Yuvraj, Kaif avoid catastrophic situation

New Delhi, March 17: Two all and one to go has an infinitely sweeter ring to it than one-three and no where to go! The catastrophic latter situation was avoided thanks to two youngsters whose nascent careers have borne a certain similarity but their demeanours, their style of play and possibly their backgrounds are as different as chalk from cheese.

Both were pillars of the successful junior side that recently won the World Cup in Sri Lanka which deed in turn won them early (and justifiable) recognition. Then Kaif was branded as potential Test match player, correct, steady and relatively unexciting whilst Yuvraj would be a swashbuckling, irrepressible buccaneer capable of tearing an attack apart: daring, flamboyant, even charismatic.

The former almost forgotten, was bestowed a permanent membership of the India 'A' sides and the latter, after a memorable, nerve tingling performance against Australia was turned into an instant messiah whose face would feature in every conceivable advertisement alongside the more established icons like the captain of the Indian team.

Then, while Kaif continued to languish in the land of the 'also-rans', Yuvraj lost form, the demands of stardom apparently taking their toll. Came the limited-overs series against England and the sedate Kaif was suddenly deemed fit to be drafted into the quicker version of the game and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands, playing a wonderful innings at Mohali and never looking back since then.

Then the flamboyant Yuvraj surprised everyone by playing an uncharacteristic five-hour innings (a sure reminder of his limited overs prowess!!) and was recalled for the crucial match at Hyderabad.

And thus did fate contrive to save the day for India and bring the series back to life. With defeat staring them in the face, they played with mature wisdom, running enterprisingly between the wickets, striking bold, youthful blows which left the opponents mesmerised. Kaif had, of course, more or less established himself in the side, but Yuvraj's innings, hopefully, is a pointer that the brash young man of two years ago has now turned a new leaf and will now face international stardom with maturity and due modesty.

Two messages from the success of these two youngsters. One: summon immediately a man in form and two: do not be too quick in branding a player as a specialist in either format of the game. Kaif the long distance runner is now an positive ingredient of the one-day side and Yuvraj has proved he could stick around for five odd hours and graft out a 200-odd innings.

India's performance in the field was brilliant. Their bowling was tight and in Agarkar's case incisive. Kartik was not relaxed enough to do justice to his talent. The fielding, with again Kaif and Yuvraj excelling, was a revelation.

Ganguly's miraculous recovery from his knee-injury brought him out as a gutsy, selfless player who could bowl nine excellent overs despite his infirmity! The running between the wickets was a welcome improvement.

The Fateh Maidan pitch, so different from the one in the 60's and 70's was not a spinner's ally. The ball came on too slowly for belligerent batting - except for the Yuvraj variety which too was not fully tested particularly by Grant Flower who did not give the ball enough air to entice the young man into mishitting a lofted shot.

The Flower brothers batted sensibly and Mbangwa bowled intelligently.

The result was much closer than the eleven ball margin might suggest and the final match should prove to be a cracker.