By Anil - 13 Jan, 2003
January 22 2003

India returns to Hamilton for its final ODI in the New Zealand tour. World Cup troubles continue with objectionable contracts still unsettled, and closed issues being reopened by the ICC. As India travels to Hamilton for its final game of the ODI series and the tour, images of the Test they played here 3 weeks back will haunt them as well as their opponents. An entire Test - 4 full innings - was completed in less than 2 days time on a shocker of a pitch, and India lost the closest of matches after losing perhaps the most important toss in Ganguly's career.

The groundsman promises that the pitch to be used for the ODI will be a belter, and predicts 270+ scores on this one. But New Zealand groundsmen have said this so many times in this tour that even Fleming says that he can't predict what might happen. It is almost a sure bet that the captain who wins the toss will choose to bowl, even though it is another day-nighter.

In the meanwhile, New Zealand Turf Culture Institute chief Keith McAuliffe has gone public with comments that have explained the ordeal of batsmen on both sides, revealing that all the pitches used in the current series are new and in response to orders from New Zealand Cricket chief to push for more bounce, pace, and lateral movement. He has admitted that they may have overdone it so close to the World Cup, and also that they encountered some factors they did not expect which made the pitches more bowler-friendly than intended. McAuliffe, who was also part of the New Zealand team that helped re-lay pitches at many Indian grounds, did not offer an explanation for why those pitches have not shown anywhere near as much life as these, and why those pitches in fact have deteriorated compared to the ones they replaced, with both Mumbai and Kolkata looking considerably less lively and conducive to seam bowling in the Test series against the Windies than they did in the series against Australia, the last international Tests at these two sites.

India's batsmen will want to end this tour on an optimistic note and seal their third successive win. Virender Sehwag has been almost superhuman on the minefields here, scoring both of the only two centuries of the series made by either side at an average of close to 50, more than twice the next best, Sinclair. His top class batting has virtually guaranteed that Sehwag will be selected Man of the Series for the ODIs. Coming right after the Champions Trophy series, where he also was the best batsman of the series (even though it was not formally awarded for some reason best known to the ICC), this establishes Sehwag as the best ODI batsman in the world at the age of 23. Sehwag muses that he always seems to do well against NZ, after notching up his third century against them in a very short amount of time. His most quotable quote after that effort will be of concern to most bowlers across the world just before the World Cup: "I fear no reputation. I haven’t faced any bowler who could be termed outstanding." Sehwag has faced most of the top bowlers: McGrath, Murali, Pollock, Akhtar, Ntini, Bond.

Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaid, and Rahul Dravid all need to deliver in the final match. If the Indian team can win this one in style and by a convincing margin - something that just cannot be said of any match, Test or ODI, so far in this series - then it will have peaked at the right time and sent the right message.

Meanwhile, the World Cup administration is in poor shape, something that has been a regular feature ever since the leadership of the ICC changed shortly after the last one in England. It is still unclear whether India will be able to participate, as their players have signed the ICC contract only after striking off the two most contentious clauses. Sponsors are jittery and are not expected to make further allowances, having paid a huge amount to get rights from the ICC that could not possibly have been guaranteed. A huge audience is at stake, both on TV and in the stadiums, but as Ganguly says, this will be sorted out as it always has before. 11th hour changes are not good for the game, and the ICC should stop playing their usual, now tiresome, game of brinksmanship. It was bad enough when the fate of the ICC Champions Trophy a few months back hung in the balance until only days before it started. Clearly, the ICC cares less about the fans and audiences than the revenue they stand to collect - a huge $550 million over 7 years, of which $200 million is expected to be raked in during this World Cup alone, assuming the sponsors don't force a re-negotiation.

As if that were not enough, the ICC has decided to conduct yet another security survey of Zimbabwe, under heavy and persistent political pressure from the two countries that have raised objections to touring it: England and Australia. This is patently unfair as it seems surveys are being conducted again and again until they get the answer they want. The ICC chiefs should not be allowed to order such things unilaterally -- evidently the rest of the teams are unconcerned about any such security problem.

Unless the matches in Zimbabwe are cancelled, which does not appear to be likely to happen since the majority of the sides playing have no problem with it, Australia will lose points from the game (and revenue, but that is less important). In that case, a loss to either India or Pakistan in the first round could see the exit of Australia from the World Cup in the earliest stages, which would come as a shock for the favorites and defending champions. Otherwise, Pool A should see Australia, India, and Pakistan go through (England with an outside chance to edge out Pak) to the Super Sixes and Pool B should see the advancement of South Africa, Sri Lanka, and West Indies (New Zealand with an outside chance to edge out either Lanka or Windies).

South African co-ordinator of World Cup Ali Bacher said in an interview yesterday that strict instructions have been given to his groundsmen to prepare true batting wickets for the World Cup, with little or no lateral movement, just good bounce and carry, which should be reassuring for fans of the game worldwide.