Good to see the young guns firing

Erapalli Prasanna

July 12, 2002

The morale of the Indian team must be very high after a resounding win over Sri Lanka at Bristol. It was a highly disciplined show from the Indians after their loss against England in the rain-shortened match. Going into Saturday's final at Lord's, the Indian team, then, would be very confident of clinching the NatWest Trophy.

Having outclassed Sri Lanka in all departments of the game, India will have to outsmart and outplay Hussain and his men. I am sure both the teams would be working towards evolving a game-plan for the final. Hussain with his astute leadership skills has been instrumental in reviving English cricket. Ganguly also has, in the meanwhile, steadily matured as a captain who has the respect and support of his teammates. The battle between the two leaders might prove as intriguing as the final clash itself.

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I am pleased that Harbhajan Singh was given an opportunity to play in this match. It came as a mild surprise to me to see the Sri Lankan batsmen struggling against the over-spin of Harbhajan Singh. This is precisely the kind of delivery that they must have faced against Muralitharan in the nets.

The Sri Lankan bowling, which has a depleted look without their star bowler, was completely devastated by Tendulkar's onslaught. It must be worrying for them that their best fast bowler Chaminda Vaas has had an indifferent tour of England. As I had mentioned in my previous column, Sri Lanka will have to do some serious soul-searching and sort out their problems quickly. Somehow the body language of the boys from the Emerald Isles was that of a beaten side, and it indeed was sad to see them play without their usual gusto.

Sachin Tendulkar is a master batsman, and he is not one who is going to miss out on an opportunity against an attack struggling to get the breakthroughs on a perfect batting track.

The run-outs of Ganguly and Sehwag, earlier, were shocking to say the least, and this is clearly an area where India will have to show greater discipline. The Englishmen are quick to exploit the weaknesses of their opponents and India have to sort out such a simple thing as 'clear calling' between the batsmen.

Moving on, the fact that the likes of Dinesh Mongia and Mohammad Kaif are in good touch augurs well for the Indians. I was impressed by the way Kaif paced his innings and helped Tendulkar to build a partnership of 71 quick runs which effectively took the match away from the Sri Lankans.

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For once, I thought Kumar Sangakkara might tear the Indian attack apart; the ease with which he launched into the big shots was awesome. Ganguly was forced to bring in Harbhajan Singh and the young spinner showed the kind of temperament he possesses. I have a gut feeling that Harbhajan knew how to get Sangakkara's wicket.

Talking of Harbhajan, he has a key role to play in the upcoming Test series. I am sure he will return home with a bagful of wickets if he can turn the ball prodigiously on tracks that would suit the spinners in the second half of the summer.

Having said that, I doubt whether Harbhajan will play in the final against England. Kumble's hamstring injury does not seem to be very serious and his experience will count when bowling against the likes of Trescothick and Flintoff. Trescothick indeed is the one English batsman who can single-handedly take the match away from India.

India, to reiterate, will be up against a thoroughly professional English side and they will have to play at their very best at Lord's. The winner of the final will definitely carry forward the psychological advantage into the Test series that is to follow. There is absolutely no room for complacency on Saturday and I wish the boys well.

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