When will the woes concerning the opening batting in Indian
cricket end
Partab Ramchand12-Jun-2002When will the woes concerning the opening batting in Indian
cricket end? Every now and then comes a batsman who displays all
the qualities required for a good opening bat – courage,
technique, temperament, skill – and the Indian cricket fan heaves
a sigh of relief believing that the crisis is past. But then
sooner rather than later, the same player comes a cropper, goes
through a string of failures, is dropped and the search starts
all over again.Indian cricket has been beset with many a perennial problem –
the lack of medium-pacers, sub-standard fielding, question marks
over who is going to be the next wicketkeeper, an abysmal record
overseas etc. But there is little doubt that the most vexatious
problem has been the one posed at the top of the batting order.
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It would be tempting to trace the lack of a properly equipped
opening batsman to the retirement of Sunil Gavaskar, 15 years
ago. In 106 Tests since the peerless technician called it a day,
Indian opening pairs have registered just 13 three-figure stands.The long-standing problem is perhaps fitting, keeping in mind the
supreme irony of Indian cricket. The best start ever in Test
cricket stands in the names of two Indians – Vinoo Mankad and
Pankaj Roy and their famous 413-run partnership against New
Zealand at Madras that is yet to be broken, 46 years and some
1200 Test matches later. And the worst-ever start in Test cricket
also stands in the name of India who lost their first four
wickets without a run on the board against England at Leeds in
1952.While Gavaskar formed successful opening partnerships with Chetan
Chauhan and Anshuman Gaekwad, he and Krish Srikkanth, in their
own diverse ways, proved to be an unexpectedly durable pair. When
Gavaskar called it a day, Srikkanth suddenly found himself the
senior player while pairing with Arun Lal.Not long after they came together, however, Srikkanth’s fabled
eyesight and reflexes began to fade, symbolised by his falling
average which stood at 33.88 in 1989 but fell to 29.88 by the
time he played his last Test three years later. Arun Lal, despite
displaying courage and determination, never really inspired
confidence against top-class fast bowling as illustrated by his
career average of 26.03, and by 1990 it was obvious that he had
played his last Test.Navjot Singh Sidhu, by his deeds in the West Indies in 1989, and
Ravi Shastri, no stranger to the opening slot, then seemed to be
the best bet for a durable opening pair. But though they did well
individually they never really got going as a pair despite many
opportunities.Shastri’s obdurate qualities saw him get a double century against
Australia in 1991-92 but a year later his career was over. As a
pure stopgap measure, Manoj Prabhakar was pushed to the opening
slot. The latter’s tenacious qualities and fighting spirit saw
him make a fairly successful job of it. He was good enough to
take a Test century off the West Indian pace attack at Mohali in
1994-95.
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Prabhakar and Sidhu formed an unexpectedly successful pair. They
had a stand of 109 against England in 1992-93 and also shared
successive partnerships of 171 and 86 against Sri Lanka, the next
season. Besides, Prabhakar also figured in century opening stands
with Woorkheri Raman against New Zealand in 1990 and with Ajay
Jadeja against the same opponents five years later.Just as Indian cricket seemed to have acquired a reliable opening
pair after a long time, the problems started all over again. By
1996, Prabhakar’s career had come to a sudden end following an
indifferent World Cup. Then in England later that year, came
Sidhu’s sensational decision to return midway through the tour
and without playing a single Test following serious differences
with the captain Azharuddin.The double blow re-opened the question mark over the opening slot
and created havoc. Numerous combinations were tried out in quick
succession – sometimes there were two different pairs in the same
Test – but nothing seemed to work. In desperation, Rahul Dravid
was pushed to open the innings and even wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia
was tried out.Others who donned the role of opening batsmen, though not very
successfully, during this period included Sanjay Manjrekar,
Jadeja, Raman, Vikram Rathore and Venkatsai Laxman. But every
combination proved to be a sitting duck for the opposition.The return of Sidhu for the tour of West Indies in 1997 solved
the problem partly in that he again showed why he was the best
opening batsman in the post-Gavaskar period. But the search for a
reliable opener who could partner him still continued.Mongia figured in a couple of century opening partnerships with
him during the 1997-98 season but this was a move designed to
push an extra batsman into the team; it was never really a
satisfactory or long-term arrangement. Sidhu and Laxman too
shared a 191-run partnership against Australia the same season
but even at this time it was clear that Laxman was happier down
the order.As Sidhu played his last Test in 1999 after figuring in five
century opening stands with three different partners, a tall
left-hander from Chennai, Sadagoppan Ramesh was presented as the
next big hope. Again, Ramesh seemed to have the qualities needed
to succeed at this specialised position even though he attracted
much adverse comment, with the purists faulting his footwork and
technique.That did not stop Ramesh from figuring in five three-figure
opening stands with three different partners over the next three
years. Late last year, however, questions were raised about his
temperament and with his state association not backing him, he
fell out of favour with the national selection committee. In the
meantime, Laxman had taken his rightful place in the middleorder.All too briefly, Bengal’s Devang Gandhi flickered on the horizon.
He figured in two successive century opening partnerships with
Ramesh against New Zealand in 1999-2000 but proved to be easy
meat for McGrath and company in Australia later that season.With Mongia not being considered, there occurred the most
desperate action of fielding MSK Prasad as an opening batsman in
Australia. Prasad vs McGrath was potentially one of the most
lopsided individual contests in world cricket and not
unexpectedly, the tall Australian spearhead dismissed the Indian
wicketkeeper twice for single digits in the third Test.In the new millennium, the search commenced all over again. The
discovery this time was Mumbai’s technically-correct Wasim Jaffer
who had a tough baptism against Donald, Pollock and Hayward. And
astonishingly, the experiment with a reluctant Dravid continued
with little success.At the start of the 2000-2001 season, the selectors then turned
to Shiv Sundar Das. The diminutive batsman from Orissa at last
seemed to be the answer to our prayers. He seemed to have all the
qualities required to succeed at the job and in quick succession
figured in two three-figure partnerships with Ramesh.
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Even as Ramesh fell out of favour, Das continued to prosper and
was in the process of challenging Sidhu as the country’s finest
opening batsman in the post-Gavaskar era when he suddenly looked
out of sorts in the just concluded series against the West
Indies. This was a pity, for a recalled Jaffer seemed to have
tightened up his technique and had a fairly successful outing in
the Caribbean.Too much should not be read into the brief experiment with Deep
Dasgupta despite the Bengal wicketkeeper getting a Test hundred
and figuring in a century partnership with Das. The need of the
hour is two specialised opening batsmen and unfortunately the
search still continues. Will the England tour provide an answer
at last?
