Anand Vasu

Playmakers make the difference

When all has been said and done, it is a few critical players that do the job with the bat. They are the ones that set up matches.

Anand Vasu
Anand Vasu
08-Mar-2007


When Sachin Tendulkar's bat is raised to the fans, it usually means victory for India © Getty Images
Openers try to set the pace, and sometimes they succeed. The finishers lap up the glory, because that's the nature of the beast, they're the last ones standing when a team gets past the finish line. But, more often than not, the crucial contribution comes from someone in between. Soup, salad and caramel custard are great, but what about the meat and potatoes?
Here, we look at some players who may not always walk away with the Man-of-the-Match award, but they're the ones who have laid the platform for others to reach for the stars.
In India it has often been said, and mostly uncharitably so, that Sachin Tendulkar has not done enough to win games. Few stop to check how many wins he sets up. Of the 41 times he has reached 100, India have won 29. That is a strike-rate which any team would accept. And then there's Rahul Dravid. No-one since Robert de Niro has been forced to play so many roles . He has had to prove himself coming in to bat in a crisis, shepherding the middle-order after a moderate start, and even finishing games. Very few people in the game today can take charge as well as Dravid.
For Australia this has barely been a concern, because of the firepower they have at the top and the lower-middle-order allrounders who come and crash the ball to all parts. Yet, Ricky Ponting has been such a powerful talisman that he has come to be regarded as the best No. 3 batsman in either form of the game. The crux of that lies in the fact that he can attack from any situation. It's not that he doesn't have one eye on the scoreboard, but he knows he launches from self-belief, and that seals the deal.
When you're looking for dark horses in this tournament it's impossible to rule out Sri Lanka, simply because of the balance in their team. But a lot of that balance revolves around the form of their joyously unpredictable captain, Mahela Jayawardene. His lack of form, and runs, has affected the Sri Lankan team of late. But when he gets it going, as Aravinda de Silva did when Sri Lanka won the World Cup in 1996, the complexion of the team changes. Fortunately, Jayawardene shares the responsibility with his buddy Kumar Sangakkara, and his former captain, Marvan Atapattu. At the end of the day, though, Sri Lanka's hopes are inexorably linked with Jayawardene's form.
South Africa are enjoying their ranking as No.1 ODI team in the world, but they should be the first to concede that this has more to do with Australia's slipping standards than any meteoric rise of their own. The man who provides them with backbone is Jacques Kallis, and there his no doubting his sheer ability with a bat in hand. He has an incredibly effective defensive technique, a penchant for putting the ball away, and yet is not one of the shining lights of modern cricket. That's only because he seldom takes charge of a game, shifts gears out of his own comfort zone, and ensures that the job is done, come heaven or high water.


Never say die, or for that matter "run out", while Inzamam-ul-Haq is still at the crease© AFP
They've had such problems lately that you have to give a bit of leeway to Pakistan. Their best bowlers have been pinched through anti-doping programs or injury, depending on what you'd like to believe, they've been plagued by internal problems ... But the one thing that has remained unshakeable is Inzamam-ul-Haq. People who see him farming the strike, conserving energy and sauntering singles, will do well to remember the 1992 World Cup where he turned a semi-final on its head with his exasperatingly explosive batting. There's a lot packed into that man, and the fact that he is playing a certain role at the moment does not mean the caterpillar can't emerge from the cocoon once more. And then there's Yousuf Youhana and Mohammad Yousuf. With or without a beard, against pace or spin, he has shown he can run the show while he's at the crease. Few people build a one-day innings better than him in the current game.
After Chris Gayle has done his bit, there's often no need for anyone in the West Indies side to play a significant part. But often enough, there are times when Gayle fails, and someone needs to step up to the plate. Brian Lara has been talking incessantly of the need to build more matchwinners, and depend less on a few, but the fruits of that labour are still to be realised. For the time being it is Lara, who can bat at any position, and often controls the game by coming in to bat as late as possible, and Ramnaresh Sarwan, on whom this responsibility falls. Sarwan's sterling record is nothing to be sneezed at, yet you can't help but wonder why a man of so much ability has not delivered more.
It's no coincidence that the emergence of Kevin Pietersen as a modern maestro has resulted in a revival in the form of England in the shorter version of the game. Sure, they won in Australia without KP, but that was only because Paul Collingwood, the cool finisher, stepped up and filled the breach. Pietersen has given England demonstrable belief, and that counts for a lot.
Perhaps it's telling that some of the other teams don't have such influential characters in their mix. With Stephen Fleming lost to opening, New Zealand may have missed a trick, and the next such stalwart is Bangladesh's Habibul Bashar. He's invaluable when chasing a modest target, with his steady, stodgy ways, but otherwise not so relevant.
These are men who could have the most impact, by what they do, and equally what they don't. If performance is the decider, these are the players who have most to win or lose.
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Anand Vasu is assistant editor of Cricinfo