A plan well-executed

A chapter has been extracted from the history of 1971 and rewritten. An inspired Indian team has finally proved to the world that they have it in them to win Test matches abroad. The Queen's Park Oval at Port of Spain will always have a special place in Indian cricket history, more so now since, with this memorable Test win, India have three victories at this picturesque venue.

I had expected Harbhajan Singh to be more effective on the final day and even run through the West Indies batting line-up. It was a disappointing show by the young offspinner, and, in the final analysis, it was the fast bowlers who won the Test for India.

I am forced to conclude that Carl Hooper's decision to bowl first went a long way towards deciding the final outcome. Ideally, one would want to bowl the opposition out for a score around 200 runs if the most is to be made of such a decision. Hooper simply does not have the kind of fast bowlers who can rip through a batting line-up. The fact that India was allowed to score 339 in the first innings really exposed the limitations of the Windies bowling department.

Even though the West Indian bowlers had some success in removing the Indian opening batsmen on the first morning, Rahul Dravid came to the rescue and played yet another important knock. I was very impressed by the way in which Dravid handled the thirdor fourth-string West Indies attack. Even on a wicket that promised life and bounce, Dravid played some exquisite cover drives and the flick through mid-wicket with élan.

A shaky start from Sachin Tendulkar is a very unusual sight, but the master batsman came into his own after he got the measure of the track and the insipid attack. One must pay glowing tribute to the Mumbai maestro for his sheer appetite for runs and the manner in which he scores them. Tendulkar was the mainstay of India's first innings, and his 29th Test hundred, which equalled Sir Donald Bradman's record of Test centuries, helped India put up a decent first-innings total.

It is also very heartening to see VVS Laxman play with so much responsibility. The stylish batsman applied himself very well, and the determination to excel was there for all to see. There should be no doubts regarding talent, which he has in abundance. I believe that Laxman has finally sorted out his flings with complacency to adopt a more professional approach. He is a class player, and he proved that with a fifty in each innings at Port of Spain; he really deserved the Man of the Match award.

The Indian pacers Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan bowled well, proving that they have it in them to win Tests for India away from home. I must particularly commend Srinath for his lion-hearted effort in this match. I was also impressed by Zaheer Khan's bowling; the delivery he produced to get rid of Brian Lara in the first innings was a beauty. It is a rare sight these days in Test cricket to see a bowler willing to attack to take a wicket.

It was Nehra who turned things around in the second innings, picking up the valuable wickets of Lara and Hooper. The youngster has a lot of talent, and it augurs well for Indian cricket that a genuine group of fast bowlers are coming to the fore. Appropriately enough, the West Indies is the ideal place for such a pace attack to blossom.

There was not much to cheer about in the West Indian batting department. The batsmen did not apply themselves enough to convert starts into big scores; such efforts may have changed the final result of this Test match. Looking at their bowling, two bowlers caught my eye - Adam Sanford and Marlon Black. Sanford has it in him to be a class act if he can concentrate on line and length; if he can add some discipline to the whippy action, he can surprise a few leading batsmen. Black is one bowler who looks like never giving up, and it is a quality that will help him in the long run.

I had expected Harbhajan Singh to be more effective on the final day and even run through the West Indies batting line-up. It was a disappointing show by the young off-spinner, and, in the final analysis, it was the fast bowlers who won the Test for India. In talking about the game, though, it must be said that the number of umpiring mistakes in the match baffled me, and I hope the International Cricket Council (ICC) will ensure that such blatant mistakes are not repeated at the highest level of the game.

Finally, I must congratulate Sourav Ganguly for this memorable Test win. There was an extra edge to his captaincy in this match, and Port of Spain witnessed some inspiring work in the field from the Indian skipper; the field placements, especially, were superb. A lot of thinking went into formulating the strategy for this Test. Ganguly ensured that the plan was well-executed, and this memorable Test win should hold Indian cricket in good stead in future endeavours.