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Motera to test the endurance of players
These were not the faces that had greeted the fans on a pleasant cool day in Chandigarh on the eve of the opening Test of the India-Pakistan series more than a month ago.
These were not the faces that had greeted the fans on a pleasant cool day in Chandigarh on the eve of the opening Test of the India-Pakistan series more than a month ago. There was a spring in their steps, an expectant smile on their young faces and their body language exuded confidence and a positive attitude that conveyed the future belongs to them.
After playing three energy-sapping Tests and three physically exhausting one-day matches, everything seems to have changed. The faces are dull, the walk is that of a tired man's and the body language seems to convey only one thing: Give us a break!
What else does one expect if the Indian board makes them play in searing heat, day in and day out and makes them travel thousands of miles across the country with little time for rest and recreation.
Kochi, Vizag, Jamshedpur and now Ahmedabad, both the teams have travelled to these places in a short span of a week and no one should be surprised if they are now on the verge of a breakdown. That it has not happened so far is a wonder and if the players last the gruelling schedule of the next three matches without their bodies giving up, it will be a miracle.
In a situation like this, asking the players what they would be expecting in tomorrow's game or who their favourite is and who is not, appears almost inhuman.
In any case, even in the best of times, the worst thing that anyone can do is to predict the result of a one-day game, unless of course you happen to be an Australian.
This is a game that Pakistan need to win to stay in the hunt while the same applies for India, though being 2-1 up in the six-match series puts them in an advantageous position. But all that can change on Tuesday if Inzamam-ul-Haq and his confident band of men put up another gutsy performance and level the series.
If that happens, Sourav Ganguly, who seems to have aged years in only a month's time, will need all his mental strength and the skill he has shown as a leader, to win this series.
Drooping shoulders, a tense face and uncertain looks are not something that one associates with the Indian captain but the intense pressure he must be going through because of his lack of form has made him appear nervous and jittery. But an international cricketer has to face this reality at some point of his career. If Ganguly survives this most difficult time of his professional life, he would achieve the status of a super-star in the eyes of a fickle public and an equally demanding and, at times, unreasonable media.
In a country that can react to Sachin Tendulkar's change of batting style as some kind of a national disaster and even brand him a passenger in the team, Ganguly in comparison is a mere mortal.
Who cares if till last year he was the finest brain and the most courageous batsman in India? It takes just a minor effort to throw a man into the dustbin of history. Far less effort than it takes to become the country's most successful captain or to score 4949 Test runs.
