Planning, key to India's stirring run in '03

Memoirs: Srinath picks win at Centurion as his best World Cup moment

A veteran of four World Cups starting from Australia-New Zealand in 1992, the former Indian paceman was a significant performer as India made it to the finals in South Africa in 2003, his experience and expertise contributing to enhancing the potency of young turks Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra.

Understandably, Srinath picks the 2003 event as the one closest to his heart. “To me, that was the most memorable campaign, even though we lost the final quite badly to Australia,” the Mysore Express reminisced during a chat with Deccan Herald. “We didn’t have a lot of form coming into the tournament, but once we hit our straps, the run-up to the final was quite brilliant.”

Srinath has been a great advocate of planning and preparation, so it was no great surprise that he pointed out with relish that India’s surge to the title round didn’t happen on its own. “It was something we had worked out, we knew how to beat the other teams,” he emphasised. “We had our strategies and plans in place. We had two bad games, both against the same opponent, but otherwise, our campaign was impeccable because we had planned our approach systematically. It was not that we just went out and won matches. We had spent a lot of time working out ideas and methods; individually for me, and for us collectively as a team, it was a wonderful campaign.”

A part of the playing eleven in all four Indo-Pak face-offs in the mega event -- India have won all those games -- Srinath picked those four wins as his personal World Cup highlight. “All those games were very memorable, they will rank high in my list. The one in Centurion was probably the best win of them all. We did well to keep them down to 270 on a good track, and the way we went about chasing down that total was clinical. It was a very convincing victory, and the confidence we gained from that six-wicket victory gave us the impetus we needed to get into the final.

“The adrenaline levels are very high, no doubt about that,” Srinath went on, agreeing that an Indo-Pak clash, especially in the World Cup, was hardly just ‘another match’. “Everyone is aware that you are as good as you are on that day, there is so much riding on that contest. It all boils down to who clicks as a unit, and I am glad India have done that time after time.”

India have the best chance this time, under Mahendra Singh Dhoni, to replicate the feat of the team of ’83, Srinath asserted. “In 1996, we had a better chance than in 2003, though we went out in the semifinal, losing to Sri Lanka in Kolkata. We were one game away from the final, we had the team to go all the way. This time, I believe our chances are far better than in 1996; in fact, this is the best chance we have in a long time and in my opinion, no one is even close to India,” pointed out the current secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association.

“Of course, you need so many things to go right to be triumphant and only one thing to go wrong to crash out. That element of luck is so vital,” continued Srinath. “The batting and the bowling must back each other up, both departments have to peak simultaneously. Especially in the World Cup, there are so many variables to bargain for.

Several times, it will need one individual to dig really deep. The ideal situation will be to be on top of our games, be it in batting or in bowling, but given the pitches on which the World Cup is to be played, I think the batting will play a more decisive role.”