Sports India

Former India skipper Ajit Wadekar, whose feat of leading the team to a test series victory in the West Indies has been emulated by Rahul Dravid after 35 years, was all praise for the `the wall` for leading from the front.

“Rahul has always led from the front and has done it again. He knows exactly the difference between batting in one-dayers as compared to doing so in tests. He knows the latter is a five-day game and one has to bat patiently and that`s what he`s done so brilliantly,” Wadekar said after India`s 49-run series-clinching win in the fourth and final test at Kingston, Jamaica yesterday.

Wadekar also hailed the spin duo of Harbhajan Singh, who piloted the West Indies downfall in the first innings with career-best away figures of 5 for 13, and veteran leggie Anil Kumble, who used the vagaries of the pitch to claim six wickets in the second innings and stop the hosts well short of the target.

“Harbhajan and Anil have always bowled well in tandem. Both bowled brilliantly and played a big part in the victory. In fact, it was a mistake in not playing Harbhajan in the first two tests. Otherwise, India could have won the series stylishly with a handsomely bigger margin,” the former left-handed stylish batsman said.

“If Virender Sehwag could get wickets, then Harbhajan certainly could have (in the first two tests). They could certainly have won the series with a bigger margin looking at the opposition, the wickets etc. Anyway winning the last test in just three days was a huge achievement,” Wadekar pointed out.

“At last they have showed they could do it overseas also,” Wadekar said.

Wadekar had led India to their only previous series triumph in the West Indies in 1971 when the team defeated Gary Sobers` side 1-0 in the five-Test series before guiding the team to another historic away rubber victory over England a few months later.

India’s Test opening batsman Wasim Jaffer has been rewarded with a ‘Grade C’ contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for his impressive performance this season.

In a statement, BCCI honorary secretary Niranjan Shah said the 28-year cricketer from Mumbai has played five Tests this season and has now been included in the Grade C contract.

With this, Jaffer will be entitled for retainership of Rs.2 million per annum on pro-rata basis from June 15 to September 30.

Jaffer made his Test debut in the first of two-match series against South Africa at Mumbai in February 2000.

Earlier in May, Suresh Raina and Sreesanth were both awarded Grade C contracts.

Sreesanth made his one-day international (ODI) debut in the first of seven-match series against Sri Lanka at Nagpur in October 2005.

Raina made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka at Dambulla in July last year.

Group A (Rs.5 million): Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, V.V.S. Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan.

Group B (Rs.3.5 million): Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, Ajit Agarkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Group C (Rs.2 million): Murali Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Suresh Raina and Wasim Jaffer.

Indian skipper Rahul Dravid swept away the batting honours in the just-concluded four-Test series against West Indies, aggregating 496 runs at a superb average of 82.66.

Dravid, who hit one century and four 50’s from seven innings, was the highest run getter on either sides.

In contrast, his West Indies counterpart Brian Lara could collect just 211 runs at 26.37 from eight outings.

India’s openers – Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag – also fared well, collecting 372 and 357 runs respectively from seven innings each. However, there was stark difference in the strike rates of the two batsmen, Sehwag getting his runs at 86.44 while Jaffer at 50.13.

For West Indies, Daren Ganga emerged as the highest run getter with 344 runs from eight innings at an average of 49.14.

India were on the top in bowling charts as well with Anil Kumble picking up the maximum 23 wickets at an average of 28.60.

West Indies paceman Corey Collymore was the least expensive, picking 15 wickets from the fours Tests at an average of 22.46.

India’s rookie fast bowler Munaf Patel bagged 14 wickets, while offie Harbhajan Singh scalped 11.

Yuvraj Singh has risen one step to ninth in the batting ladder while Harbhajan Singh has broken into the top 10 of the bowlers’ list in the latest ICC ODI Rankings issued here.

Yuvraj, who was 10th in the list after the ODI series loss to West Indies, is the second Indian batsman in the table after Mahendra Singh Dhoni who remains static at the fourth spot.

In the bowlers’ list, Harbhajan has risen to the ninth position after slipping to 11th following the loss in the Caribbean and is joined by Irfan Pathan — placed seventh — in the top 10.

