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DEAR REDIFF

Domestic bliss

Hemant Kenkre

In between the elation and heat-stopping moments at Canada and Pakistan, it was time to pay a visit to the Wankhede Stadium in Bombay to witness the curtain raiser of the Indian domestic cricket season -- the Irani Trophy.

Since crowds are not expected to come and watch the talents of Gagan Khoda and Pankaj Dharmani, the event is billed as a 'Kumble v/s Manjrekar' match by the media -- which in any event is forever looking for tags.

Avid cricket watchers ask the usual questions -- will Rohan Gavaskar play? Will the game start on time, since the Kanga League ( a premier Mumbai tournament played during the monsoons) has been washed out? Bombay eveningers carry the usual pre-match interviews peppered with photographs of Kumble bowling in the nets and the home team coach Balwinder Sandhu giving his boys at catch practice.

D-day arrives -- the day most cricketers hopeful of playing for the country look forward to. Will they be picked in the final eleven? Will the rub of the green go their way? Funnily, it is also the day of reckoning for former India players rested, dropped or ignored. The next five days will decide how the season shapes up for all the players. This is thus the one match where both the young hopefuls (some of them hardly a couple of first-class matches old) and old war horses (who have more Tests under their belt than the first class matches in which their younger colleagues have played) are on trial.

Must be an awful feeling. One feels like asking Navjot Singh Sidhu what it feels like to be constantly on trial. He made his Test debut in 1983, with Sunil Gavaskar in the side. Fourteen years later, he is still on trial alongside Sunil's son Rohan.

The first morning sees the quick entry and quicker exit of young Amit Pagnis. "A bit immature," tut-tuts a veteran Bombay player even as Pagnis' dreams are shattered. "Not much bite in the wicket for the medium pacers," he comments. "By the way, where is David Johnson?"

Good question.

"Does Wasim Jaffer spell his name with an 'a' or 'e'?" asked a scribe. "What does it matter, his bat comes down straight and he is nice and side-on when he faces up to the new ball", he is told. Wasim and Jatin Paranjape begin the repair work, and appear to have every intention of keeping the 'Rest' from getting one.

Kumble introduces himself into the attack and is greeted by 100-old spectators and a few crows.

"Something will happen now," says the veteran. Nothing does.

The Bombay duo are up against Kumble, Venkatapathy Raju and Ashish Kapoor. They could just as well be playing a Test against India a season ago. "The former Indian spin trio," proclaims a scribe. "Let us see what they can do," he adds.

They do nothing.

Wasim and Jatin carry on, returning undefeated to lunch with the cheers of 100 spectators and the cawing of two dozen crows saluting their efforts thus far.

Anil Kumble's action is the topic of discussion in the Press enclosure on day two. "Bishen Bedi has said that his left foot is not in proper position when he delivers the ball. He also says that his torso does not pivot enough," says a scribe. I watch intently as Kumble lopes in to bowl to Amol Mazumdar. The action looks the same as when I saw him bowl in the finals of the Hero Cup, at this same venue.

"Bishen has gone on record to say that he would set Kumble right in a week," adds another scribe. "He (Kumble) should go and meet Bedi," comments yet another. 'I don't understand technique," says the fourth scribe.

You find yourself thanking the stars for one honest scribe in every three.

Bahutule's pyrotechnics and Mazumdar's patience get Bombay past the 400 mark. "The ball is jumping now," comments the veteran Bombay cricketer. So too, I notice, is coach Sandhu sitting close to the press enclosure. Paras Mhambrey, he of the England tour fame, gets Sidhu to play all over himself. "It will be tough for Sanjay and Navjot to make a comeback," says the veteran.

I wonder if the selectors would have given them yet another chance even if both had got hundreds. Which reminds me, where are the selectors? They, I find, are watching the India versus Pakistan decider in the Wills Challenge, on TV in their rooms across the ground.

The third day is an important one for the players. It is the day the selectors sit down to pick the teams for the Challenger series. The Rest batsmen, Khoda, V V S Laxman, Sridharan Sharath and Nayan Mongia battle it out in vain against the wily Bahutule. Bombay gains the first innings lead on day four -- a day of elation for some and gloom for others.

The body language of players like Raju and Kapoor tell the story. They have been axed from the Challenger series. Manjrekar and Sidhu are quite used to it. "Don't write them off," warns the veteran.

The latter part of day four belongs to Kumble. He makes the most of the vagaries of the wicket and puts Bombay on the back foot -- literally. It's volte face time. "He is running in much better," says one. "Class is class," goes another. I try not to remember what they were saying about him on day one.

Kumble meanwhile is devoid of expression. Full of concentration, he goes through the Bombay batting like the proverbial hot knife through butter -- well supported by Raju. Rest are faced with the final day and a comparatively difficult target, considering the state of the wicket.

The final day dawns, and belongs to Bahutule right through to dusk. He follows the footsteps of his senior, and sends the Rest packing. Comparisons start in the stands. "Both are different," says one. "They can both play for India in tandem," says another. "Kumble is a finger spinner and Bahutule is a wrist spinner," says the third. "I don't understand these technical things," says the fourth.

The glittering Irani Trophy is handed over to Bombay skipper Sanjay Manjrekar -- by beaming former captain Sunil Gavaskar, while Bombay Cricket Association vice president Ajit Wadekar and honorary secretary Prof Ratnakar Shetty.

The press waits for the mandatory post-match quotes and team photographs.

"How come the president and secretary of the BCCI are missing?" asks a Wankhede regular.

"They must be preparing for their own Challenger series," he is informed.