easy when the new power generation translates domestic dominance into consistency on far more challenging surfaces abroad, as Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid have done for so long.

The problem of plenty is certainly a welcome one though. Both Rao and JP Yadav played no part in the final two games, but they did little wrong when given responsibility. And even S Sreesanth, whose genuine pace couldn't camouflage a tendency to bowl a couple of hit-me balls every over, impressed in patches with his ability to move the ball and switch to round-the-wicket tactics when things were going awry.

The pick of the bunch though was RP Singh, who bowled quite beautifully at Rajkot and Baroda, emphatically underlining why Greg Chappell was right to sit out individuals grown fat from dining out on the past. A rehabilitated Ajit Agarkar also relished the new-ball responsibility, and bowled with the fire and purpose that had once made him the quickest to 50 wickets in ODIs.

VRV Singh, reputedly the fastest bowler in the land, was stymied by an ankle injury, but with Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Lakshmipathy Balaji all straining for their ticket back to the big time, India's pace bowling reserves suddenly seem to be in rude health. There remains a blind spot in the slog overs, when Sri Lanka's batsmen lashed out, and the search for a Wasim Akram prototype to wrap up an innings in a flurry of swinging yorkers continues. As does the hunt for more spin options, with Murali Kartik veering from the sublime to the very expensive in support of a much-improved Harbhajan Singh.

With Ganguly and VVS Laxman missing, the fielding was also more gazelle than buffalo. Direct hits were scored with stunning regularity, boundaries cut off with dives from the Jonty manual, and catches plucked out of the air with Mark Waugh-like brilliance. Even Dhoni, hitherto suspect behind the stumps, played his part with a couple of lightning-quick stumpings.

The batsmen, starting with Tendulkar and Pathan in that opening romp at Nagpur, were utterly dismissive of Chaminda Vaas and respectful, without being overawed, against Muttiah Muralitharan. The rest were plankton for blue whales, and Dhoni and friends certainly gorged themselves after Tendulkar had laid down the marker.

As Dravid told this correspondent yesterday, it's impossible to overstate the importance of Tendulkar's return. Hungry after missing the early season, Tendulkar "clearly bought into whatever we're trying to do with this team". Not content with regaining batting form, he was frequently by Dravid's side, offering advice and suggestions. As Dravid admitted after Nagpur, the decision to send Pathan in at no.3 - repeated with stunning success again here - was evidence of Tendulkar's cricketing acumen, and the mentor's sense of delight at the achievements of his younger mates was a sure sign that a sinking ship with a few mutineers on board has metamorphosed into a happy one sailing in calm waters.

Most importantly, though, India finally have a captain and coach reading from the same play-book, and that synchronicity had much to do with the flexible tactics and innovations that overwhelmed Sri Lanka. Dravid batted quite magnificently, and led with an imagination and tactical flair that Indian cricket hasn't seen in eons. The first wind of change has seen an invigorating magic-carpet ride, and the new firm of Dravid and Chappell are unlikely to lose sight of new horizons that will eventually lead to the Caribbean in 2007. As for those left behind, where's the time to look back in anger, or sorrow?