Meanwhile, India faces a tough challenge to its fifth position in the ODI championship table as England’s 5-0 ODI series loss to Sri Lanka has given Mahela Jaywardene’s team four rating points and although it has not improved on its sixth position, it is now just two points short of India.

If it can continue its winning momentum in the upcoming home tri-series against India and second-placed South Africa, then Sri Lanka has the chance to make real progress up the table as it is only five rating points behind Pakistan, in third spot.

However, the defeats have cost England six rating points and sent it sliding down to the eighth spot, one point below the West Indies.

England’s downswing

England has now won just five of its last 19 ODIs, with successive series losses to Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, and that has seen it shed 12 rating points since the start of December.

Sri Lanka now has three players in the top 20 of the Player Rankings for ODI batsmen with Kumar Sangakkara 10th, the rejuvenated Sanath Jayasuriya up seven places to 15th and Jayawardene rising 12 spots to 20th.

Jayasuriya, Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga each scored two hundreds in the ODI series with England and Tharanga is rewarded for his form with a rise of 38 places in the rankings to the 44th position.

LG ICC ODI Championship Table: Team Rating: 1. Australia 132, 2. South Africa 119, 3. Pakistan 114, 4. New Zealand 113, 5. India 111, 6. Sri Lanka 109, 7. West Indies 98, 8. England 97, 9. Zimbabwe 40, 10. Bangladesh, 23 11. Kenya 7.

LG ICC Player Rankings (Top 10 batsmen): 1. Adam Gilchrist (Aus), 2. Ramnaresh Sarwan (WI), 3. Ricky Ponting (Aus), 4. Mahndra Singh Dhoni (Ind), 5. Andrew Symonds (AusS), 6. Mike Hussey (Aus), 7. Graeme Smith (SA), 8. Kevin Pietersen (Eng), 9. Yuvraj Singh (Ind), 10. Kumara Sangakkara (SL).

LG ICC Player Rankings (Top 10 bowlers): 1. Shaun Pollock (SA), 2. Shane Bond (NZ), 3. Glenn McGrath (Aus), 4. Daniel Vettori (NZ), 5. Brett Lee (Aus), 6. Nathen Bracken (Aus), 7. Irfan Pathan (Ind), 8. Ian Bradshaw (WI), 9. Harbhajan Singh (Ind), 9. Makhaya Ntini (SA).

LG ICC Player Rankings (Top 10 all-rounders): 1. Shaun Pollock (SA), 2. Andrew Flintoff (Eng), 3. Chris Gayle (WI), 4. Andrew Symonds (Aus), 5. Irfan Pathan (Ind), 6. Shoaib Malik (Pak), 7. Sanath Jayasuriya (SL), 8. Abdul Razzaq (Pak), 9. Scott Styris (NZ), 10. Shahid Afridi.

West Indies batsman Brian Lara is reconsidering his position as captain following their lost series to India.

After India took the deciding fourth test in Jamaica to win the series 1-nil, Lara expressed his frustration with regional cricket authorities in the Caribbean saying he would make a decision on his tenure as captain after the appointment of a new selection panel.

Lara also revealed that he received a letter from the regional governing body on the eve of the final test, notifying him that he was a member of the selection panel, effective from May 28, but he had complained earlier in the series that he was not a selector and had no influence on team selections.

In contrast, Indian captain Rahul Dravid won the man-of-the-match award for scores of 81 and 68 on a difficult pitch and was adjudged man-of-the-series for an aggregate of 496 runs.

He says the pace attack of Munaf Patel, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Vikram Singh and Irfan Pathan is the best India’s had for a long time.

Apples and oranges can’t be compared, but my heroes over a dramatic weekend shared some sterling similarities, though one plays football and the other cricket. Brazil were undone by Zizou’s superb technique, control and unflappable temperament in the World Cup, and Rahul Dravid displayed much the same qualities in leading India to victory over the West Indies on a Kingston wicket that was patently wicked.

Both go about their business with unsmiling grimness on the field, but that is no index to their finesse or the extraordinary ability to adapt to different situations quickly. Even more remarkably, when the Difficulty Quotient (DQ) is higher, both Zidane and Dravid seem to perform better.

