Getting it right, finally

A win such as this carries almost as many inherent dangers — overconfidence, for one — as it does positives but the Indian team will be satisfied today that it dealt with a lesser team as it should: remorseless, exploiting whatever chances came its way, yet patient and wary enough to avoid the complacency trap.

Speaking after the match, a visibly relaxed Saurav Ganguly — while acknowledging that the England game would be on a different level — stressed that today’s win had charged up his team.

If the match — or mis-match — verged on the boring, there were some good signals for an Indian team struggling through this tournament. For one, the batsmen played with concentration and grit, deciding to bat out the 50 overs instead of going into overdrive from the first ball. Getting the basics right, as Ganguly said afterwards.

It wasn’t only batting that gave India joy; the bowling continues to shine. While Javagal Srinath has often been the one to effect a breakthrough, Zaheer took over those duties today. He was consistent in speed and accuracy, though there was little to unsettle him.

Of that there will be plenty against England, who will ask tougher questions than Namibia did. For one, the team selection raised eyebrows before the annihilation began. The think-tank got away with the decision to omit Kumble, who would have created havoc among Namibia’s spin-starved batsmen, and Agarkar, who would have profited from the conditions and had a confidence-boost.

Ganguly’s plea was the tactic of not changing a winning team, and few can argue after today’s win. In any case, Nehra’s injury means that Kumble wll almost certainly play in Durban.

The skipper’s decision to hand the ball to part-timers — and not Tendulkar, either — when he perhaps should have moved in for the kill will also draw criticism.

Yet nothing succeeds like success and India will take the field against England knowing that the paper is slowly being peeled off to reveal the tiger within.

With both teams reaching their form, Durban under the lights on Wednesday would be a crunch match in every sense of the word.