Since I arrived in Chennai, I have divided my time between thinking about research and watching sport. The World Cup was fun while it lasted, but the heroics of Yuvraj and Kaif have driven soccer out of my mind. Predictably, there has been a lot of hoopla; much is being made of the fact that this was a record run-chase. I don't think this is especially significant, but I do believe this performance was a turning point, for 2 reasons - (1) The Indians had lost confidence in tthemselves after 9 (or is 10?) consecutive losses in one-day finals, and confidence is such an integral part of the modern one-day game, there being so little to choose between the teams. Just consider the Australians, for instance. They are probably a less talented one-day side than South Africa or Pakistan but they manage to harness momentum from their splendid Test performances to dominate the one-day game as well. (2) In Yuvraj and Kaif, India seem to have found 2 players who stay cool in a tough situation. Temperament has always been India's main problem and even Tendulkar, for all his talent, doesn't quite pass muster. The cynics say that this performance was against an English side that is low down in the one-day team ratings, but the strength or otherwise of the opposition wasn't really a factor here. Given the way Yuvraj and Kaif were playing, we could have beaten any side that day, except perhaps Australia. This team does have weaknesses. Rahul Dravid's display behind the stumps was pathetic, and we can't risk something like that happening against a world-class team. The best solution is to replace Mongia with a wicket-keeper, and send someone (perhaps Harbhajan?) to pinch-hit at No.3 if a wicket falls in the first 15 overs. The bowling is not completely convincing either, but there aren't many options As for the test team, there are still problems with the opening slots. Jaffer should be given more chances but I doubt if Sehwag can succeed as an opener at Test level. Ramesh, if only he could work on his attitude, would be the ideal choice for an opener's slot. Ganguly is the other weak link in the batting. His failures at the No.5 slot expose the tail, leading to frequent collapses. He should consider moving down the order(Ganguly would not be playing at all if he were not captain - the best middle-order batsmen India can pick are Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Sehwag). The bowling, as it is, is certainly not Test-class. Harbhajan Singh is India's best bowler and it is very strange that he is not in the side in place of Kumble, who has failed repeatedly abroad. It is disappointing to see India on the brink of defeat again (this was written after the 4th day's play), but one cannot expect things to change in the near future. We have only 3 batsmen who are technically equipped for overseas conditions - Tendulkar, Dravid, and Laxman, and we cannot hope to win abroad unless we have more options. A genuine all-rounder would certainly help as well But enough about cricket. Prasad, thanks for the link to the R.K.Narayan article. It was fascinating; Satyan seems to have a really close friend of Narayan's. There is a tendency of late to depreciate Narayan's writing (Shashi Tharoor, for example, doesn't think highly of him), but he is, for my money, the greatest writer in English India has ever produced. Stylistically, he is rather shaky, but his gifts for character and narrative more than compensate for this weakness. 1It occurs to me that sending each other links to articles we like is a good way of contributing to NAUNET. It takes up hardly any time and the expected payoff is quite high. Hats off again to Athimber for his enthusiasm and persistence. NAUNET is a very valuable resource, given that our family is getting more and more widely dispersed. Of course, we can always send each other e-mails individually but NAUNET truly gives us the sense of a family. Rahul Santhanam July 2002 BACK to the Main Page