Success in football is less tangibly measured than in cricket, but there is unanimity that Zidane made the difference between victory and defeat for France that memorable evening though he didn’t score a goal. Even the great Pele was compelled to declare that, “Zidane was the magician in the game, we (Brazil) had only two shots at the goal and that just isn’t good enough.”

In fact, Zidane’s midfield generalship, and his imaginative ball distribution reduced Brazil to panting underdogs rather than raging champions very early in the first half — and the tenor of the game never changed for the full 90 minutes. Made to play largely in their own half, Brazil looked like a Rolls Royce without wheels, with the highly vaunted Ronaldinho reduced to Clark Kent from Superman.

If France regains the World Cup, Zidane would likely win the popular vote to be president. Dravid is not quite in the same ‘cult’ league yet, but has surely inspired serious debate whether or not he is the best-ever Indian batsman. His remarkable influence over team performance comes across clearly in the stats given below.

While batting averages are not necessarily the index to greatness, Dravid has clearly forced his way into such reckoning alongside Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. It’s not a two-horse race any more. And what’s more, Dravid could just be peaking.

His innings’ of 81 and 68 on a pitch of variable bounce and pace will be talked about for decades. Remember, the Test ended within three days, which shows the dominance of ball over bat. Of all the innings I have seen, for sheer technical brilliance in adverse conditions, Dravid’s effort at Kingston ranks alongside Gavaskar’s 96 against Pakistan on a Bangalore dustbowl in 1987, and Tendulkar’s 114 on a Perth flier in 1991-92.

India, of course, lost at Bangalore in 1987 and at Perth in 1991, but won at Kingston in 2006, which makes Dravid’s performance that much more significant — and not just for the record book. After a roller-coaster 10 months since he took over as captain, does this signal the way up, up, up for Indian cricket?

“A victory is a victory, whatever may be the opposition. I thought Rahul and India were running out of luck in the first three Tests. There’s no denying the fact that Rahul led by example, from the front and thoroughly deserved the man of the match and the series award. He sealed his stamp of class and leadership right through the series,'’ said Ajit Wadekar, who led India to a famous first series win in the West Indies in 1971.

The most important of Rahul’s leadership was the way he handled his bowlers, the seam attack in particular, said Wadekar in the course of a chat with The Hindu.

“I am impressed with Munaf Patel and Sreesanth. Evidently, Munaf appears raw, but proved to be quick in learning the ropes. He’s the fastest among the Indian pace combination there. Sreesanth, I have noticed uses his head, bowls to a good line and length and moves the ball. That’s his hallmark".

Durrani’s kudos

Salim Durrani, who starred in India’s win in the Port of Spain Test in 1971, said: “It’s heartening that India has a captain of Rahul Dravid’s calibre after a long time. He is cool and never tries to steal the thunder from others. He’s a natural. He batted exceptionally. It’s a fine victory and the youngsters should be all the more happy.

“I expected the spinners to do the job and Anil Kumble has done it. I think Anil should be there in the one-day team also. India missed him in the one-day series. The young seamers Munaf and Sreesanth also bowled well,'’ said Durrani.

Our Principal Correspondent adds from Bangalore:

India’s win revived fond memories for E.A.S. Prasanna.

The legendary off-spinner was a key member of Ajit Wadekar’s team. “It refreshed my memory of the 71 series. I remember that the West Indies had then a strong batting line-up with the likes of Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai. We did well against them but it is unfair to compare teams across eras. I am happy with what our boys did now in 2006 but to be honest, they could have won 3-0,” Prasanna said.

Rahul Dravid credited India’s series-winning triumph against the West Indies to team effort and hoped it would be spoken of in the same terms as the historic 1971 victory registered by Ajit Wadekar’s men.

“We have not won in the West Indies for 35 years and not won outside the sub-continent for 20. That makes this win that much more special,” said the Indian captain.

“We had to work hard for it and I think it’s been well deserved,” he said.

“We’ve always heard about the 1971 team and Anil (Kumble) was the only one born, just born, when India won last in the West Indies.

