The touring Zimbabwe team were no match for a strong home side in thefirst Test at Nagpur

Erapalli Prasanna26-Feb-2002The touring Zimbabwe team were no match for a strong home side in thefirst Test at Nagpur. The pitch was tailor-made to suit the Indianspinners and they bowled their team to an innings victory. It is apity that the tourists failed to put up a fight and their abjectsurrender was sad to see.The tactics the Zimbabwe think-tank employed were just beyond mycomprehension. Stuart Carlisle claimed the new ball on the twoavailable occasions and this helped India to accelerate their runrate. Given the fact that Raymond Price, the left-arm spinner, was theonly bowler who looked like getting wickets, Carlisle should have usedthe old ball for as long as possible.Price really impressed me. He gave the ball a lot of flight and therewards were there to be seen. The most important thing is that hekept a positive outlook all through his long spell.Moving on to the Indian batting, I must say that Shiv Sunder Das isone of our most improved batsmen. The diminutive opening batsman fromOrissa should serve Indian cricket for many more years. Rahul Dravidtoo played reasonably well and seems to have recovered fully from hisshoulder injury. Sachin Tendulkar, for his part, played an innings ofcharacter and the classic century reinforces his position as theworld’s best batsman. The little master made the most of theopportunity of batting against a weak bowling attack.
© CricInfoIt is a pity that Laxman failed once again. He has great talent, butharnessing it seems to be his biggest problem. On current form, theimmensely talented Virender Sehwag should get the nod ahead of thestylish batsman from Hyderabad. It might sound a bit cruel, but inthese days of professionalism there is hardly any room forcomplacency.It was good to see Sanjay Bangar score a hundred. He will, though,have to prove his credentials against more formidable opponents if heis to seal the all-rounder’s slot in the team.Deep Dasgupta, meanwhile, is simply not up to the task of keeping tothe bowlers and the Delhi Test must probably be his last opportunityto prove himself. I have always held that wicketkeeping is aspecialised job and that you need to have your best wicketkeeperdonning the gloves. The selectors would have to act fast and bring inAjay Ratra.Among the Indian quicks, Zaheer Khan was impressive. The left-armpacer bowled with a lot of pace and determination in his comebackTest.I cannot help but wonder, at this stage, why another talented left-armpacer, Ashish Nehra, has not been picked for the Delhi Test. Theselectors should have experimented rather than stick with the triedand tested players.Among the spinners, Anil Kumble made full use of a crumbling track topick nine wickets. Harbhajan Singh, who should have been the mainstrike bowler in Nagpur, was not as successful. If the young offspinner has to be the spearhead of the attack, he has to turn the balla lot more than he does now.It wouldn’t be fair if I don’t say a few words about the pitch inNagpur. It is a sad story that we get to see tracks like this, whichcracks up so fast. It definitely helps Kumble and Harbhajan, and thetwo spinners are capable of exploiting such conditions. With two longtours of the West Indies and England coming up, we could, however,have played on a more lively tracks. Playing on dead tracks, like theone in Nagpur, only infuses a false sense of confidence and hencecomplacency.I don’t see Zimbabwe putting up a fight in the next Test unless AndyFlower scores heavily. India are the definite favourites to seal aseries whitewash in the Delhi. Perhaps the only change in the Indianteam would be Sehwag playing in his home ground at the expense ofLaxman.