By Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

The match went through different periods and each revealed an aspect of India’s cricketing woes in recent times. Some problems appeared chronic, others typical and yet unsuspecting. Yet in the midst of the last opportunity to get into some sort of rhythm and momentum going into the World Cup promises to test India and push the team to truly rise, if win be on their mind.

The first of four one day matches against the West Indies at the Vadodara Cricket Academy stadium in Nagpur was a bounty of runs and in a battle that India would have liked not to have gone too close for comfort, came back to the dressing room with victory and with mixed feeling.

There were much speculation about the opening combination in the absence of the erratic Virender Sehwag. While sound bells rang as far back as in South Africa about Sourav Ganguly very likely making a comeback for the World Cup, it was perhaps the one position he could have easily be slot into to be brought into this version of the game. After all, few can argue that there are few men better than Ganguly on the pure basis of his excessive 10,000 runs.

There was only other man who would stand by him. While many wanted Sachin Tendulkar opening the innings, much emphasis has been laid on his importance lower down the order and to add weight to the line up. Gautam Gambhir took the opportunity with both hands and alongside Ganguly, immediately set skipper Brian Lara thinking his decision to field first.

There was little to discomfort Ganguly and the flourish with which the runs flowed, it seemed it was destined to be Ganguly’s day. And it nearly was. The nearly part will be explained in due time. But India was on a roll, the crowd could not have asked for a more defying performance and it seems a satisfying stint overall for team India. Ganguly took on the West Indian bowlers with reckless abandon and the stick that the bowlers took forced Lara to resort to Chris Gayle to stem the flow.

But he need not have bothered. After having played a luxurious knock that many will envy, Ganguly fell to a run out just two runs short of what would have registered as a remarkable return for India’s former successful skipper. But Mahendra Singh Dhoni came ahead of Rahul Dravid. While many were still speculating if Dravid coming in so late in the innings would help the innings accelerate were treated to a rare bit of aggression and beauty of India’s Mr. Reliable.

If Dhoni raced to a half-century, his skipper was hardly a step behind. The duo played havoc on the West Indians and before one realized that the overs had quickly ticked over, so had the scoreboard. The runs on it were not challenging. They were positively formidable.

But the danger always lurked that if Gayle got going, few would dare to stand in the way with the risk of being blown away. It must have seemed nerve racking then to watch Sachin Tendulkar drop what would have otherwise been an easy catch for him. Gayle did fire. But there was another man who nearly turned the tables and the match on its head.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, incidentally another former skipper who seemed to enjoy the luck of it alongside Ganguly, nearly spoilt the party for India. Despite having 338 on board, India did not really enjoy the luxury of sitting back on the colossal target. In fact, pushed to the brink, even when they pulled the match back through quick wickets, the winner was hard to predict and the match got tantalizingly close to call.

Chanderpaul shared crucial partnership with Marlon Samuels. But it seemed like a one man army. Even when West Indies lost wickets as the match appearing to reach a climax, India did not feel secure of the number of runs in its pocket. Chanderpaul did not stop threatening and nearly pulling off a heart stopping run chase. That fact that India won the match by a mere fourteen runs spoiled the report card for India. Albeit that the pitch remained true through the entire duration of the match, India’s long batting line up to stem its past woes made life very difficult for Dravid as Sreesanth and Ajit Agarkar showed little to help matters on the day.

Suddenly Ganguly’s innings had paled. Chanderpaul stood out tall for his unbeaten 149. The saviour of the day was suddenly looking overshadowed by a feisty battle from the visitors who refused to let go of the game and their say in the matter. But perhaps when the victory and first win sinks in, the memory will come back to record that India’s former skipper had made a strong comeback, one that ruins all that Chappell had set out to do when he virtually booted him out. Dravid retained his captain’s grace on the day in the midst of such fiery battle in the run up to the all important World Cup. Certainly Ganguly taking over the reins would just make Greg Chappell’s stint as coach appear a farce and his appointment, a foolish gesture.