For all of us, growing up hearing the history of Indian cricket that was a very significant series, and I think hopefully this will prove to be a significant one as well.”

“We played the better cricket right from the first Test after the first two days,” he said. “It’s sort of nice that it all bore fruit in the end and we won the series.

Equal Contributions

“Everyone contributed at various stages —Wasim Jaffer’s 200 helped us fight back in Antigua, VVS Laxman’s 100 helped us save the Test in St. Kitts, Virender Sehwag’s 180 almost won us the game in St Lucia. Then there was Kaif’s undefeated 148 in St Lucia. Our spinners were brilliant throughout. It’s never the finished article there is always scope for improvement”

Seamers got it right

One area of his team’s performance that pleased Dravid the most was the fast bowling department. “The seam attack bowled well throughout this series. “I have seen some fine spells in my career for India, but this is the best I have seen throughout a series since 1996.

“They are young and inexperienced, and yet they did it. “None of the great fast bowlers were great after six or seven test matches, it takes time and experience to get better in test cricket. Unfortunately, expectations are too much.”

Jaffer Gets Contract

New delhi: Opening batsman Wasim Jaffer has been rewarded with a central contract following his good form in the 1-0 series victory over the West Indies, where he registered a top score of 212 in the opening test.

The 28-year-old Mumbai batsman would be placed in the lowest of three categories, with an annual retainer fee of around two million rupees, the BCCI announced on Monday.

Jaffer made a strong comeback to international cricket this season, notching his maiden test hundred in the drawn home series against England and averaging over 50 in the Caribbean.

Former Indian skipper Ajit Wadekar, whose feat of leading the team to a Test series victory in the West Indies has been emulated by Rahul Dravid after 35 years, was all praise for the ‘The Wall’ for leading from the front.

“Rahul has always led from the front and has done it again. He knows exactly the difference between batting in one-dayers as compared to doing so in Tests. He knows the latter is a five-day game and one has to bat patiently and that’s what he’s done so brilliantly,” Wadekar said in Mumbai after India’s 49-run series-clinching win in the fourth and final Test at Kingston, Jamaica yesterday.

Wadekar also hailed the spin duo of Harbhajan Singh , who piloted the West Indies downfall in the first innings with career-best away figures of 5/13, and veteran leggie Anil Kumble , who used the vagaries of the pitch to claim six wickets in the second innings and stop the hosts well short of the target.

“Harbhajan and Anil have always bowled well in tandem. Both bowled brilliantly and played a big part in the victory. In fact, it was a mistake in not playing Harbhajan in the first two Tests. Otherwise, India could have won the series stylishly with a handsomely bigger margin,” the former left-handed stylish batsman said.

Rahul Dravid, on Saturday, became the fastest batsman in the history of Test cricket to make 9,000 runs. The Indian captain brought up the landmark in his 176th innings — one less than the previous holder Brian Lara — when he drove Pedro Collins through cover to move from 16 to 20.

Dravid had entered the fourth Test at Sabina Park with 8,900 runs from 174 innings in 103 Tests. He made 81 in India’s first innings. The 33-year-old was also the third quickest to 8,000 Test runs (158 innings). The record belongs to Sachin Tendulkar, who achieved it in 154 innings.

Only Lara (11,494 including the first innings), Allan Border (11,174), Steve Waugh (10,927), Tendulkar (10,469), and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122) have made more Test runs. Dravid went past Graham Gooch’s mark of 8,900 in the first innings of the fourth Test to move from joint to sole sixth in the list of all-time highest run-getters.

“He’s a champion,” off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said of his skipper. “He’s the kind of batsman everyone will love to have in the side. He’s a special player, and every time you need someone to stay at the wicket and get runs, he does it.”

The fastest five to cross 9,000: (Read as Name, Innings, Not Out, Highest score): R. Dravid (Ind) 176, 23, 270; B. Lara (WI) 177, 6, 375; S. Tendulkar (Ind) 179, 17, 217; S. Gavaskar (Ind) 192, 16, 236*; A. Border (Aus) 207, 38, 205.