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| October 9, 2002 | Wednesday | Sha’aban 2, 1423 |
India determined to ruin Hooper’s party
MUMBAI, Oct 8: India go into the opening cricket Test against the West Indies here Wednesday, keen to spoil a memorable moment in the career of rival skipper Carl Hooper.
Hooper will become only the sixth West Indian after Courtney Walsh, Clive Lloyd, Sir Vivian Richards, Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge to figure in 100 Tests when he turns up for toss with Saurav Ganguly at Wankhede Stadium.
“It’s an important milestone. It’s nice to reach the mark, but I’m not fond of figures. Let’s hope we do well here,” said the 35-year-old Hooper, who made his Test debut at this venue in 1987-88.
The veteran Guyanese has so far scored 5,638 runs with 13 centuries.
The match is also being billed as something special for Indian batting genius Sachin Tendulkar even though he has already completed a century of Tests, against England at the Oval last month.
Officials are still treating the local hero’s 101st Test here as a milestone, planning to organise functions to honour him.
“We have been playing competitve cricket in recent months and hope to continue the good work,” said India skipper Ganguly whose team came from behind to draw a tough four-Test series in England 1-1.
The Indian captain was a bit worried over the hot and humid conditions and the newly-laid wicket.
“I’ve never experienced so much heat here. It’s really surprising,” said Ganguly.
“The track has a little bit of grass on it and I hope it has something for both batsmen and bowlers.”
West Indies are in search of saviours in the absence of batting star Brian Lara, who flew back home after falling ill midway through the Champions Trophy one-day tournament in Sri Lanka last month.
Lara was not a prolific scorer against India in a five-Test series at home earlier this year as he could manage just 202 in seven innings, but his non-availability for away Tests still gives the opposition a big psychological advantage.
“It’s a big blow,” conceded Hooper. “It’s just like India missing Tendulkar in the middle order. But his absence also gives an opportunity to youngsters to cement their places.”
Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Wavell Hinds were among runs in their team’s 2-1 series victory over the Indians at home, but are no proven match-winners abroad.
India have always been a tough team to beat at home as they have lost just one Test series since 1987, against South Africa in 2000.
The spinner-friendly tracks and crowd support have often spurred India on to exceed expectations, like they did against Steve Waugh’s Australians last year with a stunning 2-1 victory in a three-Test series.
TEAMS:
INDIA (from): Saurav Ganguly (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sanjay Bangar, Shiv Das, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Amit Mishra.
WEST INDIES: Carl Hooper (captain), Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ryan Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Mervyn Dillon, Pedro Collins, Cameron Cuffy.
UMPIRES: David Shepherd (England) and Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka),
TV UMPIRE: Shivram (India).
MATCH REFEREE: Mike Proctor (South Africa).—AFP
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