da stake casino： VVS Laxman and Shiv Sunder Das walked out to bat for India seniors against India A in the firstmatch of the Challenger Trophy at Motera, Ahmedabad today
Anand Vasu10-Feb-2000VVS Laxman and Shiv Sunder Das walked out to bat for India seniors against India A in the firstmatch of the Challenger Trophy at Motera, Ahmedabad today. Having won the toss, captainof the Indian team Rahul Dravid elected to bat first and was rewarded by some steadybatting. Both Das (73) and Laxman (43) batted sensibly and shared an opening partnershipof 84. At the fall of Laxman’s wicket, Das continued the good work in Dravid’s company andpushed the score to 178. Dravid made a patient half century in characteristic fashion.An enthusiastic Sanjay Bangar then got his man as Das was bowled. In came Vinod Kambli,who would have been hoping to make a mark in this game. He got off to a quick start butcould not capitalise. His 22 ball 26 included a four and a six.Some steady bowling then saw India A restrict the seniors to a total of 279. Although 279 isa large total in itself, India Seniors could have made much more given the start they had andthe nature of the wicket.Under the circumstances, the total was less than what seemed possible. This was mainly dueto the fact that India Seniors lost wickets at regular intervals after the 40th over. At 39.5overs, India Seniors had lost just 2 wickets, and yet they were all out in 50 overs.Lacklustre bowling from all the India A bowlers did not help their cause at all. T Kumaran,Bangar and Ashish Kapoor all completed their full complement of 10 overs at more than 5.4runs an over.Only an outstanding batting display by the India A team could have seen them through tovictory against what was a seasoned Indian bowling attack. Arunkumar hinted at that kindof form, but was not well supported. His opening partner Dani succumbed to Chopra aftermaking a slow 32. The opening partnership was worth 88.Vastly experienced cricketer and former captain Mohammed Azharuddin walked in amidsthigh expectations. To begin with, Azhar worked the ball into the gaps with ease and pickedup ones and twos. As he became more confident, he came down the wicket and lofted NikhilChopra for a huge six over long on. Attempting to repeat the shot, Azhar skied the ball toKumble, who pouched the catch easily.Every over that passed added pressure on the inexperienced India A batsmen as the spinnerstied them down. Sunil Joshi, Anil Kumble and Chopra were all effective in their own ways.S Sharath looked comfortable against the spinners, nut he too perished after making a halfcentury. After both Azharuddin and Sharath were dismissed, the India A batsmenfloundered.Drastic hitting was called for as the required run rate ballooned out of control. At the 41stover, India A were just 189. By this time, the game had slipped away from the India A team.Having done all the damage up to this stage, the India spinners were unstoppable. Choprahad picked up the initial wickets, ending with the somewhat unflattering figures of 3/56.Kumble finished up with 3/34 and Joshi mopped up the tail and had returns of 3/40. In the end, India A could manage only 227 and ended up losing the match by 52 runs.In the final reckoning, the India Seniors were just too good on the field for the A side. Thegame was taken away from the A team in the first half itself, as the seniors made a sizablescore.Yet, it was not a score that was not attainable given the conditions. In the India Seniors teamis to be tested in this tournament, it will take more than what the A side have to offer today.At the end of the day, it was a disappointing beginning to yet another Challenger Trophy.While the concept of the Challenger Trophy is sound, it never seems to make team selectionany easier. When India Seniors take on India B tomorrow, there will be more to lookforward to, as the squad for the India B team contains five cricketers from the victoriousIndian Under-19 team.