Kiwis took clumsy itinerary in their stride
When Stephen Fleming spoke to scribes at the end of a long series in India at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, the fatigue was obvious
Anand Vasu
22-Nov-1999
When Stephen Fleming spoke to scribes at the end of a long series
in India at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, the fatigue was obvious.
Not the fatigue that comes with playing a hundred overs in blazing heat. Not the fatigue that comes with having a thorough fitness
work out. The fatigue that comes with spending days on end on
the road, in different conditions, different places and
different situations.
The itinerary of the Kiwi team was a clumsy one to start with.
The wisdom of allotting matches to venues spread along the length
and breadth of a large country like India is something the Board
of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will have to think about.
The Kiwis played as far north as Delhi and as far south as
Hyderabad and Bangalore. In the east, Guwahati was covered while
Rajkot and Jodhpur completed the western segment of the tour.
Rajkot gave the Kiwis a 45 degree Celsius playing atmosphere
in arid desert like conditions. Guwahati was cooler much wetter
and provided a different batting surface even.
What is the point of this detailed geographical perspective
on the series? When a team is winning it is easy to down play
the difficulties of touring. When the odds are stacked against
you on spinning tracks out in the field, it helps to have things
go your way off it. Unfortunately for Stephen Fleming and his team
that was not always the case. Nevertheless, the Kiwi skipper put
up a brave front and never once let his frustration get the better
of him. When addressing the press, the attitude of the Kiwi think
tank showed through loud and clear. Professionalism was the
watchword. The manager Jeff Crowe, coach David Trist and
Fleming himself were by far the three most accessible people
on tour from either side. When asked about the fact that not
a word of complaint had slipped through Kiwi lips on this tour
Jeff Crowe answered "India is a big place and it is difficult
to get around India because of connections and things like that
and we understand that. It is frustrating from time to time but
when you tour India and come to the sub-continent you have to
come with the right attitude". New Zealand's approach to playing
in India was impeccable. No one will argue with that.
At the end of the tour some of the most well worn cliches
in cricket circles were once again served up. At the
presentation ceremony Ravi Shastri told Fleming that he was
a great ambassador of his country. The look on Fleming's face
suggested that he was tired of being a well mannered, sporting
even gentle captain at the losing end. If the Indians are
devastatingly sharp on the field, they need to back that up
with some solid off the field presence. Sachin Tendulkar and
Kapil Dev will not regret it if they sat in on a few New Zealand
press conferences. As Fleming put it, there had been a lot of
gains from a hard tour of India. Some obvious and others not so
much so. Results apart, this tour has been a winning proposition
for both teams.